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Bearing News: Blade root repair method

Bearing News explains CNC Onsite/We4Ce’s blade root repair method

Can loose wind turbine blade root inserts be repaired? Yes they can and what’s more, they can be repaired in the wind park as well.

Loose inserts are the serrated steel bushings that holds the bolts that join the nacelle. Up until now, loose inserts could not be repaired efficiently on-site. The whole blade needed to be transported to the blade manufacturer for repair. The downtime for that is significant and the transport and operation is costly. Today there are also long waiting time at the manufacturer for such a repair and often, after five or so years, the mould no longer exists. When loose inserts break or go loose, wind turbine owners often resort to buying a new blade as an alternative to shipping it away for a few months. The joint repair method for loose blade root inserts developed by CNC Onsite and We4Ce is a cost-efficient alternative. Read Bearing News’ description of the patented method.

The replacement insert is presented as a graphic. To the left the larger hole is where the tube with the resin is inserted . The infusion technology means the epoxy resin is distributed at the bottom and then vacuumed out. The small hole on the left is where the vacuum processing occurs. This means the resin can be distributed evenly around the wind turbine blade root insert