Wind turbine blade damage: A systematic review of detection, diagnosis, performance impact, and lifecycle health management

Wind turbine blades (WTBs) are critical components that significantly influence energy capture efficiency and operational safety. However, they face diverse damage mechanisms in harsh environments, resulting in maintenance costs exceeding 20% of revenue for offshore installations. While various condition monitoring technologies exist, current research lacks integration, focusing on individual technologies without providing a comprehensive health management framework. Moreover, the quantitative mechanisms linking damage to performance degradation remain poorly understood, hindering effective predictive maintenance. This systematic review addresses these gaps by introducing a novel lifecycle health management (LCHM) framework that links damage mechanisms to proactive decision-making. Central to this framework is a hierarchical damage identification system comprising two progressive tiers: (1) damage detection, which determines the presence of anomalies, and (2) damage diagnosis, which localizes, classifies, and quantifies severity. Through critical comparison of widely used monitoring methods, applicable scenarios, limitations, and complementary strengths are identified. Furthermore, a comprehensive analysis of quantitative impact mechanisms is provided, demonstrating how different damage types affect aerodynamic efficiency, structural integrity, and power generation. Economic modeling reveals that implementing early proactive repair strategies can reduce lifecycle costs by up to 15% compared to traditional reactive approaches. The article concludes with a discussion of ongoing research challenges and prospects, highlighting promising future trends.