Baharvand Amir, Teuwen Julie J E, Shankar Verma Amrit
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Maine, 75 Long Road, Orono, ME 04469, USA.
Advanced Structures and Composites Center, University of Maine, 35 Flagstaff Road, Orono, ME 04469, USA.
Materials (Basel). 2025 May 10;18(10):2214. doi: 10.3390/ma18102214.
This review investigates interlayer hybrid fiber composites for wind turbine blades (WTBs), focusing on their potential to enhance blade damage tolerance and maintain structural integrity. The objectives of this review are: (I) to assess the effect of different hybrid lay-up configurations on the damage tolerance and failure analysis of interlayer hybrid fiber composites and (II) to identify potential fiber combinations for WTBs to supplement or replace existing glass fibers. Our method involves comprehensive qualitative and quantitative analyses of the existing literature. Qualitatively, we assess the damage tolerance-with an emphasis on impact load-and failure analysis under blades operational load of six distinct hybrid lay-up configurations. Quantitatively, we compare tensile and flexural properties-essential for WTBs structural integrity-of hybrid and glass composites. The qualitative review reveals that placing high elongation (HE)-low stiffness (LS) fibers, e.g., glass, on the impacted side reduces damage size and improves residual properties of hybrid composites. Placing low elongation (LE)-high stiffness (HS) fibers, e.g., carbon, in middle layers, protects them during impact load and equips hybrid composites with mechanisms that delay failure under various load conditions. A sandwich lay-up with HE-LS fibers on the outermost and LE-HS fibers in the innermost layers provides the best balance between structural integrity and post-impact residual properties. This lay-up benefits from synergistic effects, including fiber bridging, enhanced buckling resistance, and the mitigation of LE-HS fiber breakage. Quantitatively, hybrid synthetic/natural composites demonstrate nearly a twofold improvement in mechanical properties compared to natural fiber composites. Negligible enhancement (typically 10%) is observed for hybrid synthetic/synthetic composites relative to synthetic fiber composites. Additionally, glass/carbon, glass/flax, and carbon/flax composites are potential alternatives to present glass laminates in WTBs. This review is novel as it is the first attempt to identify suitable interlayer hybrid fiber composites for WTBs.
本综述研究了用于风力涡轮机叶片（WTB）的层间混杂纤维复合材料，重点关注其增强叶片损伤容限和维持结构完整性的潜力。本综述的目标是：（I）评估不同混杂铺层配置对层间混杂纤维复合材料损伤容限和失效分析的影响，以及（II）确定用于WTB的潜在纤维组合，以补充或替代现有的玻璃纤维。我们的方法包括对现有文献进行全面的定性和定量分析。定性方面，我们评估六种不同混杂铺层配置在叶片运行载荷下的损伤容限（重点是冲击载荷）和失效分析。定量方面，我们比较混杂复合材料和玻璃复合材料的拉伸和弯曲性能（这对WTB的结构完整性至关重要）。定性综述表明，在受冲击侧放置高伸长率（HE）-低刚度（LS）纤维（如玻璃纤维）可减小损伤尺寸并改善混杂复合材料的残余性能。在中间层放置低伸长率（LE）-高刚度（HS）纤维（如碳纤维），在冲击载荷作用下可保护它们，并使混杂复合材料具备在各种载荷条件下延迟失效的机制。最外层为HE-LS纤维且最内层为LE-HS纤维的三明治铺层在结构完整性和冲击后残余性能之间提供了最佳平衡。这种铺层受益于协同效应，包括纤维桥接、增强的抗屈曲能力以及减轻LE-HS纤维的断裂。定量方面，混杂合成/天然复合材料的机械性能相较于天然纤维复合材料有近两倍的提升。相对于合成纤维复合材料，混杂合成/合成复合材料仅有可忽略不计的增强（通常为10%）。此外，玻璃/碳、玻璃/亚麻和碳/亚麻复合材料是WTB中现有玻璃层压板的潜在替代品。本综述具有创新性，因为它首次尝试确定适用于WTB的层间混杂纤维复合材料。
