Wind turbine blades continue to grow in length to capture ever more energy. To maintain the economics of this scaling, designers must drive towards minimizing the blade mass while retaining the same reliability in performance. This requires ever more detailed understanding of the response of composite materials under various loading conditions, including damage initiation and…

Since 1989, Sandia National Laboratories has partnered with Montana State University to test and report key data and trends of fiber-reinforced polymers (composites) and other materials used in the construction of wind turbine blades.  The average wind turbine installed in 1989 had a power rating of 0.225 MW and a rotor diameter of 27m. By…