Composite Structures 176 (2017) 812–822

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Composite Structures
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/compstruct

Experimental and theoretical similitude analysis for flexural bending of

scaled-down laminated I-beams
M.E. Asl ⇑, C. Niezrecki, J. Sherwood, P. Avitabile
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Massachusetts Lowell, One University Avenue, Lowell, MA 01854, United States

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: In this paper, similitude theory is presented as a methodology on how to design a meaningful scaled-
Received 3 January 2017 down subcomponent that emulates the strain field experienced in the full-scale component. The scaling
Revised 9 May 2017 laws for the flap-wise bending of a laminated composite I-beam with shear deformability are derived
Accepted 7 June 2017
based on the similitude analysis. The set of scaling laws is treated as a criterion to design a scaled-
Available online 9 June 2017
down laminated I-beam that is partially similar to a full-scale I-beam that is representative of what is
used in a utility-scale wind turbine rotor blade. The designed I-beam is manufactured and loaded using
Keywords:
a three-point bending test while digital image correlation is used to measure the strain and displacement
Similitude
Sub-component testing
fields. The analytical solution is examined with the measured strain and displacement values and a finite
Laminated I-beam element simulation for validation. With the derived scaling laws shown to be credible, they are then
Scaling law applied to the measured strain and displacement values of the scaled-down I-beam to predict the corre-
Wind turbine blade sponding values of the full-scale I-beam. The scaled model is shown to replicate the strain field of its full-
scale parent I-beam. Moreover, applicability of the scaled beam in predicting the displacement field of the
full-scale I-beam using experimental data is demonstrated.
Ó 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
The certification of a new material system to be used in the
manufacture of a wind turbine blade begins with coupon testing
of the materials and lead up to the full-scale testing of a blade
made with this new material system. Coupon testing does not nec-
essarily represent the performance of the new material systems
when used in blades, and full-scale blade testing is laborious and
costly, e.g. on the order of $300 k to $500 k per full-blade test.
The coupon testing and the full-scale testing are both required
for certification of the new materials (e.g. bio-based and recyclable
resin systems) and design variations incorporated to utility-scale
wind turbine blades. The costs associated with the manufacture
of a new blade type and the time associated with the full-scale
testing of the blade type, are significant barriers to use new mate-
rial systems in utility-scale blades. Subcomponent testing has the
potential to overcome the gap between the full-scale and coupon
tests and to reduce the overall time and expense to certify a new
material system.
The design of subcomponent tests of the wind turbine blade has
been pursued in several studies. Mandell et al. [1] developed lam-
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: mohamad_eydaniasl@student.uml.edu (M.E. Asl).
inated beams emulating the cross section geometry of a wind tur-
bine rotor blade and loaded the designed beams in a four-point
bending test. The measured deflection of the beams was in agree-
ment with the simple beam theory prediction and the finite ele-
ment model. However, the correlation between the designed
specimens and the parent I-beam geometry was not studied. Cairns
et al. [2] designed a pull-out test for the root stud section of the
blade. Mandell et al. [3] pursued an experimental study on the
transition angle of the sandwich panels to the spar cap region of
the wind turbine blade. The designed subcomponents were aimed
to determine the optimal transition angle between the sandwich
panel and the spar cap using the fracture loads in the tension tests.
Laustsen et al. [4] pursued an experimental and numerical study to
investigate the load response and failure behavior of a grid-scored
composite sandwich panel when subjected to quasi-static multiax-
ial loading conditions. A multiaxial test fixture was developed and
two criteria for predicting the initiation of the failure were pro-
posed. Sayer et al. [5] proposed the Henkel beam design to inves-
tigate the performance of the bonding paste under combined
loading and later used this subcomponent to study the effect of
the bond-line thickness on the flexural stiffness of the beam [6].
Kleiner et al. [7] developed the modified designs for Henkel beam
for fatigue testing by adding reinforcement and increasing the
length of the beam. Two symmetric and asymmetric laminated I-

