Investigation of the impact of rain and particle erosion on rotor blade aerodynamics with an erosion test facility to enhancing the rotor blade performance and durability

Abstract

During their operational life span of around 20 years, the individual components of a wind turbine, especially the rotor blades, are exposed to extreme environmental influences. This is the result of the continuous exposure of wind turbines to the elements and of particularly high rotor blade tip speeds, which exceed a velocity of 90 m/s. These effects result in leading edge erosion. Rotor blades are therefore protected by special coating systems, e.g. varnishes and foils. The durability of those surface coatings varies depending on the location of the wind turbine and often proves to be insufficient. Additionally, there is no standardised test procedure for the evaluation of the durability and protective effect of the coating materials under the highly erosive conditions at the location of the wind turbines. In the course of this project, we will develop a testing procedure to evaluate the erosion of coating materials on actual leading edges of rotor blades, which will be applied in a test facility. The test rig will be capable of simulating a realistic application of rain and sand to gauge the effects of erosion. During the application, two test objects can be tested simultaneously. The geometry of the test objects will be adapted to represent that of real rotor blade tips. In order to generate comparable and transferable results, several challenges have to be met during the implementation, especially the realistic reproduction of environmental influences and the corrosion damage mechanism. In this regard, the duration of the test procedure is very important because a time lapse factor of 100-260 is intended. An operation of 20 years can thereby be simulated within 4 to 10 weeks.