High-performance composites are used in many applications due to their design flexibility, corrosion resistance, high strength-to-weight ratio, and many other excellent mechanical properties. In this study, the location and magnitude of failure initiation in horizontal axis water turbine carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) blades with different lay-up orientations were investigated. Unidirectional [0°]4 and cross-ply [0°/90°]S layups were selected to study the effect of the buildup direction on the failure of the composite water turbine blades. A finite element analysis (FEA) model was generated to examine the stresses along blade span under both flexural and hydrodynamic loads. Flexural destructive tests were conducted to validate the results obtained from the numerical simulations. In addition, a blade element momentum theory model was created to calculate the hydrodynamic forces acting along the span to determine the maximum loading radial location, which was used for the fixture design and FEA simulation input. Both unidirectional and cross-ply composite blades were tested for failure. There was a general agreement between the experiments and simulations, which validated the results. Moreover, FEA simulations were performed to apply the load to the samples with different pitch angles (−10°, −5°, 0°, 5°, and 10°). Even though the unidirectional CFRP composite blades showed higher strength at 0° pitch angle than the cross-ply blades, the strength of the unidirectional blade dropped significantly when the load was applied with different pitch angles other than 0°, while the strength of the cross-ply blades was less responsive to this pitch angle variation.
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January 2021
Research Article|
January 05 2021
Experimental and numerical failure analysis of horizontal axis water turbine carbon fiber-reinforced composite blade
Mokhtar Fal;
Mokhtar Fal
1
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Missouri University of Science and Technology
, Rolla, Missouri 65409, USA
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Rafid Hussein;
Rafid Hussein
1
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Missouri University of Science and Technology
, Rolla, Missouri 65409, USA
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K. Chandrashekhara
;
K. Chandrashekhara
a)
1
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Missouri University of Science and Technology
, Rolla, Missouri 65409, USA
a)Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: chandra@mst.edu
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Abdulaziz Abutunis
;
Abdulaziz Abutunis
2
Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Minnesota Duluth
, Duluth, Minnesota 55812, USA
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Venkatagireesh Menta
Venkatagireesh Menta
2
Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Minnesota Duluth
, Duluth, Minnesota 55812, USA
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a)Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: chandra@mst.edu
J. Renewable Sustainable Energy 13, 014501 (2021)
Article history
Received:
July 28 2020
Accepted:
December 13 2020
Citation
Mokhtar Fal, Rafid Hussein, K. Chandrashekhara, Abdulaziz Abutunis, Venkatagireesh Menta; Experimental and numerical failure analysis of horizontal axis water turbine carbon fiber-reinforced composite blade. J. Renewable Sustainable Energy 1 January 2021; 13 (1): 014501. https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0023082
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