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.compstruct.2017.06.017
0263-8223/Ó 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 M.E. Asl et al. / Composite Structures 176 (2017) 812–822
beams were designed by Zarouchas et al. [8] emulating the spar
caps and the sandwich shear web of the blade to determine the
failure mechanisms using the digital image correlation and acous-
tic emission techniques [9]. Jensen [10] investigated a box girder to
examine the dominant failure modes of a flap-wise loaded wind
turbine blade. The length of the tested box girder was 35 m and
the dominant failure modes were characterized using different
measurement techniques. Tippmann et al. [11] tested a scaled-
down 9-m wind turbine blade that was constructed with several
embedded defects representing the most common manufacturing
defects typically found in a utility-scale wind turbine blade. White
et al. [12] developed a dual-axis fatigue test on a truncated wind
turbine blade using the resonance excitation with forced hydraulic
loading. These previous efforts on subcomponent testing of wind
turbine blades cover a wide range of design in size and detail
and provide a means to study material behavior without pursuing
a full blade test. However, none of the studies used a defined math-
ematical methodology based on the governing equations and
structural similarity of the subcomponent and its parent compo-
nent to directly derive the configuration of the subcomponent from
the configuration of the parent component.
An important aspect to address in the design of a subcompo-
nent is for the subcomponent to be an effective representation of
its full-scale parent component. If a subcomponent is not an accu-
rate scaled-down representation of its full-scale parent compo-
nent, then the results from subcomponent testing will not be a
reflection of the mechanical behavior of the full-scale parent com-
ponent. Therefore, it is critical to understand how the experimental
data from the testing of a subcomponent can be extrapolated to its
full-scale component. The relationship between the designed sub-
component (referred to as the ‘‘model”) and its full-scale parent
component (referred to as the ‘‘prototype”) must be derived from
the governing equations that describe the response of the proto-
type and its scaled models for different loading conditions
(Fig. 1). The structural parameters that describe the relationship
between the prototype and the scaled models are referred to as
the scaling laws which can be derived directly from the governing
equations and are descriptor of the structural similarity between
the model and the prototype.
Fig. 1. Schematic geometry of the prototype (top) and its scaled model with
different layup than that of the prototype (bottom).
813
To conclude structural similarity, similitude analysis can pro-
vide the necessary and sufficient requirements between model
and prototype. These similarity conditions can be extracted using
either dimensional analysis or direct use of the governing equa-
tions, in which the latter results in specific scaling laws. Some of
the best examples of the application of Similitude Analysis has
been done by Simitses and Rezaeepazhand [13]. They demon-
strated the credibility of similitude analysis when they derived
the similarity conditions for the buckling of orthotropic and sym-
metric cross-ply laminated plates using the direct approach. They
applied the same approach to extract the scaling laws for the vibra-
tion of scaled laminated rectangular plates [14] and to determine
the stability condtions for the scaled-down composite plates under
shear and axial loads [15,16]. The same approach was extended
and further developed in their work to investigate the applicability
of predicting the vibration frequencies of the laminated shells
using scaled models [17,18]. Based on their analytical results, the
ply-level scaling technique may be used to design scaled models
that accurately predict the vibration frequencies of their full-
scale prototype. The designed models using ply-level scaling accu-
rately predict the response of their full-scale prototype when the
governing equations used in the derivation of the scaling laws
are valid and applicable (i.e. within the linear elastic range of the
response). The scaled models designed using ply-level scaling can
replicate the stress and strain fields of their prototype in a fatigue
test as long as the loading condition is within the linear elastic
range of the structural response of the structure. The similarity
of the failure modes may also be investigated only if the relevant
governing equations and scaling laws that predict the failure of
the structure are included in the design procedure. However, use
of ply-level scaling is limited to specific lamination schemes and
no systematic approach was suggested to design the scaled models
when ply-level scaling requirements cannot be completely
satisfied.
Numerous experimental studies have been pursued to deter-
mine the effect of scaling on strength and stiffness of the compos-
ite laminated structures which is referred to as the size effects in
literature. The ultimate question in size effect studies is to deter-
mine whether strength and stiffness are affected by scaling. From
the conclusions of the most studies on size effects, one can say that
the size effect on stiffness is almost nonexistent [19–21]. However,
the effect of size on strength of composite structures may not be
negligible. Jackson et al. [19] pursued an experimental study on
composite laminated beams and concluded that there is consider-
able size effect on strength of the beams. Grimes et al. [22] con-
cluded that for bonded laminated structures, the largest size
effect on static strength is less than 4.5% which was shown to be
a result of poor quality tooling and differences in environmental
exposure. O’Brien [23] used a fracture mechanic approach in con-
junction with Weibull statistics and suggested that the effect of
scaling on strength comes from different damage sequences which
occur in different scales. According to these studies, one can say
with confidence that effect of size on stiffness is negligible while
more work on strength needs to be done.
Several experimental studies have been pursued to investigate
the creditability of structural similitude and accuracy of the scaling
laws. Meruane et al. [24] carried out an experimental modal anal-
ysis to verify the derived scaling laws for flexural vibration of rect-
angular plates. Luo et al. [25] derived the scaling laws for vibration
of a thin-walled annular plate and performed the impact hammer
test on the plates with different scales to compare the experimen-
tal frequencies with the predicted frequencies using the scaling
laws. Torkamani et al. [26] derived the scaling laws for free vibra-
tions of orthogonally stiffened cylindrical shells and experimen-
tally evaluated the accuracy of the derived scaling laws. The
predicated frequencies using the similitude analysis were in good
814 M.E. Asl et al. / Composite Structures 176 (2017) 812–822
agreement with experimental data from the modal test. Ilbeigi
et al. [41] proposed a method to design reduced scale models for
an euler-bernoulli beam and later they extended the proposed
technique to study reduced scale models for systems with dis-
parate spatial and temporal scales [42].
In two previous works by the authors [27,28], a clear methodol-
ogy was proposed to design the partially similar models for a sim-
ply supported laminated plate. The degree of similarity between
the model and the prototype was evaluated based on the derived
scaling laws from governing equations. The fidelity of the devel-
oped models in predicting the structural response of the parent
prototype was shown to be proportional to the discrepancy of
