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The application of protective coating systems is the major measure against the corrosion of steel for tower sections of wind turbines. The inspection, condition monitoring and maintenance of protective coating system is a demanding and time-consuming procedure and requires high human effort. The paper introduces for the first time a Digital Twin concept for the condition monitoring and prescriptive maintenance planning for surface protection systems on wind turbine towers. The initial point of the concept is an in-situ Virtual Twin for the generation of reference areas for condition monitoring. The paper describes the integration of an online image annotation and processing tool, a maintenance model, corrosive resistance parameters, structural load parameters, and sensor data into the Digital Twin concept. The prospects of the concept and its practical relevance are shown for tower structures of large onshore wind turbines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The application of protective coating systems is the major measure against the corrosion of steel structures for onshore wind turbines. The organic coatings are, however, susceptible to atmospheric exposure and tend to deteriorate during the operation. At the same time, onshore turbines become more powerful and require taller and more resistant tower structures. The inspection and condition monitoring of protective coating systems on large onshore turbines (in excess of 120 m height) is a demanding and time-consuming procedure and requires high human effort. The rapid developments in digitization and data analysis offer opportunities to notably increase the efficiency of monitoring processes and to develop (semi-)automated standardized procedures. The paper describes a data-oriented approach to utilize digital data for the monitoring and maintenance planning of surface protection systems of large onshore wind turbines. The proposed approach includes the following steps: the segmentation of an existing wind power structure into a number of reference areas based on an In-situ Virtual Twin ; the definition of a local deterioration degree for each individual reference area; the annotation of image data; the use of heterogenous multi-modal data (image data, geodetical data, meteorological data, profile scanning data) as the sources for condition assessment and monitoring. An example procedure is exercised for a tower structure of an onshore wind power turbine in order to illustrate the practical relevance of the approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digitalization and the use of sensor data for the condition monitoring of surface protection systems of steel towers of onshore wind power structures The paper describes the concept of a fully data‐based, mainly automated, procedure for the condition monitoring of surface protection systems on steel structures. Acquisition, processing and evaluation of relevant data as well as their implementation into a mathematical‐empirical condition monitoring model are discussed. The monitoring model is based on the definition and assessment of a local deterioration degree, which is characteristic for pre‐defined reference areas at the structure. The creation of the reference areas by means of In‐situ Virtual Twin Computation is introduced. The data‐based assessment procedure is practically exemplified on a steel tower of an onshore wind power structure in a rural corrosive environment. The procedure can be applied to steel structures with similar geometries (storage tanks, silos, chimneys) as well as to offshore conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]