Source | TURBO project

Members of the TURBO (Towards Turbine Blade Production with Zero Waste) consortium recently reported progress on real-time process monitoring during composite infusion, with trials conducted at facilities operated by NCC Operations Ltd. (Sedgefield, U.K.) and Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (Aalborg, Denmark).

The demonstrations centered on a wireless sensing platform developed by Centre for Process Innovation Ltd. (CPI, Sedgefield, U.K.), which tracked resin flow and temperature during the infusion process. According to consortium members, the integration and trial activities validated the platform’s ability to broadcast monitoring data in real time, supporting adaptive process control approaches intended to improve manufacturing consistency and reduce defects in wind turbine blade production.

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TURBO is a Horizon Europe-funded research initiative focused on reducing waste and defects in the manufacture of large composite wind turbine blades, which are produced via resin infusion and coating processes. The project consortium brings together seven beneficiary organizations — Danmarks Tekniske Universitet (DTU, Kongens Lyngby, Denmark), Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy, Universitat Politecnica de Valencia (Spain), Synthesites (Uccle, Belgium), Norblis ApS (Copenhagen, Denmark), Vivid Components Germany UG (Germany) and Arditec (Paris, France) — along with associated partners NCC and CPI.

The project’s technical scope spans three broad areas:

• Process simulation to minimize defect formation
• In-line and post-manufacture nondestructive testing (NDT)
• Digital twin-based process control. 

On the simulation side, DTU is leading multi-scale modeling of the blade manufacturing process, combining numerical simulation with sensor data to define and adjust manufacturing parameters in real time. According to the project website, the work uses advanced AI techniques including model order reduction and machine learning (ML) to generate physics-based predictions for a production decision support system.

For in-process monitoring, Synthesites’ system measures resin arrival at up to 56 points during infusion, calculates online resin viscosity and gelation time and tracks glass transition temperature evolution across the blade — broadcasting all data in real time to inform control signals. CPI’s embedded wireless sensor system, fabricated on a flexible substrate, complements this by transmitting resin arrival and temperature data from inside the mold via LoRaWAN.

The TURBO project highlights some of its simulation work in this LinkedIn video.

On the NDT front, Norblis ApS is developing what the consortium describes as the first industrial-scale combined thermography and mid-infrared optical coherence tomography (OCT) scanner for sub-surface defect detection in blade coatings. DTU has developed a supercontinuum light source extending to mid-infrared (IR) wavelengths of approximately 4 microns — deeper-penetrating than conventional near-IR OCT systems — while Universitat Politecnica de Valencia has developed ML-based defect detection algorithms using YOLO object detection techniques applied to both OCT and thermographic images.

NCC is leading development of the project’s digital twin framework, which combines live process and sensor data with ML and physics-based simulation to provide manufacturing quality insights and corrective feedback loop control. Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy will ultimately integrate the TURBO advances into its infusion and control systems at its Aalborg factory, where a large section of a blade exceeding 80 meters in length will serve as the full-scale project demonstrator.

Sustainability assessment activities are being led by Arditec, using standardized life cycle assessment methodologies — including LCA per ISO 14040/14044, Life Cycle Costing and Social LCA — to evaluate the environmental, economic and social benefits of the TURBO approach relative to current blade manufacturing processes.

More information on the TURBO project is available at turboproject.eu.