Skip to content

News

Wind turbine manufacturing and components

New method to discover how cracks and failure evolve in composite material used for wind turbine blades

DTU Wind Energy has in collaboration with LM Wind Power found a new method to observe how fatigue damages evolve in the uni-directional glass-fibre reinforced composite materials used inside wind turbine blades.

Throughout the project CINEMA, the researchers explore the possibilities to extend the lifetime of wind turbine blades by the use of 3D x-ray computer tomography. The more knowledge, the researchers gain about damages in wind turbines blades, the better they will be able to develop more competitive materials and improved wind turbine blade designs, says Lars Pilgaard Mikkelsen, lecturer at DTU Wind Energy:

“This is the first time it has been possible to use 3D x-ray computer tomography scans to look at the development of fatigue damage at a micro scale in the glass fibre materials used as the load carrying laminates inside wind turbine blades,” he says and continues:

“The new technique makes it possible for us to identify, how and where the damages begin, and how they develop, when the composites are being exposed to an increasing number of load cycles throughout its lifetime.” 

A new breakthrough
The new 3D x-ray computer thermography is a ground-breaking way to look at the development of damages. Only a few years ago, similar analyses were based on destructive analyses, where you had to slice the material in order to look inside it using e.g. a scanning electron microscope. Thus, you only got a snapshot in two dimensions and you did not have the possibility to look at the damage evolutions.

Jens Zangenberg Hansen, Senior Engineer at LM Wind Power says that the tomography opens up for new and improved possibilities:

“We have, through the CINEMA collaboration, identified a number of fatigue damage mechanisms that we only have had some hypothesis about before. It is relevant for us to know our materials and the ways they develop damage in order for us to optimize our products. That is the only way for us to make even more reliable wind turbine blades ready for the green energy in the future.”

You should consider reading

Wind turbine manufacturing and components

events

Wind energy

+14

WindEurope 2025

24 March 2024
In 2025, the WindEurope Annual Event will once again return to Denmark as policy-makers, ministers, experts and professionals from the entire wind industry gather in Bella Centeret in Copenhagen from 8-10 April. Dubbed by many as the “birthplace of wind energy”, Denmark and WindEurope will seek to c

Perspective

Wind energy

+32

10 green news stories from Denmark in 2022

22 December 2022
With a significant focus on energy transition, 2022 has been buzzing with new climate pledges and cross-border initiatives. In this recap, we serve the ten most popular news stories published in 2022.

News

Job creation and transition

+101

Sound of Green, a podcast series with insights from Denmark’s green transition

27 January 2023
From managing cloudbursts to setting up climate partnerships, we examine how Denmark has turned acute climate challenges into new opportunities. In our podcast series Sound of Green, experts convey how Danish experiences can push the needle toward global green transition. Find it on Spotify, Apple Podcast and stateofgreen.com.

News

Green financing

+101

New Danish models assess the economic and fiscal impacts of climate policies

31 January 2023
Economists from the University of Copenhagen have developed green models to calculate environmental and climate effects on Denmark's entire economy. The models can have a major impact on how we view and measure economic growth and green transition worldwide.

News

Climate change adaptation

+34

Danes are European champions in applying for green patents

15 August 2023
Almost every fifth Danish patent application is green, which ensures Denmark a European top position in green innovation.