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U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Fatigue testing of low-cost fiberglass composite wind turbine blade materials

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/6320655· OSTI ID:6320655

The static and fatigue behavior of transverse filament tape (TFT) fiberglass/epoxy and TFT/polyester composite was established by the testing of specimens cut from panels fabricated by a filament winding process used for the construction of large experimental wind turbine blades. Static mechanical properties obtained included tension, compression, and interlaminar shear at ambient conditions in high-humidity/high-temperature conditions after a 500-hour exposure to such an environment. The fatigue data were obtained at similar environmental exposures and at several R ratios including R = 0, 0.1, -0.25, -0.5, and -1. Negative ratios imply a compressive component of stress. Testing was performed to failure in many cases. S-N diagrams and a modified Goodman constant life plot were obtained for one of two types of the epoxy matrix composites. The elastic properties of the epoxy matrix materials showed a strong dependence only on the filament stiffness and angle and a weak influence of the high-humidity/high-temperature environment. The polyester materials showed a substantial decrease in compressive strength for some composites which had been exposed for over 4000 hours in the high-humidity/high-temperature environment.

Research Organization:
IIT Research Inst., Chicago, IL (USA)
DOE Contract Number:
AI01-76ET20320
OSTI ID:
6320655
Report Number(s):
DOE/NASA/0182-1; NASA/CR-165566; ON: DE83009045
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English