With Altosens' force-sensing washers, bolted joints become digital – enabling continuous monitoring of preload forces through a simple retrofit solution. Altosens' predictive maintenance system increases wind turbine availability and reduces maintenance effort.
Altosens – Intelligent Bolt Monitoring to Prevent Failures
Altosens increases the availability of wind turbines and reduces both operational and lifetime extension costs with its innovative predictive maintenance solution. The system detects anomalies and predicts potential failures in critical bolted joints—especially those securing rotor blades—before they occur. This reduces unplanned downtime and enables more efficient deployment of maintenance personnel.
At the heart of the solution is a patented force-sensing washer, based on a novel sensor technology developed by Fraunhofer LBF. With dimensions identical to standard washers, these sensors can be seamlessly retrofitted into existing machinery, infrastructure, and wind turbines—without design modifications. The retrofit process is simple and can be carried out by existing staff without specialized measurement technology expertise.
The effectiveness of the solution has already been demonstrated on two 3.6 MW wind turbines, where bolt failures at the blade root were successfully predicted—a major step forward for safe and cost-effective turbine operation.
