Wind Turbines Workshop 2019

13-14 February 2019, Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult, Blyth

Regulators, insurers, manufacturers, owners, operators and the NDT communities were invited to participate in this workshop on NDT and SHM requirements for wind turbines, taking place 13-14 February 2019 at Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult, Blyth.
Background
The manufacturers, owners and operators of renewable energy systems seek cost-effective and reliable operation of their installed facilities. Inspection and health monitoring technologies are struggling to adapt to the increasing size and hazardous environment of offshore wind turbines in particular. In order to develop and apply improved solutions, it is essential to identify and define the requirements for the inspection and monitoring of both structural components and systems. This will facilitate the targeted application of appropriate inspection and monitoring technologies to realise the necessary long-term economic operational performance.

Workshop Aims
The workshop brought together regulators, insurers, manufacturers, owners, operators and the NDT community to:

Understand the inspection problems faced by the manufacturers and operators of wind turbines;
Establish the requirements for improved NDT solutions for thick-section large composite structures, metallic components and systems; and
Consider the application of emerging inspection tools and technologies.

Examples were presented of new developments in composite inspection, robotic delivery and the application of permanently installed sensor networks to critical plant locations. The outcome of the workshop is be a report detailing the presentations and discussions, and summarising the requirements identified and what success will look like so it will be clear whether the requirements have been met in the future.

Venue
Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult, National Renewable Energy Centre, Offshore House,
Albert Street, Blyth, Northumberland NE24 1LZ

Tel: +44 (0)1670 359555

Click here to download the report from the
Workshop on NDT and SHM Requirements for
Wind Turbines.

Wednesday 13 February 2019
09.30- 10.00	Registration
10.00- 10.20	Welcome and introduction	Professor Robert Smith, University of Bristol and Tony Fong, ORE Catapult
	Session 1 – Understanding the industry	Chair: Professor Robert Smith, University of Bristol
10.20- 10.45	Drivers for design of wind turbines – design standards, materials, structures, structural integrity and efficiency	Tim Camp, LOC Group
10.50- 11.15	Drivers for manufacture of wind turbines – processes, process control, throughput and quality	Robert Ernst, Vestas
11.20- 11.45	Drivers for owners and operators of onshore/offshore wind turbines	Andrew Morris, EDF Energy
11.50- 12.15	Drivers for innovation (particularly inspection and monitoring, reduction of cost of ownership, etc)	Andrew Tipping, ORE Catapult
12.20- 12.40	Discussion – summary of requirements	Professor Robert Smith, University of Bristol
12.45- 13.30	Lunch
	Session 2 – Design, failure modes and effect of defects	Chair: Peter Thayer, RCNDE
13.30- 13.50	Design drivers for through-life management	Tony Fong and David Thompson, ORE Catapult
13.55- 14.15	Failure analysis of offshore wind turbine monopile foundations	Dr Ali Mehmanparast, Cranfield University
14.20- 14.40	Risk and asset management for wind turbines	Dr Daryl Hickey, Natural Power
14.45- 15.05	Managing blade integrity – guidance on allowable defects	Peter Greaves, ORE Catapult
15.10- 15.30	Tea and coffee
15.30- 15.50	Discussion and requirements capture	Professor Robert Smith, University of Bristol
	Session 3 – NDT/SHM/CM experiences from the field	Chair: Professor Robert Smith, University of Bristol
15.55- 16.15	Inspection approaches and machine learning for wind turbine integrity	Dr Daryl Hickey, Natural Power
16.20- 16.30	Blade integrity inspection – how the NCC can help	Rob Rose, National Composites Centre
16.30	Close for the day


Thursday 14 February 2019
08.45- 09.15	Registration
	Session 3 continued – NDT/SHM/CM experiences from the field	Chair: Professor Robert Smith, University of Bristol
09.15- 09.30	NDT standards and best practice guides	Dr Richard Freemantle, Wavelength NDT
09.35- 09.50	NDT case studies	Dr Colin Brett, Uniper
09.55- 10.10	Ultrasound equipment and data acquisition on blades	Leif Jeppesen, Force Technology
10.15- 10.30	NDT delivery systems – robotics, drones, scanners, etc	Euan Baird, Cyberhawk
10.30- 10.45	Tea and coffee
10.45- 12.30	Tour of Blyth Wind Turbine Demonstrator
12.30- 13.00	Lunch
	Session 4 – Potential future NDT and SHM improvements	Chair: Peter Thayer, RCNDE
13.00- 13.20	Examples of research and state-of-the-art NDT (overview and some particular examples)	Professor Robert Smith, University of Bristol
13.25- 13.45	Automatic evaluation of ultrasound data from blades	Niels Jeppesen, Force Technology and Technical University of Denmark
13.50- 14.10	Use of 3D visual mapping techniques to quantify the impact of biofouling on offshore wind foundation behaviour	Andrew Morris, EDF Energy
	Session 5 – Breakout session	Chair: Professor Robert Smith, University of Bristol
14.15- 15.15	Split into four breakout groups, which will rotate around every 15 minutes. Suggested groups: 1. Requirements for manufacturers 2. In-service requirements for onshore turbines 3. In-service requirements for offshore turbines 4. Potential for new NDT, CM and SHM.	Group leaders: 1. Peter Thayer 2. Tony Fong 3. Colin Brett 4. Richard Freemantle
15.15- 15.35	Tea and coffee
15.40- 16.00	Debrief from breakout groups	Scribe: Professor Robert Smith, University of Bristol
	Session 6 – Panel session	Chair: Professor Robert Smith, University of Bristol
16.00- 16.30	Panel discussion	Scribe: Peter Thayer, RCNDE
16.30	Workshop close

For further information contact: Conferences and Events Department, BINDT,
Midsummer House, Riverside Way, Bedford Road, Northampton NN1 5NX, UK.
Tel: +44 (0)1604 438300; Fax: +44 (0)1604 438301; Email: conf@bindt.org