Systems and methods for monitoring a structural health of a wind turbine
AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorsJeffrey Michael Daniels, Dinesh Kumar Annadurai, Satish Vemuri
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Abstract
A method for monitoring a structural health of a wind turbine. The method includes transmitting, from a sensor to a controller, at least one monitoring signal indicative of a structural discontinuity, the sensor operatively coupled to a structural component of the wind turbine. A first notification signal is transmitted from the controller to a user computing device upon receiving the monitoring signal.
Claims16
A method for monitoring a structural health of a wind turbine, said method comprising:
- transmitting, from a sensor to a controller, at least one monitoring signal indicative of a structural discontinuity, the sensor operatively coupled to a structural component of the wind turbine;
- and,
- transmitting a first notification signal from the controller to a user computing device upon receiving the monitoring signal;
- calculating, by the controller, a structural health of the wind turbine based on the monitoring signal;
- and,
- transmitting a second notification signal from the controller to the user computing device upon determining that the calculated structural health is less than a predefined structural health.
A structural health monitoring system for use with a wind turbine, said structural health monitoring system comprising:
- at least one sensor mountable with respect to a structural component of the wind turbine and configured to sense a structural discontinuity formed within the structural component, said sensor further configured to transmit at least one monitoring signal indicative of the structural discontinuity;
- and,
- a controller communicatively coupled to said sensor for receiving the monitoring signal from said sensor, said controller configured to:
- determine a structural health of the wind turbine based on the received signal;
- transmit a first notification signal to a user computing device upon receiving the monitoring signal;
- and,
- transmit a second notification signal to the user computing device upon determining that the structural health is less than a predefined structural health.
A wind turbine, comprising:
- a tower;
- a nacelle coupled to said tower;
- a generator positioned within said nacelle;
- a rotor rotatably coupled to said generator;
- and,
- a structural health monitoring system operatively coupled to a structural component of said wind turbine, said structural health monitoring system comprising:
- at least one sensor coupled to the structural component, said sensor configured to sense a structural discontinuity formed within the structural component and transmit at least one monitoring signal indicative of the structural discontinuity;
- and,
- a controller communicatively coupled to said sensor for receiving the monitoring signal from said sensor, said controller configured to:
- determine a structural health of the wind turbine based on the received signal;
- transmit a first notification signal to a user computing device upon receiving the first signal;
- and,
- transmit a second notification signal to the user computing device upon determining that the structural health is less than a predefined structural health.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.