Strain Monitoring of Vertical Axis Wind Turbine Tower Using Fiber Bragg Gratings
This article presents the findings of an experimental study conducted on a vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) tower instrumented with cascaded fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors to detect bending deformations. Structural health monitoring (SHM) is an essential need in the industry to reduce costs and...
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MDPI AG
2025-06-01
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/25/13/3921 |
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| author | Bastien Van Esbeen Valentin Manto Damien Kinet Corentin Guyot Christophe Caucheteur |
| author_facet | Bastien Van Esbeen Valentin Manto Damien Kinet Corentin Guyot Christophe Caucheteur |
| author_sort | Bastien Van Esbeen |
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| description | This article presents the findings of an experimental study conducted on a vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) tower instrumented with cascaded fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors to detect bending deformations. Structural health monitoring (SHM) is an essential need in the industry to reduce costs and maintenance time, and to prevent machine failures. First, FBG strain sensors were glued vertically along the tower to investigate the sensors behavior as a function of their height. The maximum signal-to-noise ratio is obtained when FBGs are placed at the tower base. Then, four packages were installed inside the tower, at the base, according to four cardinal directions. Each package contains an FBG strain sensor, and an extra temperature FBG for discrimination. The use of easy-to-deploy packages is a must for industrial installations. Afterwards, by using power spectral density (PSD) on the strain signals, three sources of tower oscillations are discovered: wind force, structure unbalance, and 1st tower mode resonance, each with its intrinsic frequency. Wind force and structure unbalance cause mechanical stresses at a frequency proportional to the wind turbine rotational speed, while the 1st tower mode frequency depends only on the machine geometry, regardless of the rotational speed. This study also analyzes the deformation amplitude for different rotational rates within the VAWT operational range (10–35 rpm). The resonance amplitude depends on the proximity of the rotational rate to the resonant frequency (22 rpm) and the duration at that rate. For structure unbalance, the oscillation amplitude increases with the rotational rate, due to the centrifugal effect. It is supposed that wind force deformation amplitude naturally depends on wind speed, which is unpredictable at a given precise time. The results of our experimental observations are very valuable for both the wind turbine manufacturer and owner. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-ebd30645cedf4be2bf27373f2f465cd7 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 1424-8220 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
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| series | Sensors |
| spelling | doaj-art-ebd30645cedf4be2bf27373f2f465cd72025-08-20T03:17:08ZengMDPI AGSensors1424-82202025-06-012513392110.3390/s25133921Strain Monitoring of Vertical Axis Wind Turbine Tower Using Fiber Bragg GratingsBastien Van Esbeen0Valentin Manto1Damien Kinet2Corentin Guyot3Christophe Caucheteur4Advanced Photonic Sensors Unit, University of Mons, 31 Boulevard Dolez, 7000 Mons, BelgiumFairwind s.a., 299 Chaussée de Gilly, 6220 Fleurus, BelgiumB-SENS SRL, 31 Boulevard Dolez, 7000 Mons, BelgiumB-SENS SRL, 31 Boulevard Dolez, 7000 Mons, BelgiumAdvanced Photonic Sensors Unit, University of Mons, 31 Boulevard Dolez, 7000 Mons, BelgiumThis article presents the findings of an experimental study conducted on a vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) tower instrumented with cascaded fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors to detect bending deformations. Structural health monitoring (SHM) is an essential need in the industry to reduce costs and maintenance time, and to prevent machine failures. First, FBG strain sensors were glued vertically along the tower to investigate the sensors behavior as a function of their height. The maximum signal-to-noise ratio is obtained when FBGs are placed at the tower base. Then, four packages were installed inside the tower, at the base, according to four cardinal directions. Each package contains an FBG strain sensor, and an extra temperature FBG for discrimination. The use of easy-to-deploy packages is a must for industrial installations. Afterwards, by using power spectral density (PSD) on the strain signals, three sources of tower oscillations are discovered: wind force, structure unbalance, and 1st tower mode resonance, each with its intrinsic frequency. Wind force and structure unbalance cause mechanical stresses at a frequency proportional to the wind turbine rotational speed, while the 1st tower mode frequency depends only on the machine geometry, regardless of the rotational speed. This study also analyzes the deformation amplitude for different rotational rates within the VAWT operational range (10–35 rpm). The resonance amplitude depends on the proximity of the rotational rate to the resonant frequency (22 rpm) and the duration at that rate. For structure unbalance, the oscillation amplitude increases with the rotational rate, due to the centrifugal effect. It is supposed that wind force deformation amplitude naturally depends on wind speed, which is unpredictable at a given precise time. The results of our experimental observations are very valuable for both the wind turbine manufacturer and owner.https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/25/13/3921fiber Bragg gratingsfiber optic sensorVAWT monitoringtower bendingstructural health monitoring |
| spellingShingle | Bastien Van Esbeen Valentin Manto Damien Kinet Corentin Guyot Christophe Caucheteur Strain Monitoring of Vertical Axis Wind Turbine Tower Using Fiber Bragg Gratings Sensors fiber Bragg gratings fiber optic sensor VAWT monitoring tower bending structural health monitoring |
| title | Strain Monitoring of Vertical Axis Wind Turbine Tower Using Fiber Bragg Gratings |
| title_full | Strain Monitoring of Vertical Axis Wind Turbine Tower Using Fiber Bragg Gratings |
| title_fullStr | Strain Monitoring of Vertical Axis Wind Turbine Tower Using Fiber Bragg Gratings |
| title_full_unstemmed | Strain Monitoring of Vertical Axis Wind Turbine Tower Using Fiber Bragg Gratings |
| title_short | Strain Monitoring of Vertical Axis Wind Turbine Tower Using Fiber Bragg Gratings |
| title_sort | strain monitoring of vertical axis wind turbine tower using fiber bragg gratings |
| topic | fiber Bragg gratings fiber optic sensor VAWT monitoring tower bending structural health monitoring |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/25/13/3921 |
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