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Annual Report 2015
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NOWITECH
Norwegian Research Centre for Offshore Wind Technology
Result
TRL Impact
1 Method to increase buckling resistance in
wind turbine blades through unbalanced fibre
composite lay ups.
3 The potential for load alleviation and increased critical buckling load
through the use of unbalanced fibre layup has been documented for
a large number of design cases through simulations and laboratory
experiments.
2 Progressive fatigue damage stiffness reduction
simulation model for composite materials.
Including test and parameter fitting procedures.
4 The model can be used to simulate the change in stiffness and
remaining lifetime of composite structures subjected to fatigue
loads as i.e. a wind turbine rotor blade spar.
3 Novel protective coating systems for offshore
wind turbines substructures. Maintenance-free
coating systems comprising thermally sprayed
zinc (TSZ) paint with self-healing properties on
top.
3 Longer lifetime and reduced maintenance of steel structures.
4 Software: NOWIcob – A life-cycle profit analysis
tool for offshore wind farms
4 A tool to simulate the O&M cost of an offshore wind farm over the
lifetime. NOWIcob can serve as a decision support tool to analyse
the consequences of different decisions regarding maintenance and
logistic strategy.
5 Software: Vessel fleet optimization – An
optimization model and tool for making
decisions about optimal vessel fleet to support
the maintenance operations
4 Decision support tool for offshore wind farm operators. The model
will give output results with regarding (i) location of maintenance
bases (onshore/offshore) and (ii) the vessel fleet size and mix i.e.
which vessels/helicopters to invest in and/or charter
6 Erosion resistant coatings for WT blades.
Coatings based on nanoparticle modification of
commercial coatings.
3 The maintenance of the leading edge of blades is expensive, thus a
better drop erosion protective coating will increase useful life and
reduce O&M costs.
7 New product: Remote inspection - A remotely
controlled robot installed inside wind turbine
nacelle.
5 Remote inspection using the robot is an alternative to expensive
and time consuming manned inspection. The low cost of a remote
inspection allows for more frequent inspections, which potentially
can increase the reliability.
8 New product: Thermally sprayed silicon
carbide coating. New cost effective thermally
sprayed silicon carbide (SiC) coating useful for
components that requires high wear resistance
and low friction.
4 The properties of SiC makes the coatings highly attractive for many
industrial applications as a new and cost-effective competitor to
most hard coating materials on the market. The goal is to reduce
wear of components and increase lifetime, and thus reduce O&M
costs.
9 Software: Routing and scheduling optimization
- Tool for optimization of vessel routing and
maintenance scheduling
2 An optimization model for daily scheduling of maintenance
operations in an offshore wind park (which maintenance task
to perform when and in which order and with which ships and
personnel).
10 Droplet erosion test setup: Laboratory set up
for droplet erosion testing of wind turbine
blade coatings.
4 Simplified and cost-effective drop erosion testing of coatings. This
setup is used for testing Innovation 6, erosion resistant coatings.
11 Wind turbine drivetrain fault detection model.
Prognostic model for fault detection in wind
turbine drivetrains.
3 Model for early detection of wind turbine drivetrain faults based on
condition monitoring data.
12 Gearbox inspection and maintenance planning
method. Method for fatigue reliability-based
inspection and maintenance planning of gear-
box components in wind turbine drivetrains.
3 Method can lead to more effective inspections and thus reduce
the downtime for fault detection and routine inspection, because
inspection and maintenance can be focused on those components
which hold higher probability of damage.
Table 4: New models, methods, processes and technology in development.
NOWITECH INNOVATIONS 2015 WPB