Articles | Volume 10, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-10-193-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-10-193-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
22 Jan 2025
Research article |
| 22 Jan 2025
| 22 Jan 2025
Dynamic displacement measurement of a wind turbine tower using accelerometers: tilt error compensation and validation
Clemens Jonscher
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
ForWind, Institute of Structural Analysis, Leibniz University Hannover, Appelstraße 9A, 30167 Hanover, Germany
Paula Helming
Bremen Institute for Metrology, Automation and Quality Science, University of Bremen, Linzer Str. 13, 28359 Bremen, Germany
David Märtins
ForWind, Institute of Structural Analysis, Leibniz University Hannover, Appelstraße 9A, 30167 Hanover, Germany
Andreas Fischer
Bremen Institute for Metrology, Automation and Quality Science, University of Bremen, Linzer Str. 13, 28359 Bremen, Germany
David Bonilla
ForWind, Institute of Structural Analysis, Leibniz University Hannover, Appelstraße 9A, 30167 Hanover, Germany
Benedikt Hofmeister
ForWind, Institute of Structural Analysis, Leibniz University Hannover, Appelstraße 9A, 30167 Hanover, Germany
Tanja Grießmann
ForWind, Institute of Structural Analysis, Leibniz University Hannover, Appelstraße 9A, 30167 Hanover, Germany
Raimund Rolfes
ForWind, Institute of Structural Analysis, Leibniz University Hannover, Appelstraße 9A, 30167 Hanover, Germany
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Thematic area: Materials and operation | Topic: Structural monitoring and testing
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Wind turbines subject their components to highly variable loads over very long lifetimes. Tests of components like the pitch bearings that connect rotor blades and the rotor hub serve to validate their ability to withstand these loads. Due to the complexity of the operational loads, the definition of test programs is challenging. This work outlines a method that defines wear test programs for specific pitch bearings and gives a case study for an example turbine.
Lorena Campoverde-Vilela, María del Cisne Feijóo, Yolanda Vidal, José Sampietro, and Christian Tutivén
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The objective of this work is to find limits within typical operating conditions of a wind turbine below which wear on the bearing raceway does not occur. It covers the test of blade bearings with an outer diameter of 2.6 m. The test parameters are based on a 3 MW reference turbine and are compared to values from the literature. It was shown that it can be possible to avoid wear, which again can be used to design a wind turbine controller.
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Short summary
This study investigates dynamic displacement estimation using double-time-integrated acceleration signals for future application in load monitoring based on accelerometers. To estimate displacements without amplitude distortion, a tilt error compensation method for low-frequency vibrations of tower structures using the static bending line without the need for additional sensors is presented. The method is validated using a full-scale onshore wind turbine tower and a terrestrial laser scanner.
This study investigates dynamic displacement estimation using double-time-integrated...
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