Cracked Bedplate

An increase in bedplate and shaft vibration indicated a crack on the wind turbine’s bedplate. The turbine operator was notified by FLOW as soon as the alarm threshold had been breached. Close monitoring of these levels by IOMA analysts allowed the owner to continue to run the turbine until a repair could be carried out. A temporary repair was carried out and due to the presence of FLOW the operator was able to continue to operate the turbine until the frame could be replaced.

If undetected the frame crack could have led to substantial damage to the gearbox, shaft and blades resulting in a £120k replacement of these parts and unplanned downtime of several months.

FLOW allowed the turbine owner to operate under close monitoring prior to being shutdown for repair and therefore significantly reducing downtime.