Surface treatment of wind turbines is essential for:
- Structural integrity
- Safety
- Economic viability
- Compliance with industry regulations
Corrosion weakens the structural integrity of wind turbine components, reducing their ability to withstand environmental stresses and can lead to breakdowns as well as an unsafe work environment.
Effective surface treatment protects against corrosion and helps maintain the structural integrity, efficiency and reliability of wind turbines, especially in harsh environments including nearshore and offshore. Proper surface treatment helps extend the lifetime of wind turbines, lowering maintenance costs and ensuring return on investment.
Surface treatment for corrosion protection can be done by using a range of methods and materials including coatings application, thermal sprayed metallisation (TSM) and paint systems used in the production of wind turbine towers.
The corrosion resistance requirements can vary significantly based on the location of metal structures due to the diverse corrosive factors they are exposed to. These varying influences are categorized and defined under corrosion categories ranging from C1 to CX.