Wind turbine monitoring
The OEM watches the machine. We watch the structure. Our wind turbine monitoring services keep assets safe, efficient and operational
What we monitor
Tower health monitoring
As the first generation of wind farms reaches its 20-year design life, owners must decide whether to extend, repower or replace each tower. DYWIDAG’s tower health monitoring gives them measured evidence for that decision. It draws on years of experience with hybrid tower tendons and wind turbine foundations.
- Monitoring Concept & Sensor Selection - We define what to monitor for each tower type, including residual tendon force, tower and foundation inclination, and bending moments at the most highly loaded sections. We then select the right sensors, from DYWIDAG or third parties.
- Installation & Commissioning - Our teams (including our internal rope access experts) install the system, and/or, support your service crews during planned access, with remote commissioning and training. Installation can be at construction, during routine inspection or at repowering.
- Data & Platform - Our cloud-based Infrastructure Intelligence platform combines structural data with SCADA data into one health parameter per tower. It also builds a continuous record of each tower’s structural behaviour for owners, OEMs, assessors and insurers.
- Engineering Support - DYWIDAG specialists can interpret the data, flag significant changes and provide measured input for lifetime extension and repowering assessments.
Measured evidence for every tower: confident lifetime extension decisions, and fewer unplanned interventions.
Related Projects
Consolidation of Monopile Foundations at an Offshore Wind Energy PlantsGermanyMaritimeDYWIDAG Helps Supplies Anchors for World’s First Steel and Wood Hybrid Wind TowersFranceÉnergie47 New Wind Towers in Aracati Windpark in a Challenging Time PeriodBrazilÉnergiePrefabricated Tendons Secure Innovative ATS Hybrid Wind TowerGermanyÉnergieAsk us about tower health monitoringSystems we use in this space
Tendon force monitoring
In concrete and hybrid wind turbine towers, the post-tensioning tendons hold the structure together, yet their force is rarely measured once the tower is in service.
SCADA data describes how the turbine operates, and the controller monitors tower-top vibration for safety shutdown. Remaining prestress, and the moisture conditions at the anchorages that drive corrosion, stay unknown between inspections. DYWIDAG’s tendon force monitoring closes that gap, backed by our experience as a designer and supplier of post-tensioning systems.
A monitoring system can be fitted to new towers during construction, or retrofitted during regular maintenance. It records a tendon force baseline from day one, and again before and after any re-stressing, retrofit or repowering. Tendon force readings are correlated with SCADA data to separate normal operating effects from real loss or redistribution of prestress. Changes are flagged against engineering thresholds, and the maintenance team can drill down from the fleet overview to the individual tendon.
- Tendon force - measured on reference tendons, with remaining prestress and its trend tracked against the re-stressing threshold
- Supporting measurements - of strain, inclination, acceleration, humidity and temperature, used to confirm tendon behaviour and flag corrosion risk at the anchorages
- SCADA data - on wind speed, rotor speed, nacelle yaw position and power, used as operating context alongside OEM condition monitoring
- Engineering support - from DYWIDAG post-tensioning specialists, from interpreting the data to lift-off testing and re-stressing when action is needed
Related Projects
Foundation monitoring
The foundation carries every load from the tower into the ground.
Rotation, total and/or differential settlement can all develop unseen between inspections. DYWIDAG’s foundation monitoring makes them visible, drawing on our decades experience of supplying anchors and micropiles to infrastructure projects around the World, including wind turbine foundations, strengthening them in service.
We can measure inclination, strain and anchor bolt force at the foundation and tower base. Strain gauges are placed where the tower design concentrates load. That’s usually at or just above the tower basement, but on some towers it’s at smaller elements with higher local strain. Readings are correlated with SCADA data to separate load-induced inclination under wind thrust from permanent inclination. This shows whether foundation rotation is stable or progressing, and gives a baseline before and after any repowering or retrofit.
- Inclination - at the tower base and top, tracking verticality, long-term rotation and differential settlement
- Permanent inclination - separated from load-induced inclination under wind thrust
- Anchor bolt force and strain - at the foundation and tower base, with moisture monitoring at the anchorages to flag corrosion risk
- Engineering support - from DYWIDAG foundation specialists, from interpreting the data to designing and delivering strengthening with ground anchors or micropiles, or circular prestressing, when action is needed
Ask us about foundation monitoringRelated Projects
Real-time data, intelligent reporting, escalating alarms, and smart alerts with anomaly detection
Related downloads
Lifespan Service Range - Brochure - DYWIDAG Global
Why choose DYWIDAG for wind monitoring?
Structural expertise
Deep experience with wind turbine towers, foundations and structural systems gives us the engineering context to understand what the monitoring data means.
Monitoring tailored to the structure
Monitoring can target critical parameters including tendon force, tower and foundation inclination, and bending moments at highly loaded sections.
Better-informed lifecycle decisions
Measured structural data, considered alongside SCADA data, provides stronger evidence for decisions around maintenance, lifetime extension and repowering.
Experience beyond monitoring
Our capabilities extend from monitoring and assessment to strengthening and repair, including tendon re-stressing and foundation strengthening.