Weather resistance evaluation test of Leading Edge Protectors for wind turbine

Special test devices to study the weather resistance of wind turbine blade leading edge protection devices (LEPs) in snowy and cold regions were developed. First, a water spray test machine to deal with the icing phenomenon was developed. In the water spray test, the water spray test machine was operated in a temperature-controlled room cooled to -20°C, and ice was formed on the test LEPs by spraying water on it. Next, in the rotation test machine we developed, the test LEP after icing was rotated at about 3000 rpm, and the icing force was calculated from the centrifugal force when the ice was blown away by this rotation. In addition, a special wind tunnel allows continuous testing to deal with erosion by sand and other substances. The test machine was inspired by an air-blowing lottery machine, the wind tunnel outlet was modified to be vertical, and a pseudo-erosion source continuously collided with the LEP installed at the top.