the models in satisfying the requirements of the similarity. The
same approach was improved in the later studies [29] to develop
scaled-down laminated beams that emulate the spars and shear
web section of a commercial-scale wind turbine blade. They
derived the scaling laws for similarity of the strain fields [43,44]
and developed structural similarity conditions for vibration predic-
tion [45] and dynamic characterization [46] in composite I-beams.
These spar caps and the shear web of the wind turbine blade
carry the majority of the aerodynamic loads applied to the rotor
blade and are structurally critical as they form the backbone of
the blade and make an interesting case study to develop a subcom-
ponent test. Kensche et al. [30] pursued a review on fatigue aspects
of fiber reinforced plastics used in wind turbine and identified the
shear web and the spar caps as the fatigue-critical region of the
blade. Raman et al. [31] conducted a numerical study and sug-
gested that bonded joints, root section and trailing-edge of the
blade are the critical zones in the blade. Haselbach et al. [32] con-
ducted a numerical study to investigate the ultimate strength of a
blade in a trailing-edge failure dominated load direction. Branner
et al. [33] proposed a static subcomponent test to mimic the com-
pressive loading of the trailing edge panels and bond-lines. Hasel-
bach et al. [34] pursued a numerical study on the delaminations in
the spar cap of a 8.65 m blade subjected to the flap-wise bending
moment and concluded that delamination induced buckling modes
in the spar caps have to be considered critical. Branner et al. [35]
investigated the compressive strength of the thick panels used in
the spar caps of the blade in an experimental study and showed
that large delaminations in the spar caps may cause instant failure
of the component. Chen et al. [36] pursued an investigation on the
failure of a 52.3 m composite blade and identified the delamination
of unidirectional laminates in the spar cap as the root cause of the
catastrophic failure of the blade. The design of a subcomponent to
mimic the spar caps and the shear web of the blade bonded
together using the material systems used in the utility-scale blade
allows investigating the structural performance and fatigue life of
the critical regions of the blade in an expedited and less expensive
way compared to the full-scale testing. The spar caps and the shear
web are typically combined to form an I-beam, C-beam or
Box beam.
Because wind turbine rotor blades are made of laminated mate-
rials, design of a scaled-down model can be a challenge because the
thickness of the plies in a composite laminate cannot be scaled
down to any desired ratio. Although structural similarity between
the scaled subcomponent and the full-scale component is critical,
any subcomponent design must satisfy the manufacturability
requirements as well. The structural similarity requirements are
derived from the governing equations and the manufacturability
limitations are also considered to achieve a design for the scaled
subcomponent that is practical to be manufactured.
In the current research, the I-beam configuration has been
selected with the objective to design a scaled-down composite I-
beam that has a strain distribution that is the same as its full-
scale counterpart. The similarity of the strain fields between the
two scales can be used to characterize the mechanical behavior
of a new material on a smaller scale than on a full-scale part with-
out any loss in the fidelity of the testing. Similitude analysis is
applied to the I-beam geometry of a commercial-scale wind tur-
bine rotor blade [37] to create a second scaled-down model.
Because a typical wind-blade I-beam is twisted and tapered, these
‘‘distortions” present a challenge in developing a sub-component
design based on a closed-form set of governing equations. As a con-
sequence, this second scaled-down model is designed using the
Distorted Layup Scaling technique [29]. Because the Distorted
Layup Scaling technique is used, the model is only partially similar
to its full-scale prototype in the blade. To achieve the complete
similarity between model and the prototype, the structural simi-
larity conditioned derived from the governing equations must be
fully satisfied. For a laminated structure, the structural similarity
between the scaled model and the prototype is fully satisfied only
if ply-level scaling technique is applied. However, ply-level scaling
is only applicable to specific lamination schemes. When complete
similarity is not applicable, the partial similarity is sought between
the model and the prototype where some of the structural similar-
ity conditions are relaxed or partially satisfied to design a model
that is partially similar to its prototype. In this study, the partial
similarity between the scaled subcomponent and the full-scale
prototype is sought using the Distorted Layup Scaling technique
as ply-level scaling technique is not applicable due to the proto-
type lamination scheme. The designed model is manufactured
and loaded in a three-point bending test, and the normal strain dis-
tribution and transverse deflection along the span of the bottom
flange of the I-beam are measured using the digital image correla-
tion (DIC) technique for the different prescribed loads. The loading
condition was selected such that the strain level applied to the
scaled subcomponent is comparable to that of the blade near its
maximum chord region during the fatigue testing. The designed
model replicates a specific segment of the blade and the three
point loading was applied to the scaled subcomponent to induce
the same strain field the spar caps of the blade experience at that
specific region (i.e. the maximum chord) in a flap-wise bending
loading condition. Measured strain and displacement values are
compared to the finite element simulation and the analytical
model [38,39]. Derived scaling laws are applied to the measured
full-field normal strain to predict the strain distribution of the pro-
totype under adjusted loads and to demonstrate the similarity of
strain fields between the two scales, i.e. the model and the proto-
type. The similarity of the strain fields between the designed
scaled-down beams and the full-scale beam suggests that the
structural performance of the new materials (e.g. bio-based) can
be tested using a scaled-down model. Because the designed
small-scale beams replicate the strain field of the full-scale beam,
fatigue testing of the spar caps and shear web geometry of the
blade can be expedited and facilitated by use of the designed
scaled-down beams. Structural similarity ensures that the strain
field of the scaled model is similar to its full-scale counterpart
under adjusted loads calculated based on the derived scaling laws.
If the scaled model withstands the same strain levels applied to its
full-scale counterpart during the high-cycle fatigue testing of the
blade (i.e. two million cycles or 20 years of the accelerated dam-
age), then the full-scale counterpart may also survive during the
test because the scaled model and full-scale component have the
same material system and experience the same strain levels. The
transverse deflection of the prototype is also predicted by using
the measured deflection of the model with different scaling laws.
Estimating the deflection of the prototype from the measured
deflection of the scaled model has significant importance for frac-
ture analyses of the adhesive connections in a wind turbine blade
[40]. Predicted strain and deflection values are compared to the
nominal analytical values to investigate the accuracy of the
designed model in replicating the strain field of the prototype
 M.E. Asl et al. / Composite Structures 176 (2017) 812–822 815

