Lightweight, high performance carbon or carbon/glass hybrid blades could significantly improve wind turbine performance if three main hurdles could be overcome: the high cost of carbon fibers, inadequate durability, and the difficulty in designing hybrid materials. This project will combine failure analysis and durability analysis methods to fully characterize the complex nature of the hybrid materials, and develop an advanced design method for wind turbine blades. In Phase I, an advanced design method for the carbon and hybrid wind turbine blades will be developed. The design will include an easy-to-use tool for characterizing the complex stress state and failure mechanism of hybrid materials, and a cost analysis of the blade itself as well as the entire system. In Phase II, a reliable, cost-effective, high performance hybrid blade will be designed, built, and tested.
Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by the awardee: The advanced design method developed in this study should be applicable to the design of future carbon/glass hybrid wind turbine blades. In addition, the hybrid design technology could be applied to any composite structure such as for general aviation, trains, containers, and infrastructure
