The Offshore Wind Infrastructure Application Lab (OWI-Lab) is a Flemish-funded R&D initiative that aims to increase the reliability and efficiency of offshore wind farms. It invests over 5.5 million euros in test and monitoring infrastructure to support research and development across the offshore wind industry value chain. OWI-Lab provides laboratory and field testing services, including unique offshore measurement campaigns to support both R&D projects and asset monitoring for operations and maintenance optimization. Current monitoring focuses on drive train dynamics, tower dynamics, foundation dynamics and corrosion, and data is collected from two offshore wind farms to support research projects.

1. Offshore Wind Infrastructure
Application Lab (OWI-Lab)
For efficient and reliable offshore wind energy.

2. Offshore Wind Infrastructure Application Lab
 A Flemish Funded R&D initiative that aims to increase
the reliability and efficiency of offshore wind farms
 OWI-Lab is embedded within Sirris, the collective
centre of the Belgian technological industry.
Industrial Initiators of OWI-Lab
Industrial Coordinator
Scientific Coordinator

3. Introduction

4. What does OWI-lab do?
 Investing 5.5M € in test and monitoring infrastructure
to support (offshore) wind power R&D in the whole
industrial value chain  4 investment programs in R&D
infrastructure
 Platform to initiate local and European research
projects together with industry and universities
(SBO, O&O, FP7,…)
 Innovation projects with / for companies in the wind
power sector

5. OWI-Lab services
 Laboratory testing
 Field testing (offshore)

6. Field testing:
Offshore measurement campaigns
Unique SHM solutions / R&D campaigns
Purpose of the monitoring campaigns:
1) Input for R&D / Optimizations
2) Asset Monitoring (O&M)

7. Dedicated offshore measurements &
monitoring system for R&D
 Datasets as input for component design
 Get better understanding of the behavior how the
turbines operate far shore
 Monitoring for O&M optimization
 Multi-purpose:
 Vibrations
 Corrosion
 Temperatures
 …

8. Ongoing R&D measurement & monitoring campaigns
(MC’s) in partnership with universities
 Structural Health Monitoring (VUB)
 Corrosion Monitoring (VUB)
 Drivetrain Monitoring (KU Leuven)

9. Which monitoring?
Drive Train
Dynamic Monitoring
Tower
Dynamic Monitoring
Foundation
Dynamic Monitoring
Corrosion Monitoring
Fatigue Monitoring

10. Current locations for monitoring
 55 Vestas 3MW V90 turbines  72 Vestas 3MW V112 turbines
 Monopile foundations
 Monopile foundations
 46 km Offshore
 Water Depths : 16 - 30m
 1 Monitored Turbine: C01
 37 km Offshore
 Water Depths: 16 – 29m
 2 Monitored Turbines:
D06 - H05

11. Drive Train
Dynamic Monitoring
Tower
Dynamic Monitoring
Validation of SHM package
Foundation
Dynamic Monitoring
Corrosion Monitoring
Fatigue Monitoring

12. Ongoing research projects:
Vibration-based Structural Health Monitoring (SHM)
 What?  Monitoring the dynamic behaviour of a structure
 Why?  lifetime prediction, fatigue calculation, Load monitoring,
safety, O&M strategy
 Already commonly used in civil engineering & aerospace
 Example: Stone cutter bridge Hong Kong
(the
most heavily instrumented bridge in the world)

13. Ongoing research projects:
Vibration-based Structural Health Monitoring (SHM)
 Ongoing project OWI-Lab conserning SHM in partnership with VUB:
CONTINUOUS DYNAMIC MONITORING OF AN OFFSHORE WIND TURBINE
 Why?
 Excitations of wind and waves have an effect on the offshore wind turbine and
are capable of exciting the exciting vibration modes
 avoid resonant behaviour
 Gather insights in dynamic behaviour of wind turbine in offshore conditions
 input for new designs, optimization of structures
 Minimize O&M costs (scour protection around monopile structures)
 Identify the current state of the offshore wind turbine
(i.e. after a storm the scour protection can be damaged  can have an effect
on the vibration modes)
 Extend lifetime of wind turbine structure

14. Ongoing research projects:
Vibration-based Structural Health Monitoring (SHM)
 Why?
Example: Identify the current state of the offshore wind turbine
Uncertainty: effect of scour on the dynamics of an offshore wind turbine and its lifetime
Scour = the process where the water current accelerates around the support structure and due to its
acceleration picks up and transports soil particles (sand) away from the support structure

15. Ongoing research projects:
Vibration-based Structural Health Monitoring (SHM)
 Why?
Example: Identify the current state of the offshore wind turbine
Scour affects an offshore wind turbine in 3 ways:
1.
2.
3.
Lowering the seabed around the structure reduces the
lateral bearing resistance that the foundation pile can
mobilize, which may mean that the pile needs to be
driven deeper into the seabed
Lowering the seabed makes the structure ‘longer’
 lowering the natural frequency (can be detected through monitoring)
 can have implications for fatigue damage
A large scour hole will leave the J-tube free-spanning, which eventually may damage the cable if
this effect is not taken into account

16. Ongoing research projects:
Vibration-based Structural Health Monitoring (SHM)
 Why?
Example: Identify the current state of the offshore wind turbine
Current approach: prevent scour by dumping a layer of crushed rocks around the support structure
 Costly solution
 Scour protection requires inspection and maintenance throughout the lifetime

17. Ongoing research projects:
Vibration-based Structural Health Monitoring (SHM)
 How?
 Continuously monitor vibration levels and evolution of the frequencies and
damping ratios (especially interesting for monopile based turbines ; jacket
structure is more stiff than monopile)
 State-of-the-art operational modal analysis (OMA) techniques and the use of
appropriate vibration monitoring equipment can give insides in natural
frequencies, damping ratio’s and mode shapes (cfr. Aerospace)
 OWI-Lab continiously monitors one monopile based wind turbine (Vestas V90)
at the Belwind wind farm to get insights in the dynamic behaviour of the
structure and evaluate new OMA-technique in partnership with VUB
(Vrije Universiteit Brussel)

18. Approach field testing service Structural Health Monitoring )

19. Measuring
Accelerations
Advanced post-processing
techniques for
continuous dynamic
monitoring
of the structure
(damping, frequency,…)
Identifying
Dynamic
Parameters
Updating
FEM-Model
Prediction of
Stresses
Automated Operational Modal Analysis
Life-Time
Assesment

20. Example data set: VIBRATION DATA

21. High frequency sampled data
Input for MBS-model
Drive Train
Dynamic Monitoring
Combining gearbox surface vibration
data with internal flexible multibody
models to retrieve information on the
relevant parameters for the remaining
life assessment of wind turbine
gearboxes

23. CONTINUOUS MONITORING
OF GROUT USING OPTICAL
FIBER TECHNOLOGY
New Measurement
Concepts using optical
fibers

25. New Innovation Projects (EUROPEAN)
 WIFI JIP: Analysing Wave Impacts on fixed turbines
Objective:
To improve the way effects of steep
(and breaking) waves are taken into
account in the design methodology of
fixed offshore wind turbines, so that
optimized offshore wind turbines can
be developed

26. Thank you for your attention!
Pieterjan.jordaens@sirris.be
http://www.owi-lab.be/
@OWI_lab
Group: Offshore Wind
Infrastructure
Application Lab
(OWI-Lab)