State-of-the-art models for mechanical performance of carbon-glass hybrid composites in wind turbine blades

Wind turbine blades are a key growth market for fibre-hybrid composites, as they offer the potential for higher turbine efficiency at a reduced cost. This paper therefore overviews the developments of KU Leuven models for mechanical properties relevant to wind turbine blades, including fibre-hybridisation, size scaling effects, flexure, transverse cracking, stress relaxation and fatigue. The strengths and limitations of the models will be highlighted with a particular focus on relevance for wind turbine blades. While significant steps forward have been made, the various developments still need to be incorporated in one all-encompassing model, and further work is needed on gathering the required input data and detailed experimental validation studies. ispartof: IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering vol:942 ispartof: 41st Risø International Symposium on Materials Science: "Materials and Design for Next Generation Wind Turbine Blades" location:Roskilde, Denmark date:7 Sep - 10 Sep 2020 status: Published online