NDTnet 1998 Aug, Vol.3 No.8

Abstract

In co-operation with one of the worlds leading producers of rotor blades for modem windmills, LM Glasfiber, FORCE Institute has expanded the P-scan equipment for inspection of bonded joints and laminates of modem rotor blades up to 19 meters long. Inspection includes testing of joints between the shells and the inner beams as well as the joints between the shells on the front and back edges of the rotor blades. For this purpose a new large scanner unit especially adapted for rotor blades, has been constructed. The windmill scanner will be described and the results from the initial test will be shown.

Introduction.
Today modem rotor blades are mainly produced as a large GFRP-structure. As a consequence of application of larger and larger rotor blades, safety considerations mandate new requirements for inspection techniques that can be used to gain information of the quality of these blades. Over the past ten years the FORCE Institute has modified the P-scan system for applications on a wide range of composite structures such as GFRP-pipes, vessels, tanks, aircraft structures and ship structures. Together with LM Glasfiber, FORCE Institute have now developed two new scanners; one for inspection of filament winded beams, and one for inspection of bonded joints on rotor blades. The main goal of the project was to develop automated ultrasonic inspection equipment which can be applied on damaged rotor blades, new designs and for production inspection. The two scanners, both controlled by the P-scan system, have been tested with promising results on rotor blades with both artificially and natural introduced defects such as delamination, inclusions, missing adhesion, lack of adhesive, porosity and variations in thickness. The newly developed scanners makes it possible to scan large bonded areas in a fast and systematic way. The scanners are controlled by the P-scan system, which automatically gives access to a wide range of inspection parameters including a unique visualisation of inspection results.

Abstract Source:
Book of Abstracts, 7th European Conference on Non-Destructive Testing, 26-29 May 1998, ISBN: 87-986898-0-00

Full-Text Source:
Proceedings of the 7th European Conference on Non-Destructive Testing, 26-29 May 1998, ISBN:

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