A tip deflection calculation method for a wind turbine blade using temperature compensated FBG sensors

The tip deflections of wind turbine blades should be monitored continuously to prevent catastrophic failures of wind turbine power plants caused by blades hitting the tower. In this paper, a calculation method for wind turbine blade tip deflection is proposed using a finite difference method based on arbitrary beam bending and moment theory using measured strains. The blade strains were measured using fiber optic Bragg grating sensors. In order to confirm this method, a 100 kW composite wind turbine blade was manufactured with epoxy molded fiber optic Bragg grating (FBG) sensors installed in the shear web of the blade. A number of these sensors, normal FBG probes, were fabricated to only measure strains and the other sensors, temperature compensated FBG probes, were prepared to also measure strain and temperature. Because the output signals of FBG sensors are dependent on strains as well as temperatures, the sensor output signals should be compensated by the temperatures to obtain accurate strains. These FBG sensors were attached on the lower and upper parts of the web at one meter intervals throughout the entire length of the blade. To evaluate the measurement accuracy of the FBG sensors, conventional electrical strain gauges were also bonded onto the surface of the web beside each FBG sensor. By performing a static load test of the blade, the calculated tip deflection of the blade was well determined within an average error of 2.25%. (Some figures may appear in colour only in the online journal)