Understanding the fatigue behavior of tidal turbine blades

Tidal turbines are prone to various failure mechanisms such as micro-cracks, delamination between fibres and matrix resins, chemical and physical aging from salinity, bio-fouling etc. Among these phenomena, water ingress due to diffusion under submerged conditions makes them seriously vulnerable to reduced service life.The aim of this research project is to predict the effects of aging by a de-coupled approach in order to understand the fatigue failure behaviour of tidal turbine blades made of fibre-reinforced composites. For this, essential experiments such as three-point, four-point flexural and biaxial fatigue tests will be conducted in submerged conditions under ambient and elevated temperatures. Furthermore, the same tests will be performed in air under ambient and elevated temperatures. Computational methods have already proved successful in simulating crack growths and various failure mechanisms. Based on experimental findings, continuum-based coupled models will be developed and validated to guide design techniques in the future to minimize the number of expensive structural tests that need to be performed.