Abstract
Deployment of offshore wind turbines requires exploring new concepts of very large scale turbines in the 10-20MW range with 80 meters or longer rotor blades. This means that outboard tip of the blades will move very fast (speeds higher than 100m/s) promoting surface erosion due to the impact with water droplets suspended in the air or carried by the wind. Paints and polymeric coatings are easily applied on surfaces in order to improve the surface properties (ie: UV protection, hydrophobicity, esthetical, etc). However, the mechanical properties of paints and polymers can be modified by adding ceramic or metallic reinforcements. Reinforcing particles can be homogenously distributed in the paint increasing the matrix hardness, thus increasing the erosion resistance.
