Investigation of the Sensitivity of Infrared Thermography (IRT) for De-tecting Local Surface Defects on Rotor Blades

Surface disturbance elements such as erosion or contamination can significantly impair the aerodynamic performance of rotor blades and reduce the energy efficiency of wind turbines. Therefore, early and reliable detection of small surface defects is highly desirable.

Infrared Thermography (IRT) offers a promising approach for detecting such disturbances, as the surface temperature of the rotor blade depends on the airflow and can be measured contactlessly from a great distance with an infrared camera. The focus of this thesis is the experimental investigation of the sensitivity of IRT to local surface disturbance elements on rotor blade profiles. The goal is to develop an inverse measurement method that allows the type, location and shape of the defect to be determined from the thermographic data.

Possible Tasks:

• Literature review on IRT measurements in wind tunnels for detecting disturbances on rotor blade profiles.
• Setup and conduction of IRT measurements in the wind tunnel using rotor blade profiles with defined disturbance elements.
• Analysis of the sensitivity of the measurement system depending on disturbance parameters.

Your Profile:

• Interest in experiments and image analysis.
• Solid programming skills (Python).
• Ability to work independently and responsibly.