Rotor blade maintenance and repair standards are to be correlated to structual blade condition and for repair decisions on basis of damage classes. This posting shows without any doubt a damage class four finding (total loss).
In this case there is hypothesis for fatal blade failure mode by carbon UD-girder fiber damage due to transverse force stress induced by glass fiber helix winding technique in order to fix the UD-stack in semi-automated beam production process. This issue is discussed in preparation of next Technical Advisory Board Meeting of the AK R (a committee of the German Wind Association, see also www.akrotor.blogspot.com)
Less severe damages like cracks or delaminations have virtually two dimensions. The first dimension visible at a first glance is what we call inspection findings. The second and comprehensive dimension of a damage can be assessed after removing layer by layer of affected material. It is the difference about damage amount and it's range.
