Manufacturing and Structural Testing of Small Wind Turbine Blades Using Thermoplastic Composites

Abstract Thermoplastic composites can be a solution for the circular economy of the wind industry. Some studies have focused on addressing the challenges of reusing raw materials and reducing both the economic costs and environmental damage. Thermoset composites have been crucial in increasing the size of wind turbines (WT), achieving longer and structurally more resistant blades, but they are difficult to recycle at the end of life and sometimes end up in landfills. Thermoplastic composites are being tested as an alternative to thermoset composites because of their similar structural properties and substantial advantages, such as ease of recycling. This article presents the results of the structural properties of a 2-m-long thermoplastic WT blade manufactured with a new thermoplastic resin called Akelite to obtain progress in the implementation of thermoplastic composites in this type of product. The new blade has been compared to an epoxy WT blade built with the same procedure. Property, static, and fatigue tests were performed on these blades to characterize them. The results of this comparison were quite similar, with less than 5% displacement in the static tests and a sensitivity change of less than 2% after the fatigue tests. Future studies should be conducted to extend this study to larger-scale blades.