Lighting protection of carbon fibre reinforced plastic for wind turbines blades

Harrell, Timothy, Michael, Thomsen, Ole and Barton, Janice (2016) Lighting protection of carbon fibre reinforced plastic for wind turbines blades. Sustainability in Action Conference, University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom. 02 Nov 2016. 1 pp .

Abstract

Wind turbines are a widely used renewable energy source for the generation of electric power. The wind turbine industry is introducing longer blades to increase the power output a single turbine. To achieve this the blades have incorporated Carbon Fibre Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) materials. CFRP materials provide a strong, stiff and lightweight material which allows longer blades to be manufacture. However, longer blades have the higher potential for lightning strikes and the CFRP materials have a susceptibility to damage caused by lightning current. Wind turbine blades struck by lightning can incur damage which cost the industry in damages to the turbine, loss of revenue due to shut down of wind turbine and repair or replacement cost. The protection of these blades from lightning is of the utmost importance to reduce the overall operating cost of the wind turbine system. This project aims to develop lightning protection solutions to help mitigate damage and keep wind turbines operational. There are five goals to achieve this aim: 1. develop and validate a coupled thermo-electrical model of CFRP laminates subjected to lightning strikes; 2. develop, implement and validate models for damage and failure prediction of CFRP materials subjected to lightning strike; 3. validate the damage models by conducting experiments on CFRP coupons and sub-structural components subjected to lightning strike; 4. develop predictive models residual strength on CFRP materials post lightning strike; 5. validate the residual strength models by conducting panel compression experiments. The damage models are used to develop lightning protection concept and solutions. The structural models are used to predict remaining strength capability (residual strength, and stiffness) of the CFRP panels.

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Contributors

Author: Timothy, Michael Harrell

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