Media Relations

Fraunhofer´s test bench for rotor blade bearings of up to 6.5 meters in diameter has been successfully commissioned at the institute’s Hamburg facility, paving the way for automated continuous operation. A bearing can be validated on the test bench long before it is installed in a wind turbine. The aim is to lower development costs and reduce yield loss.

€ 12 million for testing rotor blades measuring up to 115 meters in length:  in Bremerhaven, a test bench is set to be constructed that offers not only new testing opportunities for full-scale blade testing, but also rigs for segment and component tests. The predecessor project investigated the viability of new test procedures; now they will come under scrutiny on a larger scale within the new project.

Gaining a better understanding of power converter failure is vital in order to develop more effective protective measures and thus improve the profitability of turbine operation. For this purpose, field data from various sites and turbine types are being analyzed, damage models derived, and experimental tests performed on components.

Three 20 meter long rotor blades that were developed within the context of the SmartBlades2 project will be assessed under natural weather and wind conditions in Boulder, Colorado (USA), over the next four months. The measuring campaign with the SmartBlades2 research project aims to clarify how well the rotor blades with bend-twist coupling are able to effectively dampen peak loads during strongly variable wind speeds.