Optimisation of wind turbine inspection intervals.

Andrawus, Jesse A.; Watson, John; Kishk, Mohammed; Gordon, Heather

Abstract

The choice of correct inspection intervals poses a serious challenge to industries that utilise physical assets. Too short an interval increases operational cost and waste production time while too long an interval increases the likelihood of unexpected asset failures. Failure Modes and Effect Criticality Analysis (FMECA) is a technique that permits qualitative evaluation of assets' functions to predict critical failure modes and the resultant consequences to determine appropriate maintenance tasks for the assets. The Delay-Time Maintenance Model (DTMM) is a quantitative maintenance optimisation technique that examines equipment failure patterns by taking into account failure consequences, inspection time and cost in order to determine optimum inspection interval. In this paper, a hybrid of FMECA and DTMM is used to assess the failure characteristics of a selected subsystems of a chosen wind turbine. Optimal inspection intervals for critical subsystems of the wind turbine are determined to minimise its total life-cycle cost.

Citation

ANDRAWUS, J.A., WATSON, J., KISHK, M. and GORDON, H. 2008. Optimisation of wind turbine inspection intervals. Wind engineering [online], 32(5), pages 477-490. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1260/030952408786411921

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Oct 1, 2008
• Online Publication Date: Oct 1, 2008
• Publication Date: Oct 31, 2008
• Deposit Date: Jun 10, 2014
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 10, 2014
• Journal: Wind engineering
• Print ISSN: 0309-524X
• Publisher: SAGE Publications
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 32
• Issue: 5
• Pages: 477-490
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1260/030952408786411921
• Keywords: Wind turbine; Maintenance optimisation; Inspection interval; FMECA; Delay time model
• Public URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10059/984