Hydrothermal ageing of glass/epoxy composites for wind turbine blades

In this work, a glass/epoxy material system commonly applied in wind turbine design was used to evaluate damage processes brought by water ingression during service life. Composite short-beams and neat epoxy beams and dog-bones were conditioned by water immersion at 50º until saturation and tested both statically and in fatigue. By comparing...

Static and dynamic through thickness lamina properties of thick laminates

Thick laminates are increasingly present in large composites structures such as wind turbine blades. Different factors are suspected to be involved in the decreased static and dynamic performance of thick laminates. These include the effect of self-heating, the scaling effect, and the manufacturing process influence. The aim of this work is to...

Static and fatigue performance of thick laminates test design and experimental compression results

Recent results in characterisation and modeling of composites for wind turbine blades

Wind turbine rotor blades are large structures which are designed to withstand extreme loading at low cost. Material and structural characterisation through modeling combined with tests are continuously developed to enable further design optimisation, larger rotors and new design concepts. This paper discusses the latest developments in this...