Vestas, Siemens Gamesa and other wind industry players are part of a project investigating damage caused to leading edge wind turbine blades from the high-speed impact of raindrops.
DNV GL is leading the Comprehensive Methodology for Blade Rain Erosion Analysis (COBRA) joint industry project.
In the COBRA initiative Vestas, Siemens Gamesa, Orsted, LM Wind Power and Senvion have joined forces with chemicals producers, including Akzonobel, Hempel and PPG, to create a ‘recommended practice’ for designing a system to protect blades against rain erosion.
The guidelines will be published in mid-2020.
Rain erosion damage can have a significant adverse impact on unprotected wind turbine blades by degrading the aerodynamic performance of these components over time, which can affect energy generation, the partners said.
They will analyse the effect that rain erosion damage can have on the blades of operating wind turbines.
DNV GL executive vice president Americas Rich Barnes said: “It is vital to identify solutions and develop tools to tackle erosion problems. The COBRA joint industry project will address these challenges and share knowledge to advance the understanding within the wind energy industry.”
The cross-industry project consortium aims to identify and define relevant material properties for a protection system, develop a methodology to handle and derive design loads from rain data, develop a model to conduct raindrop impact analysis and also develop a design methodology for protection systems.
Siemens Gamesa head of blade materials, offshore technology, Steffen Laustsen said: “With the trend of building larger machines continuing, greater research is required to provide more protection for wind turbine blades against rain erosion.
“The high blade tip velocities associated with large blades makes the impact of rain especially demanding.
“We look forward to collaborating with the joint industry project partners across all industries to improve the quality and durability of future blade designs.”