DEKRA Is Carrying Out Research for the EU's SheaRIOS Project

DEKRA is a partner in the EU's SheaRIOS research project. The aim of the initiative is the remote-controlled inspection of rotor blades on wind turbines using the new shearography measuring method. Robotics company DEKRA Visatec is member of the consortium comprising seven partners.

The remote-controlled inspection of wind power rotors is expected to bring about considerable improvements. People will no longer have to expose themselves to risks while conducting inspections and the technology will also reduce the amount of time that those inspections take. The rotor blades are currently checked for possible damage by industrial climbers on behalf of the operator.

With the remote-controlled inspection systems from its subsidiary DEKRA Visatec, DEKRA is a leader in its field. The systems - based on the crawler system by ICM - are used primarily in power plants and in the oil and gas industry. Their fields of application include inspection activities in areas that are inaccessible or dangerous to people.

With the EU-funded project, the technology of shearography is to be used in mobile mechanized inspection for the first time. Shearography is a measuring method for the non-destructive testing (NDT) of materials and components as well as for measuring stress and strain. It is especially suitable for composite materials – in the inspection of state-of-the-art aircraft parts and components made from carbon, for example.

The results of the SheaRIOS project are expected to be released by the end of 2020. Besides DEKRA Visatec, the other partners in the project are RTS (as the project coordinator), EDF Energy, EDF Energy Renewables, IKH, Leitat and TWI.

www.shearios.eu