Development of Carbon-Glass Fiber Reinforced Hybrid Composites: Applications in Offshore Wind Turbine Blades

In this century, as fossil energy resources are becoming increasingly scarce and their negative effects on the environment are being felt more and more every day including global warming and air pollution, the trend towards renewable energy sources is growing worldwide. Among the various renewable energy systems, wind energy stands out for its cost-efficiency and sustainability. In favor of higher wind speeds, offshore wind turbines generate significant potential for electricity production for coastal countries. However, high wind speeds, as well as open sea rains, have certain disadvantages on turbine blades, such as wind erosion damage. In addition, the rotor blades are moving rapidly due to the high wind speeds and they are hardly noticed by the birds, resulting in bird collisions with the wind turbine blades. This generates an impact load on the blades, which damages the blades of the wind turbine. Therefore, the impact resistance of the wind turbine blades must be improved for reliable service life. This study aims to develop composite materials to be used in the manufacture of wind turbine blades. In this respect, effective reinforcements should be used to improve the impact resistance of the developed composites. Accordingly, epoxy-based carbon-glass fiber reinforced composites are manufactured by using fine silicon carbide (SiC) particles as secondary reinforcement. Experimental studies, tensile tests, and impact tests were carried out to characterize the mechanical properties of the manufactured composites. With this study, it is intended to examine the effects of reinforcements on mechanical properties, and to determine an optimal composition to achieve these properties.