Abstract

The development of renewable energies is a fundamental need to meet the ambitious energy targets demanded by industry and the European Union in the coming years. In the case of offshore wind energy, it has certain limitations due to its relative youth and associated costs, especially in the maintenance, operation and repair operations. Within the project, that includes this work, has developed a new multi-material component with high structural requirements for the offshore wind sector. A combination of steel and composite, manufactured by filament winding, with a system of protection of biofouling and corrosion, will be validated in a real conditions test in the experimental zone of INEGA (A Coruña), by a demonstrator to scale 1:5.

For real-time monitoring of the multi-material structure, a monitoring system has been developed based on fiber optics sensors type Bragg Grating (FBG), integrated in this structure. This monitoring system includes sensors of corrosion, temperature and deformation. This paper shows the development and characterization of these sensors at the laboratory level against mechanical, thermal tests and study durability in marine environment. In addition, it describes the integration of the monitoring system in the demonstrator and its response during the validation phase.