and also the applicability of the derived scaling laws in predicting

the deflection of the prototype using experimental data are consid-
ered. Although a few experimental studies have been pursued on
the scaling of simple laminated geometries such as laminated
plates [13], the applicability of the scaled models for the complex
laminated geometries has not been verified experimentally before
now. This study presents the first experimental work on a scaled
laminated composite I-beam structure with the laminated flanges
and sandwich shear web. The feasibility of using a complex scaled
laminated structure for characterization purposes is demonstrated
and the proposed technique for the design of a scaled laminated
model which is partially similar to its prototype is verified
experimentally.
The proposed approach in this study can be used to design a
generic composite laminated model that is structurally similar to
its full-scale subcomponent. The designed subcomponent helps
the manufacturer to test new material systems (e.g. resin, fiber
and bonding adhesive) in a configuration which replicates the
strain field that the full-scale component experiences during its
working condition. This primary experimental assessment using
a scaled model of the structurally critical subcomponent of the
structure increases the manufacturer assurance for use of the
new materials before making the full-scale structure from the
new material system relying only on the data from coupon tests. Fig. 2. Geometry and coordinates of the laminated I-beam with sandwich shear
web.

2. Mathematical model

The governing equations for flexural bending of a laminated the cross-section geometry of the composites. Assuming the thin
composite I-beam are introduced in this section. The closed form wall does not deform in its own plate and the Kirchhoff-Love
solutions for deflection and normal strain distribution for an I- assumption in classical plate theory remains valid for laminated
beam placed in a three-point bending configuration are derived. composite thin-walled beams, For I-section shapes, the explicit
The scaling laws are developed and their applicability in design expressions may be derived using a variational formulation as
of the scaled models and predicting the response of the prototype described in [20]:
is discussed.
The first step in the application of Similitude Theory for the cur-
ð3Þ
rent research is to derive the equation for the normal strain distri- b3 3
ðEIx Þcom ¼ ½Aa11 yð2Þ a a
a  2B11 ya þ D11 ba þ A ð1cÞ
bution in the prototype. In this study, the prototype is a laminated 12 11
I-beam consisting of two flanges and a sandwich web with sym-
metric layup connected together using the adhesive bond-line with ðGAx Þcom ¼ Aa55 ba þ A366 b3 ð1dÞ
the material systems similar to that of the spar cap and shear web
where A11 ; A66 ; A55 ; B11 and D11 indicate the extensional, coupling
section of a wind turbine blade near its maximum chord. The flap-
and bending stiffness coefficients for a laminated composite layup.
wise bending of the prototype with simply-supported boundary
The repeated indices indicate the summation and the superscript in
conditions in absence of the thermal effects is considered.
the parenthesis () is the power of the exponent. The symbol a is a
Tension-torsion coupling effects do not exist because of the sym-
summation index varying from 1 to 3 where the indices 1 and 2
metrical ply layups of the flanges and the web and the symmetry
indicate the top and bottom flanges, and 3 is for the shear web,
in the geometry. Torsion and its corresponding scaling laws were
respectively as shown in Fig. 2 and ba represents width of the top
not included because a higher-order torsional mode is unlikely to
and bottom flanges and the web.
occur during normal operating conditions of a wind turbine blade.
Eqs. (1c) and (1d) can be written for a geometrically symmetric
Thus, torsion does not significantly contribute to the amplitude of
I-beam with respect to x and y axis including symmetric and bal-
vibration that attributes to fatigue accumulation [37]. In the
anced laminated flanges and the web as:
absence of any coupling effects, the governing equations for flexu-
ral bending of the shear-deformable laminated I-beam with
respect to x-axis are given by [39]: ð3Þ
f f ð2Þ bw w
ðEIx Þcom ¼ ½2A11 y1 þ 2D11 bf þ A ð1eÞ
12 11
0
ðGAx Þcom ðV 00 þ W
xÞ ¼p ð1aÞ f
ðGAx Þcom ¼ 2A55 bf þ 2Aw w
55 bw þ A66 bw ð1fÞ
00 0
ðEIx Þcom W  ðGAx Þcom ðV þ Wx Þ ¼ 0
x ð1bÞ where f and w represent the flange and the web, respectively. The
extensional, coupling and bending stiffness coefficients
where p is the point load, V indicates the displacement in y direc- Aij ; Bij and Dij for a laminated plate are defined as the following:
tion and the symbol Wx is the rotation of the cross-section with
Z h N Z
X zkþ1
respect to x-axis as shown in Fig. 2. The prime (0 ) indicates differen- 2
ðkÞ
ðAij ; Bij ; Dij Þ ¼ Q ij ð1; z; z2 Þdz ¼ Q ij ð1; z; z2 Þdz ð1gÞ
tiation with respect to z-axis. The symbols ðGAx Þcom and ðEIx Þcom h2 zk
k¼1
denote the shear and flexural stiffnesses of the laminated composite
with respect to x-axis, respectively. The terms ðEIx Þcom and ðGAx Þcom where Q ij are the transferred plane stress-reduced stiffnesses, h
are general expressions for arbitrary cross sections and depend on denotes the laminate thickness and N is the total number of the
816 M.E. Asl et al. / Composite Structures 176 (2017) 812–822

plies. The closed-form solution of the normal strain ezz and trans- The second term of Eq. (1c) vanishes for a symmetric layup for
verse deflection for the uncoupled Eqs. (1a) and (1b) can be derived the flanges and the web (i.e. B11 = 0). Upon applying the similarity
for the concentrated point load and simply-supported boundary transformation to Eq. (1e) and Eq. (1f), the following scaling laws
condition as [20]: can be derived:
pyz
ezz ¼ ð2aÞ
2ðEIx Þcom kðEIx Þcom ¼ kAf k2y1 kbf ¼ kDf kbf ¼ kAw11 k3bw ð6Þ
11 11

