Mapping synergy of erosion mechanisms of tidal turbine composite materials in sea water conditions

Tidal energy, of all marine renewables energy, possesses higher persistency and predictability over long time scales. Moreover, the higher density of water than air also results in greater power output from a tidal turbine than a wind turbine with similar dimensions. Due to the aggressive marine environment, there are barriers in the development of tidal power generation technology. In particular, with regard to increased rotor diameter, the selection of material presents significant challenges to be addressed including the tribological environment, such as solid particle erosion, cavitation erosion, the effect of high thrust loading on the turbine blade tips, and the synergy between sea water conditions and such tribological phenomena. This research focuses on producing and testing a variety of composite materials with different fibres and reinforcement layouts to evaluate two main tribological issues in tidal environments: matrix cutting and reinforcement fracture. A slurry pot test rig was used to measures the effects of different impact angles and particles sizes at constant tip speeds.