Large Scale Facility

The Large Scale Facility at DTU Risø Campus provide research projects and companies with possibilities to perform tests at very large scale. In addition to the testing facilities, DTU Wind Energy offer cooperation with a dedicated team of leading scientists and techniques that can deliver state of the art analysis.

The facility consists of a 1560 square metre test hall with three test stands capable of testing 45 m, 25 m and 15 m blades or other slender structures. Inside the test hall, a 460 square metre staff building is constructed. The staff building is two stories high and contains the control room, workshop, depots, visitor centre and various service facilities. The new test facilities are well suited for static and dynamic tests of wind turbine blades, while it will also be possible to test other large structures.

The vision is to establish a unique facility of the highest international standard for research in strength and fatigue of large structures exposed to complex loading. At the facility, new advanced test methods will be developed and the research will help to gain a better understanding of failure in large structures.

Test stands
The three test stands are designed to withstand the highest static loads in the vertical direction. Fatigue loads can be applied in any direction. The floor has built-in rails, which makes it flexible to apply loads where needed.

Loading equipment  
The facility has a number of static servo-hydraulic actuators, which will be able to provide point loading up to 300 kN and displacements up to 13 m. In fatigue, a number of hydraulic mass resonance excitation actuators provide the possibility to do single or dual axis fatigue at a broad band of resonance frequencies. 

Measuring equipment
The facility has many possibilities to do advanced measurements and data acquisition. These are among other things

• 3D full field displacements with digital image correlation systems
• Strain gauges (quarter, half and full bridge) and Fiber Bragg Grating sensors
• Displacements with LVDT and ASM
• Scanning laser Doppler vibrometer for vibrations and modal analysis
• High speed cameras, video, thermal imaging camera
• Failure and cracks can be studied with Acoustic Emission, ultrasound scanning and X-ray imaging

Possible projects and activities
At Large Scale Facility, it will be possible to make different projects and activities. There could be:

• Blade testing, static and fatigue (single and dual axis)
• Modal analysis
• Demonstration of new sensors and measuring equipment
• Develop special test setups that require much space
• Develop new advanced test methods
• Design, manufacture and test small blades in order to make cost-effective and fast pilot tests of new concepts before scaling up to full size
• Contact us for other test needs

Research and development support
The facility is supported by a dedicated team who does research in the areas of experimental, numerical and analytical design theory. Furthermore, the team develops more reliable and precise methods for structural design of wind turbine blades and other large composite and metal structures.

The team develops methods to predict the structural response of large structures subjected to complex loading. The team does research in understanding failure mechanisms and progressive damage under both static and dynamic loading. Furthermore, the team develops testing methods and measuring equipment for testing at full scale and for testing parts of structures.

Funding
The facility is part of Villum Center for Advanced Structural and Material Testing (CASMaT).

The facility is built for DTU Wind Energy by the Danish Building and Property Agency The advanced equipment for tests and measurements is funded by VILLUM FONDEN.