Abstract
Wind turbines are becoming widely used as they are an environmentally friendly way for energy production without emissions; however, they are exposed to a corrosive environment. In addition, as wind turbines typically are the tallest structures in the surrounding area of a wind farm, it is expected that they will attract direct lightning strikes several times during their operating life. The purpose of this paper is to show that the radiography with a transportable unit is a solution to find defects in the wind turbine blade and reduce the cost of inspection. A transportable neutron radiography system, incorporating an Sb–Be source, has been simulated using the MCNPX code. The simulated system has a wide range of radiography parameters.
Highlights
At the end of 2008, worldwide nameplate capacity of windpowered generators was approximately 121 GW [1]
The system has been considered with a variable collimator length (L = 75–100 cm), source to object distance (a = 200–300 cm), and divergence angle (θ = 4.29–5.71◦)
A source focal-spot size ( f ) of 1 cm was considered in order to keep Ug below the recommended value of 0.1 cm
Summary
At the end of 2008, worldwide nameplate capacity of windpowered generators was approximately 121 GW [1]. Today the largest wind turbines generate 6 MW and involve glass fibre reinforced plastics (GRP) blades up to 126 m in length. These blades will be subject to enormous stresses, especially in storm conditions. Damages to the wind turbine blades are relatively serious since the cost for replacements is really high and time-consuming repair service is needed. It is considered as an obstruction factor to the expansion of the wind turbine installation [2]. Wind turbine blades must be inspected during and after manufacture, and often during their service life, to ensure that their condition is suitable for their purpose
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