Mooring System Damage Detection in Floating Wind Turbines Through Satellite Positioning
A structural health monitoring system has been developed to detect damage in the mooring system of floating wind turbines by analysing the movement of the platform. A cost-effective smart sensor that combines a global navigation satellite system and an inertial navigation unit is used. The collected data is used to create mathematical models when the system is healthy. After the so-called learning period, new incoming data feeds the models, which in turn evaluate the behaviour of the platform compared with the reference situation. If the difference exceeds a threshold, damage in the mooring system is assumed.
By Jon Basurko, Researcher, IKERLAN BRTA, Spain