Wind Turbine Tower Weld Seam Grinding Robot Design, Analysis, and Testing

This paper presented the design and development of a wind turbine tower weld seam grinding robot, which comprises four functional modules, i.e., adsorption module, mobile module, grinding module, and control module. Both static force analysis and vibration-deformation analysis were conducted by using simulation techniques, in order to ensure the robot’s stability and reliability. Furthermore, a prototype of the weld seam grinding robot was built up, and the grinding operation testing was conducted on a testing plate with weld seams. Initial experimental testing results showed that the robot can fulfill the four functional requirements, and the grinding depth reached 0.48 mm. This research presented an automated grinding method in the aim to replace heavy manual operation in hazardous environment.