3    z3  z
pl z pl kðGAx Þcom ¼ kAf kbf ¼ kAw55 kbw ¼ kAw66 kbw ð7Þ
t0 ðzÞ ¼ 3 4 þ ð2bÞ
48ðEIx Þcom l l 2ðGAx Þcom l 55

In this study, the flanges and the shear web of the models are
In Eq. (2b), the first and second terms represent the deflection
geometrically scaled with the same ratio as the length scale factor
by Euler beam theory and the deflection due to shear deformabil-
(i.e. kbf ¼ kbw ¼ kl ) so the models hold the same geometrical length
ity, respectively.
ratios as their prototype. As the third term in Eq. (1c) is negligible
The scaling laws are derived based on the standard similitude
for a thin-walled beam (i.e. D11 ? 0), Eq. (3) can be written as the
analysis [13]. The parameters of the governing equations of the
following scaling laws using Eqs. (6) and (7).
prototype ðxp Þ are assumed to be connected to those of the model
ðxm Þ by one-to-one mapping and similarity transformation is kAf ¼ kAw11 ¼ kAf ¼ kAw55 ¼ kAw66 ð8Þ
11 55
defined as kx ¼ xp =xm where kx indicates the scale factor for param-
Alternatively, the response scaling laws Eqs. (4a)–(5) may be
eter x. Applying the similarity transformation to Eq. (2) results in
written using Eqs. (6) and (7) as the following:
the following scaling factors:
kðEIx Þcom kp k2l kz kp k2l kz kp k2l kz
k2l ¼ ð3Þ kt0 ¼ ¼ ¼ ð9Þ
kðGAx Þcom kAf k2y1 kbf kDf kbf kAw k3b
11 11 11 w

kp k2l kz kp kz kp kz kp kz
kt0 ¼ ð4aÞ kt0 ¼ ¼ ¼ ð10Þ
kðEIx Þcom kAf kbf kAw55 kbw kAw55 kbw
55

kp kz kp k3z kp k3z kp k3z

kt0 ¼ ð4bÞ kt0 ¼ ¼ ¼ ð11Þ
kðGAx Þcom kAf k2y1 kbf kDf kbf kAw k3b
11 11 11 w

kp k3z kp ky kz kp ky kz kp ky kz
kt0 ¼ ð4cÞ kezz ¼ ¼ ¼ ð12Þ
kðEIx Þcom kDf kbf kAw k3b
kAf k2y1 kbf 11 11 w
11

kp ky kz The layup and geometry of the prototype I-beam represent the

kezz ¼ ð5Þ
kðEIx Þcom
The derived scaling laws describe the necessary conditions for
similarity of two composite I-beams in bending with different
scales and the relationship between their deflections and normal
strain distributions. Eq. (3) denotes that the ratio of the flexural
to shear stiffnesses has to be equivalent to the square of the length
ratio of the beams to ensure the structural similarity between the
prototype and its scaled model. Eqs. (4a)–(4c) describe the rela-
tionship between the transverse deflection of the prototype and
its scaled model based on their flexural and shear stiffness ratios
respectively. Eqs. (4a) and (4c) are both based on the flexural stiff-
ness kðEIx Þcom and essentially predict the same values when geomet-
rical scale factors kz and kl are equal. Eq. (5) denotes the
relationship between the normal strain fields of the model and
the prototype. Eq. (3) is a necessary condition that needs to be sat-
isfied before using Eqs. (4a)–(4c) for predicting the transverse
deflection. However Eq. (5) can be used independently to predict
the strain field of the different scales. Eq. (3) is a prerequisite for
using Eqs. (4a)–(4c) because the transverse deflection of the beam
depends on both the shear and flexural rigidity terms. A primary
observation on Eq. (3) suggests that for design of a scaled-down
I-beam to predict the deflection of its full-scale prototype, flexural
to shear rigidity ratios of the models and the prototype (i.e.
kðEIx Þcom and kðGAx Þcom ) must satisfy Eq. (3). However, to design a
model with similar normal strain field such a condition does not
exist and load, length and flexural rigidity ratios (i.e.
kp ; kz and kðEIx Þcom ) are the only required parameters. Based on this
observation, the models that are designed to predict the transverse
deflection can also be used for predicting the normal strain. How-
ever, the opposite may not be true.
spars and shear web of the Sandia 10 MW blade near its maximum
chord [37]. This blade was chosen because the details for its com-
posite construction are available in the open literature, and this
specific area of the blade was considered because many failures
in full-scale testing of the commercial-scale blades occur in or near
the maximum chord region due to the flap-wise bending. The pro-
totype is assumed to be a composite laminated I-beam consisting
of two identical flanges and a sandwich shear web with an overall
dimension of 29.3  2.446  1.5 m3. The flanges have the layup
½452 =046 s and ply thickness of t = 1.36 mm. The shear web is a
sandwich panel with the foam thickness of 160 mm and two face
sheets with layup ½4550 with an overall thickness of 17.5 mm.
All computations are implemented for the glass/epoxy materials
with following material characteristics [37]: E1 ¼ 41:8 GPa, E2 ¼
E3 ¼ 14 GPa, G12 ¼ G13 ¼ 2:63 GPa, G23 ¼ 1:83 GPa, t12 ¼ t13 ¼ 0:28,
t23 ¼ 0:47. To design a scaled-down model for the considered pro-
totype, the Distorted Layup Scaling method [29] was used to find
an appropriate layup for the model ensure the structural similarity
between the model and the prototype. Although, a model made
from isotropic materials would essentially show the same strain
levels under adjusted loads, its failure modes in a high-cycle fati-
gue test would be totally different than the materials used in the
spar-cap and shear web of a wind turbine-blade. Therefore, to have
a model that shows the same strain levels as its prototype and also
its fatigue test results could be incorporated to that of the proto-
type, the material system of the model was selected to be same
as the materials used in the prototype (i.e. the spar cap and the
shear web in a utility-scale wind turbine blade). The scale of the
model considered is 1/50 of the prototype (i.e. lp =lm ¼ 50) that
resulted in an overall dimension of 58.6  4.93  3 cm3 for the
model with two plies for each flange and a ply thickness same as
 M.E. Asl et al. / Composite Structures 176 (2017) 812–822
that of the prototype. Eq. (3) was considered to select the layup for
the model because the model was to predict both transverse
deflection and normal strain distribution of its prototype. As the
layup of the flanges of the prototype ½452 =046 s was symmetric
and balanced and Eq. (3) was derived for the same type of the
ply scheme, only symmetric and balanced layups were searched
for the scaled model. All the possible layups for the model consid-
ering its size and number of plies for the flanges were considered.
Models were assumed to have a combination of cross plies to be
practical for manufacturing. The candidate layups were selected
based on their accuracy in satisfying the design scaling law Eq.
(3). To find a layup with the least discrepancy in satisfying Eq.
(3), an error criterion was defined:
  
