Engineered anti-erosion coating for wind turbine blade protection: Computational analysis

The objective of this paper is to explore the potential of structured, reinforced coatings to improve the erosion protection of wind turbine blades and prevent the surface degradation of wind turbine blades over a longer time. A multiscale computational model of the liquid impact of rain droplet on polymer coatings with internal structures is developed. The finite element model-based CEL (Coupled Eulerian-Lagrangian) approach combined with the sub-modeling technique allows the determination of the local stress distribution in the structured coatings. Wave reflection on particle reinforcement in coatings and stress concentration around the voids in the material were investigated in computational experiments. It is demonstrated that both fiber pulp reinforced polymer coatings and graphene particle reinforced coatings reduce stress concentration in the voids/air bubbles available in the polymer, as compared with the non-reinforced polymers. Given that the erosion of coatings is often initiated near the voids, the stress shielding effect on voids, caused by the fiber pulp or disc particles reinforcement, has a great potential to extend the lifetime and performance of anti-erosion coatings.