Wind turbine explodes and topples - GIF

[Jon]

Wind turbine explodes and topples.




Previously:

Wind turbine blade counterweight - GIF
Flat packing a wind turbine - GIF
Enormous wind turbine blade transported over stone arch bridge - GIF

[rgsparber]

The fact that it was captured on video tells me they wanted to record this failure.

Rick

[toma]

Before the blade failure..one explosion on the ground happened..!

[Philip Davies]

There seems to be a vehicle close to the base explosion, which narrowly escaped destruction.

[astroracer]

Before the blade failure..one explosion on the ground happened..!

The impact on the ground is from a piece of one of the blades as it starts to come apart. And I agree with Rick on the "wanting it to happen" speculation. Insurance maybe? Letting it spin itself apart is cheaper then demolition costs?... Who knows...
Mark

[mklotz]

If the mechanism that feathers the blades in high winds fails, the blades will spin faster and faster. Folks living nearby might notice the speedup and anticipate what the results might be.

Recently I watched a TV documentary that described the problems they're having with erosion of the leading edges of the blades and the efforts required to repair said damage before a blade fracture occurs. While blade weakening may certainly be a factor here, I think the real culprit is malfunction of the feathering equipment and the resultant overspeeding of the blades.

[astroracer]

That makes sense to me... thanks Marv.

[Toolmaker51]

All good analyses, including insurance. The explosion at base might be fracturing bolts and footing. Interesting to me; two lowest blades about 120° and 240° fly off at their respective angle. Third blade however launches good as vertical, not re-entering GIF frame til 3-4 seconds later. If the speed shown by the lower blades any indication, #3 near certainly flew up 1 blade length, because it appears to have flipped end for end! Holy Moley!
So Marv, what altitude can be calculated as attained?

[PJs]

As I pecked through the vid it appears to me that the blade that first shreds at the tip actually hit the staunchion causing the shred, possibly from a high powered gust. The pieces that hit the ground in front of the truck appear to me to be blade fragments...but could be base bolts/anchors exploding as well.

Also interesting to see the truck jump up as the head hits the ground behind it.

[KustomsbyKent]

I agree with PJ's about the blade hitting the stauntion, and that's what caused it to disintegrate. A high gust of wind and/or over speeding of the blades likely caused that.
When my dad was alive in the late 1980's, he built some of his own wind generators, and he built his own blades. As a kid, I saw a few of these disintegrate when the blades flexed, hit the pole and blew apart just like this one. When his worked, they generated a lot of electricity for base board heaters.
I'm always happy to see the modern wind generators... It reminds me of my dad and what he was trying to accomplish on a personal level.