kEI
e¼ k2l  =k2l  100 ð13Þ
kGA
Models with a layup consisting of two plies and kl ¼ 50 were
searched including 0, 90 and 45 plies. The only possible symmet-
ric and balanced layups turned out to be ½02 and ½902 with their
associated error listed in Table 1 based on Eq. (11). The plies orien-
tation 0, 90 and 45 were considered intentionally to design a
scaled-model feasible to manufacture, however 45 plies did not
qualify for this design as they do not satisfy the laminate symmetry
condition. The layup ½02 was selected for manufacturing the
scaled-model because of showing less discrepancy in prediction
of the transverse deflection of the prototype for both response scal-
ing laws Eq. (4a) and Eq. (4b), as shown in Table 1. Although layup
½02 shows less error in predicting the deflection compared to layup
½902 for both deflection scaling laws (i.e. Eqs. (4a) and (4b)), error
values in Table 1 suggest that Eq. (4a) is the more accurate choice
to be used in conjunction with layup ½02 to estimate the deflection
of the prototype. This observation which is based on the analytical
derivations is verified experimentally in Section 4.2.
3. Numerical model
For the finite element analysis Abaqus version 6.13 was used.
The beam was modeled using the doubly-curved general purpose
shell element S8R with reduced integration. The model was dis-
cretized with 7500 nodes with the approximate characteristic
length element of 0.003 m. The displacement of the bottom flange
elements were restrained at the support locations in the direction
of the applied load. As shown in Fig. 3, a path was defined along the
bottom flange of the beam to extract the strain and displacement
values to be compared to the experimental and analytical values.
The distance of the supports from the free ends of the beam was
25.5 mm identical to that of the experimental setup. A static load
was applied in four increments from 222.4 N to 7778.5 N (i.e. 50
lbs to 175 lbs) identical to the loads applied to the analytical model
and the loaded beams in the experiment.
4. Experimental observations
Based on the similitude analysis in Section 2, three identical I-
beams with the specified geometries and ½02 layup for the flanges
were manufactured as shown in Fig. 4. The flanges were made from
Table 1
Symmetric and balanced ply schemes for a model with a total of two layers in the
flanges that only include 0 and 90 plies for the prototype layup ½452 =046 s .
Layup e Error in predicting deflection Error in predicting deflection
(%) using Eq. (4b) (%) using Eq. (4a) (%)
½02 11.4 4.5 1.0
½902 51.7 39.2 5.0
817
the unidirectional glass/epoxy materials, and the shear web was
constructed from a foam core wrapped in a 45 ply of glass/epoxy.
The flanges and the shear web were carefully bonded together
using the adhesive paste and were cured while the adhesive thick-
ness throughout the length of the beams were controlled using a
fixture. The manufactured specimens were loaded in a three-
point bending test configuration to investigate the correlation of
their strain and displacement fields with the analytical solution
and finite element simulation and to demonstrate their accuracy
in predicting the response of their full-scale prototype.
4.1. Strain field
I-beams were loaded in a three-point test setup with incremen-
tal static loads while DIC cameras were used to measure the full-
field strain distribution and displacement in the bottom flange of
the I-beams as shown in Fig. 5. The I-beams were loaded in four
quasi-static increments from 222.4 N to 778.5 N (i.e. 50 lbs–
175 lbs), and the full-field normal strain in the bottom flange of
the I-beams was recorded for each stage. The flanges of the I-
beam were the best candidates for the strain measurement
because they exhibit the highest level of strain compared to other
regions of the beam. The applied-load steps were adjusted to gen-
erate strain levels in the flanges high enough to be captured by the
cameras while remaining to be in the elastic range but far enough
away from loading levels that could induce cracking and subse-
quent beam failure. The noise floor for the normal strain ezz during
the measurement was 20 lm=m and 0:002 mm for the trans-
verse displacement. Because the primary purpose of the experi-
ment was to investigate the accuracy of the derived scaling laws
derived from a formulation valid for the linear elastic bending,
the beams were loaded in their elastic bending region to keep both
governing equations and the scaling laws valid for the entire study.
The average of the three experimental strain results was com-
pared to the ‘‘scaled” analytical model and to an Abaqus finite ele-
ment model. Fig. 6 shows the normal strain values in the bottom
flange of the I-beam for the analytical model, the Abaqus simula-
tion and the experimental data. Each solid line represents a pre-
scribed load in the analytical model, the associated dashed line
and data points denote the Abaqus solution and the experimental
data, respectively. From the results shown in Fig. 6, it can be con-
cluded that there is good correlation for the normal strain values
among the three approaches. The degree of correlation between
the experimental and simulation results increases as the load
increases. This increase is correlation is because the effect of the
noise floor on the measurement decreases as the level of strain
increases.
To investigate the applicability of the derived scaling laws and
the model in predicting the strain distribution of the prototype,
analytical strain values of the model were projected to those of
the prototype using the derived scaling law. The load applied to
the prototype was determined from Eq. (5) to have a normal strain
distribution in the bottom flange to be the same as the model (i.e.
kezz ¼ 1Þ. As shown in Fig. 7, the analytical strain values in the bot-
tom flange of the designed I-beam under maximum load (i.e.
P = 777 N) were projected to those of the prototype under the
adjusted load (i.e. kp ¼ 4) using the scaling law Eq. (5). An overlay
of the strain values of the prototype and the values as predicted by
the scaling laws indicate excellent agreement for the normal strain
scaling law Eq. (5) along with designed model in predicting the
strain distribution of the prototype. In this study, the designed
scaled model was loaded within the elastic region and away from
its ultimate strength limit. The analytical and simulation results
were in good agreement with the experimental data of the scaled
model. Therefore the analytical model and the finite element sim-
818 M.E. Asl et al. / Composite Structures 176 (2017) 812–822

