Trailing edge monitoring with acoustic emission during a static full scale blade test

The Acoustic Emission technique is a real time conditioning monitoring procedure which detects surface waves on a structure, caused from damage incidents. This is implemented during a static certification test of a wind turbine rotor blade. Focusing on the bond line of the trailing edge as one of the blade critical parts, a sensor network is installed in order to detect and locate the damage. The experimental setup parameters for monitoring a test are investigated in advance during smaller structural tests, studying the identification of separate failure modes in thick adhesive joints. Therefore, I-profile geometry beams, designed for structural adhesive tests, are mechanically tested and monitored under static asymmetric three point bending. The experimental setup and the significant extracted features from the recorded signals in the sub component level are further implemented and validated in the full scale blade test, for instance the recorded absolute energy of the propagating wave signals. A linear location algorithm is used for the location of damage. In all structural tests the located failure with the Acoustic Emission technique is successfully compared with visual inspections along the length of the structure.