T0003T – Materials Technology and Materials Selection, Material Selection Project

L U L E Å U N I V E R S I T Y O F T E C H N O L O G Y T E A C H I N G 1
Introduction- Wind Turbine Blade
• Most critical component of Wind turbine

• Conversion of Wind energy to mechanical

energy

• Subjected to various static and aerodynamic

loads

• Complex curved geometry

Wind Turbine blade

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Introduction- Materials
Base materials (83wt% -
87wt%)
 E- Glass fiber reinforced Shell made of resin and fibre laminate
Epoxy
Spar made of resin and fibre laminate
 Carbon fiber reinforced
Epoxy
Root

Other materials
 Balsa wood
 Polymer adhesive
Structural adhesive
 Paint coatings
Core material (balsa wood)
 Steel nuts and bolts
Shear web in sandwich design
(fibre and core material)

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Introduction- Problem Statement

i. Difficult to recycle ii. Low strength compared to some advanced composites

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Material Selection Method- Demand Profile
FUNCTIONAL AND NON FUNCTIONAL DEMANDS
Functional Demands
 Shape stability
 Material Integrity
Non-Functional Demands
 Recyclability
 CO2 footprint
 Low embodied energy
 Cost
ENVIRONMENTAL DEMANDS
Mechanical Demands
 High fatigue strength
 High fracture toughness
 High E modulus
Chemical Demands
 Water: acceptable
 Water(salt): acceptable
 Weak acids: acceptable
 Weak bases: acceptable
Physical Demands
 UV radiation: fair
 Temperature resistance:100 and -50 C ̊
Biological Demands
 Bird strikes : high toughness
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Stage 1: Screening
Screening Criteria
Screening Result: 519 of 4169 Materials Passed

On the basis of Thermal, Physical and Chemical

Demands of current material (Glass fiber
reinforced Epoxy)

 Max Service Temperature: 100 degree Celsius

 Min Service Temperature: -50 degree Celsius

 Resistance against Water (Salt): Acceptable,

Excellent
 Resistance against Weak Acids : Acceptable,
Excellent

 UV Radiation (Sunlight): Fair, Good, Excellent

 Recycle fraction in current supply: 0,1

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Stage 2: Ranking
Merit indices

Stiffness Fatigue strength after Fracture

/density 𝟏𝟎𝟕 cycles/density toughness/ density

Bending E1/3/ρ sf/ρ KIC1/2/ρ

• E1/3/r slope 3 C= E1/3/r

• KIC1/2/r slope 2
• sf/r slope 1

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Stage 3: Final selection
1.Selection of materials 2.Weight factor

Merit indices E1/3/r sf/r KIC1/2/r

Material E1/3/r - 0,30
Cyanate ester/HM carbon fibre 0,00422 0,795 0,00444
KIC1/2/r - 0,35
PEEK/IM carbon fibre 0,00339 0,928 0,00556
BMI/HS carbon fibre 0,0031 0,648 0,00506 sf/r - 0,35
Epoxy aramid fibre 0,00298 0,534 0,00572
Epoxy/S-glass fibre 0,0019 0,222 0,00487

3.Final material selection

Merit index contribution Cost(SEK/Kg)

Cyanate ester/HM 0,28107 1980-2210

carbon fibre
PEEK/IM carbon fibre 0,327763 993-1130
BMI/HS carbon fibre 0,229501 902-1080
Epoxy aramid fibre 0,189796 451-742
Epoxy/S-glass fibre 0,0799745 184-293

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Production Method
Automated Fibre Placement (AFP) and Automated Tape Laying (ATL)
Advantages
 Shorter processing cycle
 Limited amount of scrap or excess material
 Improvement in positioning and distribution of material
 Repetitive results
 Low labour costs

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Final comparison

• Have we managed to overcome the problems

faced by actual wind turbine blades?

Density Yield Young's KIC Fatigue 𝑪𝑶𝟐 footprint Embodied energy Durability
(kg/m^3) Strength Modulus (MPa.m^0,5) Strength (Kg/Kg) (MJ/Kg) Recyclability
(MPa) (GPa) (MPa)

PEEK/IM 1550-1570 2410-2430 146-149 68-83,2 1330-1580 48,9-53,9 709-781 Water: excellent
Water(salt): excellent PEEK:
carbon fibre
Weak acids: excellent thermoplastic
Weak bases: excellent

Epoxy/E- 1750-1970 375-516 26,4 19,3-31 41,3-91,1 5,88-6,49 99,6-110 Water: excellent
Water(salt): excellent Epoxy:
glass fibre Weak acids: acceptable
Weak bases: limited use
thermoset

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Feasibility Study
Birch wood for Wind Turbine Blade
Density Yield Young's KIC Fatigue 𝑪𝑶𝟐 footprint Embodied energy Durability
(Kg/m^3) Strength Modulus (MPa.m^0,5) Strength (Kg/Kg) (MJ/Kg) Recyclability
(MPa) (GPa) (MPa)

Birch 620-760 3,42- 4,2 2,13 0,52-0,63 1,71- 2,1 0,574- 0,633 11,6- 12,8 Water: limited use
Water(salt): limited use Excellent
Weak acids: limited use
Weak bases: acceptable

Epoxy/E- 1750-1970 375-516 26,4 19,3-31 41,3-91,1 5,88-6,49 99,6-110 Water: excellent
Water(salt): excellent Epoxy:
glass fibre Weak acids: acceptable
Weak bases: limited use
thermoset

Potential Use

 Core material in the sandwich structure of Large Scale Wind Turbine blade

 Entire solid blade for Small Wind Turbine- SWT (blade length< 6.5m)

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L U L E Å U N I V E R S I T Y O F T E C H N O L O G Y T E A C H I N G 12