Fig. 3. The Designed scaled model was loaded in a three-point bending configuration in four increments from 222.4 N to 7778.5 N and displacement and strain values were
extracted from the defined path on the bottom flange of the beam (red dotted line). (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to
the web version of this article.)

Fig. 4. (Left): The three manufactured I-beams each consisting of two flanges made of unidirectional glass/epoxy materials and a sandwich shear web constructed from a
foam core wrapped in a 45 ply of glass/epoxy. (Right): The flanges and the web were bonded together using the adhesive paste with a consistent adhesive thickness
throughout the length of the beams.

Fig. 5. Three-point bend test: (Left) Three-point bending test configuration of the designed I-beam for the full-field strain measurement using DIC cameras. (Right) Strain and
displacement values for transverse deflection of the I-beam were selected from the midline of the bottom flange of the I-beam.
 M.E. Asl et al. / Composite Structures 176 (2017) 812–822 819

Fig. 6. Comparison of the normal strains in the bottom flange of the designed I-beam for different prescribed loads in a three-point bending test configuration.

Fig. 7. Comparison between the predicted strain values of the prototype (red circles) with the analytical prototype strain values (blue dots) by projecting the analytical strain
values (green asterisks) of the model using derived scaling law Eq. (5) for the maximum load P = 777 N. (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the
reader is referred to the web version of this article.)

ulation are validated and verified using the experimental data from
testing of the scaled beam. As scaling doesn’t have any significant
effect on the beam stiffness [19–21] and the study is carried out in
the elastic range of the response, the analytical model and finite
element simulation are still applicable for a larger scale and are
used to accurately predict the strain and deflection of the
prototype.
Next, the accuracy of the derived scaling law Eq. (5) and the
designed model were investigated for prediction of the strain dis-
tribution of the prototype using the experimental data. Fig. 8
shows the comparison between the predicted strain distribution
of the prototype using the experimental values and their corre-
sponding analytical values for the two highest loads (i.e.
P = 666 N and P = 777 N). These two loading steps were selected
because they had the least influence from the noise floor of the
measurement setup. A very good correlation between the pre-
dicted and nominal strain values for both loading stages suggests
that the designed model can replicate the strain field of the proto-
type for the bottom flange. Additionally, the derived scaling law
accurately predicted the normal strain of the prototype when using
this experimental data.
4.2. Displacement field
To investigate the ability of the derived scaling laws and the
designed scaled beam in predicting the displacement field of the
prototype, a comparison between the displacement fields of the
designed scaled-down model and the prototype was pursued.
The transverse deflection for the bottom flange of the designed
beam was measured using the same test setup using DIC cameras
as shown in Fig. 5 and applied loads described in the previous sec-
tion. The measured deflection of the bottom flange of the beam
along its length span was compared to the analytical and finite ele-
ment models as shown in Fig. 9. A very good correlation between
measured data, the finite element and analytical models can be
observed especially for the two highest loading stages (i.e.
P = 666 N and P = 777 N). As the load increases, the correlation
between experimental data and analytical data improves because
the effect of the noise floor on the measured displacement field
decreases for larger deflections.
Next, the displacement field of the prototype is predicted by
analytical and experimental displacement fields of the designed
beam. The transverse deflection of the bottom flange of the model
along its length span is mapped to those of the full-scale prototype
using the scaling factors Eqs. (4a) and (4b) to evaluate the accuracy
of the scaling laws in predicting the displacement field of the pro-
totype. Fig. 10 shows the predicted values for the deflection of the
bottom flange of the prototype by projecting the experimental and
analytical values of the model using scaling law Eq. (4a). Predicted
values for the deflection of the prototype using scaling law Eq. (4b)
is shown in Fig. 11. According to Fig. 10 and Fig. 11, both scaling
laws show a very good accuracy in predicting the transverse
820 M.E. Asl et al. / Composite Structures 176 (2017) 812–822

