Zephyr Acoustic Solutions

Zephyr Acoustic Solutions is a clean tech wind power industry services company. Our products use high-resolution aeroacoustic measurements to find noise emissions caused by changes in the blade profile. Our remotely sensed technique inspect your blades for 1. Shell-to-web/spar debonding 2. Shell laminate-to-core debonding 3. Cracks in the trailing edge bondline due to peeling stresses Each of these can be difficult to detect because there is almost no visual difference in the blade profile when the blade is stopped. The presence of internal defects or faults will cause there to be more cross-sectional shear distortion. Cross-sectional distortion occurs from a combination of edgewise (gravity), wind loads and blade twist. All of these will occur when the blade is traveling either up or down through a horizontal position, and most airfoil self noise (turbullent boundary layer - trailing edge noise) has been observed to occur on the downward swing through the horizontal. Trailing edge cracking typically occurs at the tips of the blades, while the shell-to-core/web and shell-to-spar debonding can occur outwards from the root of the blade towards the tips. Small changes in blade profile that blunt the edges or otherwise affect the airflow characteristics will be detectable by precise analysis of the sound pressure levels at those positions.