By Paul Dvorak ENGINEERS AT THE FRAUNHOFER RESEARCH INSTITUTE FOR CERAMIC TECHNOLOGIES AND SYSTEMS have devised a way to inspect underwater welds on offshore turbine towers without divers. “The heart of the system is a sensor ring which is placed around the weld for the entire service life of the wind turbine,” says Andreas Schnabel, project manager. Tests have shown that the ring can pinpoint a weld crack and provide its dimensions.
Researchers fitted a test pipe with two sensor-ring demonstrators (the grey bands) for test in the Baltic Sea.
Offshore wind turbines take a lot of punishment, especially the foundations. Divers periodically descend to
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