Laser vibrometry for wind turbines inspection

The maintenance and repair of wind energy converters is a significant cost factor. Therefore it is mandatory to minimise the downtime caused by unnoticed faults. A key contributor to the load on the wind turbine installation and to material fatigue is the plant´s unavoidable vibration. We report about a development of a new 1.5 mm laser vibrometer system to measure vibrations of rotating blades of wind turbines up to a distance of several hundred meters - based on a very precise imaged tracking system.