Publications

Description

Authors: Nathan MacAuley, Alfie Brennan, Hugh Irving, Kieran Ruane, Vesna Jaksic, Abdollah Malekjafarian, Aasifa Rounak, Kevin Nolan and Vikram Pakrashi

Abstract: Decommissioned wind turbine blades can get a second structural life through implementation in other sectors, contributing to the circular economy. This avoids an increase in landfill and ensures sustainable construction. The use of wind turbine blades at the end of their lifetime as a pedestrian bridge is one such example. However, assessment of such structures is complex due to the age, repurposing and the new requirements of performance from these structures. In this paper, we demonstrate how Short-Wave Infra-Red scanning Laser Doppler Vibrometry (SWIR-LDV) can rapidly assess these repurposed blades in terms of their responses, by carrying out modal analyses. To demonstrate this, a repurposed wind turbine blade currently being used as a pedestrian bridge in Cork is monitored. The results indicate that it is possible to rapidly assess modal estimates, and consequently the condition of the blade via non-contact measurements. This testing method can be particularly important in terms of new and rapid assessment methods of such structures with a complex lifetime history and evolutions of stress, fatigue and material characteristics, leading to safe design and assessment of their re-use.