Abstract
Parameters influencing the erosion behavior of the leading edges of wind turbine blade tips are investigated. Recent enhancements in structural sizes of wind turbines operating at extreme environments present critical challenges to performance and sustainability of wind energy production. In order to investigate the influence of the parameters controlling the erosion performance of the coatings under rain contacts, a systematic finite element simulation approach was implemented. Three main groups of parameters namely environmental, design, and manufacturing were investigated. The conducted investigations reveal desirable coating material characteristics and a simple indicator to select materials which protect leading edges against rain erosion. Moreover, the parameters such as surface properties, manufacturing aspects, and droplet shape were demonstrated to be critical in estimation of the coatings lifetime through numerical simulations. The introduced results provide a roadmap toward improved design of durable coatings for new wind turbine blades.
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