An Innovative Technique for Evaluating the Integrity and Durability of Wind Turbine Blade Composites - Final Project Report

Wang, Jy-An John¹  Ren, Fei¹  Tan, Ting¹  Mandell, John²  Agastra, Pancasatya² 

[1] ORNL;Montana State University

关键词: AERODYNAMICS;    COMPOSITE MATERIALS;    CONSTRUCTION;    DESIGN;    EFFICIENCY;    FIBERS;    FRACTURE PROPERTIES;    GLASS;    MONITORS;    PERFORMANCE;    SHAPE;    TORSION;    TURBINE BLADES;    WIND TURBINES Spiral notch torsion test;    wind turbine blades;    polymeric composites;    fracture;    mixed mode;   

DOI  :  10.2172/1029575
RP-ID  :  ORNL/TM-2011/449
PID  :  OSTI ID: 1029575
Others  :  Other: EB2501030
Others  :  CEEB004
Others  :  TRN: US201201%%147

美国|英语

来源: SciTech Connect

【 摘 要 】

To build increasingly larger, lightweight, and robust wind turbine blades for improved power output and cost efficiency, durability of the blade, largely resulting from its structural composites selection and aerodynamic shape design, is of paramount concern. The safe/reliable operation of structural components depends critically on the selection of materials that are resistant to damage and failure in the expected service environment. An effective surveillance program is also necessary to monitor the degradation of the materials in the course of service. Composite materials having high specific strength/stiffness are desirable for the construction of wind turbines. However, most high-strength materials tend to exhibit low fracture toughness. That is why the fracture toughness of the composite materials under consideration for the manufacture of the next generation of wind turbines deserves special attention. In order to achieve the above we have proposed to develop an innovative technology, based on spiral notch torsion test (SNTT) methodology, to effectively investigate the material performance of turbine blade composites. SNTT approach was successfully demonstrated and extended to both epoxy and glass fiber composite materials for wind turbine blades during the performance period. In addition to typical Mode I failure mechanism, the mixed-mode failure mechanism induced by the wind turbine service environments and/or the material mismatch of the composite materials was also effectively investigated using SNTT approach. The SNTT results indicate that the proposed protocol not only provides significant advance in understanding the composite failure mechanism, but also can be readily utilized to assist the development of new turbine blade composites.