Recent developments in the protection of wind turbine blades against leading edge erosion: Materials solutions and predictive modelling

Leading edge erosion of wind turbine blades is the most often observed damage mechanism of wind turbine blades, which causes also additional costs for the maintenance of wind turbines. In this review, recent investigations in the areas of leading edge erosion of blades, anti-erosion coatings, new materials and computational modelling of erosion are discussed. The ideas and results, presented at the annual symposia on erosion of wind turbine blades, organized at DTU Wind since 2020, are reviewed. Recent studies of leading edge erosion, devoted to the computational analysis and materials science aspects of the erosion, are summarized. The application of advanced computational modelling techniques to the analysis of the damage mechanisms in leading edge coatings is demonstrated, including the effect of coating materials properties and structure on the erosion, debonding, humidity and weathering effects, and the analysis of the potential of structured and reinforced coatings.