Assesment of wind turbine blades resistance in abrasive wear

In the frame of latest requirements to improve the renewable energy harvesting, the wind turbines get more and more used. Due to the propeller sizes, the blades� materials must comply with high resistance and weight requirements. As consequence, composite materials with dedicated structures are used. These materials are designed for long life and, as consequence, are potential pollution factors for the environment, after turbine working life is ended. Beside the methods to destroy the blades and give other use to the material, the optimization of the maintenance and repair procedures stand as valuable way to reduce both the turbines cost and the environment contamination. Taking into account the working conditions of blades such as the presence of the abrasive particles (sand or dust) and the high rotational speeds that can be reached, following the wind speed, the assessment of wear resistance of blades in abrasive conditions stands as valuable information for both designing and repairing procedures. In the present work, an industrial blade composite material is analyzed and subjected to abrasive wear with sand particles flowing in air stream, simulating the wind effect. A dedicated test rig is used, allowing to change the wear process parameters. After the abrasive tests, the damage evolution was observed by optical microscopy to identify the most affected areas of the blade, which provides important information for establishing of repairing procedures.