Icing Monitoring for a Wind Turbine Model Blade with Active PZT Technology

Abstract

The development of efficient ice monitoring methodologies is critical for the exploitation of wind energy in cold regions. In this study, an icing monitoring approach for a wind turbine model blade using active piezoelectric lead zirconate titanate (PZT) patches acting as actuator and sensors is proposed. Experimental study on a model blade covered with different thickness of ice is carried out and the corresponding responses of different sensors are recorded when a certain designated actuator was excited with sweep sinusoidal signals. The wavelet packet analysis on the measurement and the corresponding wavelet packet energy (WPE) of the measurement is determined. Results show that the WPE of the measurement of the same PZT patch is related to the increase of ice thickness. The proposed method based on the WPE can monitor the icing conditions of the tested specimen and has the potential application in practice for the ice monitoring for wind turbine blades operating in cold regions.