What is BS EN IEC 61400‑5 about?
BS EN IEC 61400‑5 is a part of multi-series standard IEC 61400. BS EN IEC 61400-5 specifies requirements to ensure the engineering integrity of wind turbine blades as well as an appropriate level of operational safety throughout the design lifetime. It includes requirements for aerodynamic and structural design, material selection, evaluation and testing, manufacture (including associated quality management), transportation, installation, operation and maintenance of the blades.
BS EN IEC 61400‑5 provides the detailed basis for fulfilling the current requirements of the IECRE system, as well as other IEC standards relevant to wind turbine blades, with respect to certification. When used for certification, the applicability of each portion of this document should be determined on the basis of the extent of certification, and associated certification modules per the IECRE system.
Note 1: BS EN IEC 61400‑5 is intended to be applied to rotor blades for all wind turbines.
Who is BS EN IEC 61400‑5 for?
BS EN IEC 61400‑5 on wind turbine blades is useful for:
- Manufacturers and suppliers of wind turbine blades
- Designers of wind turbine blades
- Testing houses/ service providers of wind turbine blades
- Entities dealing with wind energy generation systems
Why should you use BS EN IEC 61400‑5?
The blades of a wind turbine rotor are generally considered as one of the most critical components of the wind turbine system.
BS EN IEC 61400‑5 discusses a minimum set of requirements for the design and manufacturing of wind turbine blades are defined. It sets an approach for the structural design process for the blade in the areas of blade characteristics, aerodynamic design, material requirements, and structural design. It also fulfils the demands for designing for manufacturing in order to efficiently facilitate the transfer of a blade design to the production environment.
BS EN IEC 61400‑5 gives you the requirements for the structural design of the wind turbine blade in such a way that it rewards innovation, validation, quality, and testing. Specifically, the designer will be able to claim lower partial safety factors based on the diligence of the validation of models and the correlation to testing results.
The manufacturing requirements included in BS EN IEC 61400‑5 provide a minimum basis for a quality management system and workshop requirements. It also describes the requirements for blade handling, operation and maintenance, to ensure a production environment that can facilitate the manufacturing of a blade in accordance with the design.
BS EN IEC 61400‑5 serves the purpose to provide a technical reference for designers, manufacturers, purchasers, operators, third-party organizations, and material suppliers, as well as defining requirements for certification.