Measurements for manufacturers of wind turbines

As a service provider as well as system house with competency and experience going beyond any specific branch, Wölfel supports its customers in all questions involving vibration, structural mechanics and acoustics. In addition to numeric simulation, technical measurement and analysis provide important tools for processing everyday projects.

In the course of developing wind turbine generator systems Wölfel has performed measuring campaigns with numerous measuring channels for system manufac­turers. Various physical parameters such as acceleration, strain, temperature and rotary speed require recording, whereby the measuring positions are frequently distributed over the entire system. This places maximum requirements on the measuring equipment: Large distances between the measuring positions, frequently strong electro-magnetic interferences, requirements for chronologically synchronous capture of readings on rotating components in the rotor as well as in the nacelle and tower.

Local measuring systems with measuring modules from the e.bloxx and Q.bloxx product series are used for digitalization and preliminary data processing in close proximity to the sensor with high signal quality. The e.series and Q.series test controllers used are connected together by Ethernet to obtain a uniform measu­ring system. Large distances (for example between the nacelle and tower base) can be bridged easily with fiber-optic cable. Parallel connections can be established using the spanning tree protocol to increase the security and availability of the network. This technology is used for data transfer between the rotor and nacelle. If the network connection still fails, the controller's data logging feature continues to record the data without interruption.

In the past Wölfel has successfully completed numerous challenging projects
using measuring equipment from Gantner Instruments – some with far more than
100 measuring channels – to the complete satisfaction of the customer.