11/29/2021
By Sokny Long

The Francis College of Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering, invites you to attend a Master’s Thesis defense by Joseph McDonald on “Composites for Wind Turbine Blade Repair.”

MSE Candidate Name: Joseph McDonald
Defense Date: Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2021
Time: 3 to 4 p.m. EST
Location: This will be a virtual defense via Zoom. Those interested in attending should contact the student, joseph_mcdonald@student.uml.edu, and committee advisor Marianna_Maiaru@uml.edu at least 24 hours prior to the defense to request access to the meeting.

Committee Chair (Advisor): Marianna Maiaru, Associate Professor Mechancial Engineering, University of Massachusetts Lowell

Committee Members:

  • Christopher Hansen, Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering, UMass Lowell
  • Scott Stapleton, Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering, UMass Lowell

Brief Abstract:
Wind turbines are becoming an ever more important component of energy generation across the world, and with blade sizes increasing in the pursuit of efficiency and growing energy needs, repair of these structures is becoming more and more vital. Wind turbines are exposed to harsh environments, and many suffer damage from lightning strikes and erosion during a typical 20 year lifespan. Damaged sections may be exposed to environmental conditions for extended time periods, as repairs are most often performed up tower and require specific weather conditions for crew safety. To better repair these FRC blade structures a thorough understanding of the materials and the hyrgrothermal effects their environment has upon them is a necessity. With this understanding, the curing cycles for the thermosets involved can be optimized on an individual repair basis, leading to reduced downtime and more energy generated for the grid. In this work experimental procedures for the characterization of resin, adhesives and composite substrates are discussed as a function of moisture absorption and temperature. Additionally, two representative repair geometries were created and underwent process modeling simulations using finite element modeling performed through user written subroutines in ABAQUS to evaluate temperature and degree of cure development. These Models are validated by in oven curing of scarfed laminates in terms of temperature evolution during curing using in situ temperature monitoring and compared to the virtual curing data. This ensures the simulations accurately reflect the cure behavior, and that the simulation code is an accurate tool for evaluating and optimizing repairs.

All interested students and faculty members are invited to attend the online defense via remote access.