Leading Edge Rain Erosion and Lifetime Prediction of Advanced Polymer Coatings for Wind Turbine Blades

The increasing focus on sustainable living and the need to reduce dependency on fossil fuels has led to a growing interest in renewable energy sources. Among these, the wind energy sector has not only experienced significant growth in terms of numbers but also in size. Larger turbines lead to more severe leading-edge erosion and further increase...

A review of impact loads on composite wind turbine blades: Impact threats and classification

A fiber-reinforced composite wind turbine blade (WTB) is exposed to numerous impact threats during its service life causing damages that can be detrimental to its structural integrity. Currently, impact loads are not considered during blade design, so high safety factors are introduced, which result in a conservative design. However, as wind...

Multilayer Leading Edge Protection systems of Wind Turbine Blades: A review of material technology and damage modelling

In the immediate future, wind power will provide more electricity than any other technology based on renewable and low-emission energy sources. As a result, the size of offshore wind turbines has increased to harvest more wind energy in order to achieve the 2050 EU carbon neutral targets. The use of composites opens great prospects in the design...

Effect of dwell stage in the cure cycle on toughening of epoxy using thermoplastic multilayers

Epoxies with high cross-linking densities are brittle and hence have a low fracture toughness. However, different methods are known to increase fracture toughness. Numerous approaches are known to incorporate a second phase into the epoxy matrix, such as rubber, inorganic nanoparticles or thermoplastics, referred to as bulk resin modification....

How literature reviews influence the selection of fatigue analysis framework

Prediction models for fatigue in engineering applications are developed within a fatigue analysis framework, deliberately selected in some cases, but mostly chosen without substantiation. The proposition of this paper is that selecting the most appropriate framework can only be done with the knowledge and a complete overview of existing...

A circular hub for end-of-life wind turbine blades: Analysis of the location and magnitude of return volumes of wind turbine blades in and around the Netherlands until 2050 for the development of a circular wind hub at a Dutch port under the application of different circular strategies

Wind turbine blades are composed of complex composite material structures that are difficult to recycle at the end of their operational lifetime. As such, they are oftentimes landfilled or incinerated. Following the Circular Economy principles, there are a multitude of strategies that may be applied to these structures; these range from more to...

Minimum leading edge protection application length to combat rain-induced erosion of wind turbine blades

Leading edge erosion (LEE) repairs of wind turbine blades (WTBs) involve infield application of leading edge protection (LEP) solutions. The industry is currently aiming to use factory based LEP coatings that can applied to the WTBs before they are shipped out for installation. However, one of the main challenges related to these solutions is...

Structural reuse of wind turbine blades through segmentation

Composite materials offer many advantages during the use phase, but recovery at the end of a lifecycle remains a challenge. Structural reuse, where an end of life product is segmented into construction elements, may be a promising alternative. However, composites are often used in large, complex shaped products with optimised material...

Structural reuse of high end composite products: A design case study on wind turbine blades

Composite materials, in particular fibre reinforced polymers, present a challenge when reaching their end of life. Current recycling processes are unable to capture the high-end material quality, thus challenging (re)use of composite materials in a Circular Economy. Structurally reusing segmented parts of end-of-life products as construction...

Recycling wind turbine blades: A study into the possibilities of implementing pyrolysis as end of life solution for glass fibre reinforced composties from wind turbine blades in the Port of Rotterdam

Driven by the energy transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources aimed at mitigating global warming, the wind energy industry has increased significantly in the past decades. Until now, most research on renewable energy production is concentrated on increased efficiency and capacity and less attention is paid to possible secondary...

A valuable application for shredded composite material from wind turbine blades

The wind energy industry is growing significantly, which increases the number of decommissioned wind turbines as well. The blades of wind turbines are mainly made of fiber reinforced thermoset polymer composite, which is difficult to recycle. Most blades currently end up in landfill or incineration which is a waste of this high value material....