Response of impedance measured by polyvinylidene fluoride film sensors to damage propagation for wind turbine blade

To establish an effective operation and maintenance system for the wind turbine system, techniques for early detecting the damage, which may occur during its operation, may be required. In this study, responses of impedance, which can be a technique to early detect the damage, to the damage extension in the wind turbine blade were investigated through the full-scale structural test of the 100 kW wind blade. The impedance was measured with polyvinylidene fluoride film sensors with dimension of 25 × 20 mm ² patched on the blade skin. The damages were initiated along the trailing and leading edges and extended with increasing static load level. Impedance signatures varied with increasing the damage size were analyzed in the frequency ranging from 1 to 300 MHz. It was found that the patterns of the impedance signatures are remarkably dependent upon the static load level and sensor location. The change in the signatures was quantitatively quantified by the damage metric. The scalar metric values were closely correlated to the damage extension size and the sensor locations to the extended damage.