High-Precision Surface Inspection of Wind Turbine Blades

One year after formally introducing waveCHECK into the wind industry, 8tree has engaged DNV for the product’s certification according to established industry standards. waveCHECK is a handheld-portable 3D-inspection tool for inspecting wind turbine blades in manufacturing and operation. Its efficient detection of surface defects and instant visual feedback revolutionize surface inspection.

“During the past several years we have learned from stakeholders and experts in the wind industry, that waves and wrinkles in the load-carrying composite structure of wind turbine rotor blades are a critical problem,” said Erik Klaas, 8tree’s CTO. “The accurate and objective evaluation of waves and wrinkles helps blade producers build higher quality blades and reduce the risk of failure during operation. As the industry’s interest in waveCHECK continues to grow, we believe that obtaining DNV certification will be an important milestone on our journey to enabling the renewable energy market.”

“The improvement of quality and reliability of rotor blades is an important topic in the wind industry and we are happy to see that new technologies that support wind turbine blade manufactures are entering the market,” said Ramakrishna Parasarampuram, Head of Section Rotor Blades at DNV. “Certification of 8tree’s waveCHECK will include assessment of the system’s hardware, software as well as the scanning process itself and its boundaries.”

Applications for waveCHECK include waves and wrinkles, steps between core material panels and/or pre-fabricated components, gaps between core material panels during lay-up, flaws in paint/top coat, bond line edges, rain erosion and any other surface damage that is reflected in the surface topology/topography. Unlike most other inspection systems, an 8tree system is fully self-contained and portable – just one box in a compact and light weight form-factor. Nothing more is needed to operate it – no power supply, no cables, no monitor, no keyboard. Just press the blue button and within two seconds the result is clearly projected on the part, coloured in red, green or blue to tell you what’s in and what’s out of tolerance. For more information: www.8-tree.com