Rain droplet impact stress analysis for leading edge protection coating systems for wind turbine blades

T.H. Hoksbergen*, R. Akkerman, I. Baran

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

5 Citations (Scopus)
76 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

The energy transition requires clean energy production for which offshore wind shows high potential. The blade length of offshore wind turbines is currently exceeding 100 m with corresponding tip speeds of above 100 m s−1. The high tip speed blades interact with airborne rain droplets which causes high pressures that lead to erosion damage over time. Protective coatings are applied based on experimental data. In order to more effectively design coating systems, the current work discusses a numerical modeling framework for predicting the stress state in multilayered co-bonded hybrid thermoplastic/thermoset coating systems. The effects on the resulting stress state were studied for changes in layer thickness, interphase thickness of the bonding zone between multiple layers, droplet diameter, coating material properties, voids and other inclusions as well as surface roughness. It was found that the design of the coating system significantly influences the dynamic stress state and as a result, the performance as a protection layer for wind turbine blades. Stress concentrations arise due to interactions of stress waves with interfaces and/or inclusions. A coating layer thickness limit was
derived based on the stress concentrations and it was shown that the stress waves interact with surface defects causing fatigue crack growth around initial defects.
Original languageEnglish
Article number119328
Number of pages11
JournalRenewable energy
Volume218
Early online date18 Sept 2023
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2023

Keywords

  • UT-Hybrid-D

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