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Advancements in structural testing and life predictions of tidal turbine blades

Munaweera Thanthirige, Tenis Ranjan
; 
Flanagan, Micheal
; 
Kennedy, Ciaran
; 
Goggins, Jamie
; 
Finnegan, William
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Identifiers
https://hdl.handle.net/10379/19206
 https://doi.org/10.13025/30000
Publication Date
2025-09-08
Keywords
Civil Engineering, advancements in structural testing, tidal energy, water diffusion, material degradation, marine renewable energy, finite element modelling.
Type
conference paper
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Citation
Munaweera Thanthirige, Tenis Ranjan, Flanagan, Micheal, Kennedy, Ciaran, Goggins, Jamie, & Finnegan, William. (2025). Advancements in structural testing and life predictions of tidal turbine blades, Paper presented at the 16th European Wave and Tidal Energy Conference, Funchal, Madeira, 7-11 September. https://doi.org/10.36688/ewtec-2025-812
Abstract
The research explores advancements in structural testing and their outcomes to identify strategies for predicting the lifespan of tidal turbine blades with greater reliability, efficiency, and accuracy. In this context, as a case study, this research examines the structural testing results of a 5m-long crossflow helical tidal turbine foil. The advanced instrumentation, unbalanced rotating mass, and post inspection analysis used in the testing program improved data accuracy and result reliability, ensuring a more precise assessment of the turbine blade's structural performance. Moreover, validating the experimental results through FE modelling opens new avenues for utilising FE simulations as a viable alternative to traditional structural testing programs, which are often time consuming, expensive, and complex. Furthermore, this study identifies critical gap in structural testing of composite tidal turbine blades, particularly the limitation in assessing the impact of water absorption on composite materials under operational marine conditions. To address this challenge, the research proposes two FE modelling approaches to predict tidal turbine blades’ lifespan. Approach 1 integrates accelerated aged fatigue test data, while Approach 2 simulates water diffusion for material degradation. Validating these methods can improve sustainability of the tidal energy sector for clean and affordable energy solutions in the future.
Funder
European Commission
University of Galway
Taighde Éireann – Research Ireland
Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland
Marine Institute
Publisher
European Wave and Tidal Energy Conference (EWTEC)
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CC BY-NC-ND
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