Fig. 8. The comparison between the predicted strain values of the prototype (red circles) and their corresponding analytical values (blue dots) by projecting the experimental
strain values (pink asterisks, zoomed in) using derived scaling law Eq. (5) for the last two loading stages. (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend,
the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)

Fig. 9. Comparison of the transverse deflection of the bottom flange of the designed I-beam for different prescribed loads in a three-point bending test configuration.

deflection of the bottom flange of the prototype along its length
span. However, comparing the predicted values to the analytical
values of the prototype, suggests that scaling law Eq. (4a) under-
predicts the nominal deflection of the prototype whereas Eq. (4b)
over-predicts the nominal deflection values of the prototype. This
effect is more observable for the points with higher deflection val-
ues near the midpoint of the length span of the prototype. Compar-
ing the predicted deflection values of the prototype at the midpoint
using experimental values (i.e. red asterisks) in Figs. 10 and 11 sug-
gests that Eq. (4a) give a better prediction than Eq. (4b). Addition-
ally, overlay of the analytically predicted values (i.e. green circles)
to their corresponding nominal values (i.e. blue dots) for a larger
span in Fig. 10 compared to Fig. 11 suggests that Eq. (4a) predict
the deflection of the porotype more accurate than Eq. (4b). This
observation is also in agreement with the values shown in Table 1
for prediction errors of [02] layup which indicates that the scaling
law Eq. (4a) has less discrepancy in predicting the deflection com-
pared to the scaling law Eq. (4b). The analysis pursued in this paper
is valid within the linear elastic range of the response of the model
and may not be applicable to extrapolate the failure process of the
model to that of the full-scale prototype. This limitation is because
the governing equations used in this study are only valid within
the linear elastic range of the response of the structure. The goal
in this study was to provide a ‘‘design” methodology for a subcom-
ponent fatigue test so that the scaled model experiences the same
strain filed as its full-scale counterpart does during the fatigue test-
ing of the blade. This was achieved by similarity analysis of the
strain field and the fact that designed models and the full-scale
subcomponent should show same strain levels during the high-
cycle fatigue testing. For future work, a fracture mechanic analysis
may be used in conjunction with the similitude analysis to inves-
tigate the similarity conditions for the failure of the scaled lami-
nated structures.
5. Conclusion
An analytical design methodology accompanied by experimen-
tal validation was conducted to demonstrate the feasibility of using
scaled models to facilitate the certification procedure of the new
materials for commercial-scale wind turbine blades. Structural
similarity was investigated for flap-wise bending of a laminated
composite I-beam representative of the spar caps and the shear
 M.E. Asl et al. / Composite Structures 176 (2017) 812–822
Fig. 10. Comparison between analytical and predicted values for the deflection of
the bottom flange of the prototype by projecting the experimental and analytical
values of the model using scaling law Eq. (4a).
Fig. 11. Comparison between analytical and predicted values for the deflection of
the bottom flange of the prototype by projecting the experimental and analytical
values of the model using scaling law Eq. (4b).
web of a commercial-scale wind turbine rotor blade. The scaling
factors were derived from the governing equations based on the
standard similitude procedure. The scaled models were designed
using the derived scaling laws and their accuracy in satisfying
the similarity conditions. The layup for the flanges of the scaled
model was selected using the distorted layup scaling approach.
The designed scaled-down I-beam was manufactured and tested
in a three-point bending test configuration under incremental
loads while DIC cameras measured the displacement field and cal-
culated the strain distribution of the bottom flange of the I-beam.
The measured transverse deflection values were compared to the
analytical model and finite element simulation for model valida-
tion. The derived scaling laws were subsequently applied to the
analytical and experimental strain and displacement values of
the tested I-beam were used to estimate the strain and displace-
ment fields of the prototype for the adjusted loads. Excellent corre-
821
lation was observed between the predicted strain values obtained
via scaling laws and the nominal values for the prototype. The
results demonstrated that the designed scaled-down I-beam can
replicate the same strain field as the prototype in its bottom flange
using a smaller scale. The transverse deflection of the bottom
flange of the prototype was predicted by two different scaling laws
with very good accuracy. The accuracy of each scaling law in pre-
dicting the transverse deflection of the prototype was in agreement
with the estimated prediction error in the similitude analysis.
Acknowledgments
The support of this research by National Science Foundation
through Grant Number 1230884 (Achieving a Sustainable Energy
Pathway for Wind Turbine Blade Manufacturing) is gratefully
acknowledged. Special thanks go to Stephen Nolet from TPI Com-
posites Incorporation to help define the composition of the speci-
mens and the tests conducted. We also thank Andy Schoenberg
for CERL Company for fabricating the specimens.
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