Composite material selection and testing for tidal turbines

Fagan, Edward M. , Flanagan, Micheal, Munaweera Thanthirige, Tenis Ranjan, Cronin, Patrick, Courade, Clement, George, Jeffwin, & Walls, Michael. (2025). Composite material selection and testing for tidal turbines. Paper presented at the 16th European Wave and Tidal Energy Conference, Funchal, Madeira, 7-11 September. https://doi.org/10.36688/ewtec-2025-924

Abstract

The objective of the DeepCData Project is to generate test data on novel composite materials that are used in tidal turbine blades. The test data will be used to (i) characterize the performance of the selected composite materials after accelerated water aging, (ii) identify the mechanical properties of novel, sustainable materials for tidal turbine applications, and (iii) create a comprehensive fatigue testing dataset for use in blade design and structural analyses. This paper describes the selection of four viable composite material systems and their associated manufacturing methods, using the hydrofoils of ORPC’s RivGen 2.1 as the basis for selection. The selection process involves the iterative assessment of materials, product shape, equipment, tooling, consumables and processing factors leading to the identification of candidate materials for testing. The paper also describes the test matrix defined to characterise the materials and to investigate key processing parameters for the materials. The paper outlines the water immersion process used to age the composite test samples and concludes with preliminary testing results from the campaign.

Funder

University of Galway
MaREI Research Ireland Centre for Energy, Climate and Marine
Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland
Enterprise Ireland

Publisher

European Wave and Tidal Energy Conference (EWTEC)

Rights

CC BY-NC-ND

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