Doppler-radar-based short-range acquisitions of time-frequency signatures from an industrial-type wind turbine

Abstract

Non-contact radar-based monitoring of large mechanical constructions is currently gaining much attention from the RF/microwave community. In particular, Doppler radars can be coherently exploited to extract spectrograms—i.e., time-Doppler maps—of industrial-type wind turbines. This work conducts short-range experiments corresponding to a 50-m-height Vestas wind turbine illuminated by two custom-designed quadrature radar prototypes operating at 5.8 and 24 GHz, respectively. It is observed that the obtained experimental radar signatures—that are shaped by flashes and quasi-sinusoidal halos—exhibit distinct characteristics depending on the acquisition geometry and the operation frequency of the radar sensor. These features might lead in the future to a radar-based non-contact monitoring solution of the structural health of industrial-type wind turbines.