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Leading edge protection (LEP) coating systems are applied to protect turbine blade edges from rain erosion. The performance of a LEP system is assessed in an accelerated rain erosion test (RET) as a metric for industrial application, but these tests are expensive. Modelling methods are available to predict erosion, based on fundamental material properties, but there is a lack of validation. The Springer model (1976) is analysed in this work to assess it as a tool for using material fundamental properties to predict the time to failure in a rain erosion test. It has been applied, referenced and industry validated with important partial considerations. The method has been applied successfully for erosion damage by wear performance prediction when combined with prior material data from rain erosion test (RET), instead of obtaining it directly from fundamental properties measured separately as Springer proposed. The method also offers accurate predictions when coupled with modified numerical parameters obtained from experimental RET testing data. This research aims to understand the differences between the experimental data used by Springer and the current industry approach to rain erosion testing, and to determine how it may introduce inaccuracies into lifetime predictions of current LEP systems, since they are very different to those tested in the historic modelling validation. In this work, a review of the modelling is presented, allowing for the understanding of key issues of its computational implementation and the required experimental material characterisation. Modelling results are discussed for different original application issues and industry-related LEP configuration cases, offering the reader to interpret the limits of the performance prediction when considering the variation in material fundamental properties involved.

Under droplet impingement, surface leading edge protection (LEP) coating materials for wind turbine blades develop high-rate transient pressure build-up and a subsequent relaxation in a range of strain rates. The stress-strain coating LEP behavior at a working frequency range depends on the specific LEP and on the material and operational conditions, as described in this research in a previous work. Wear fatigue failure analysis, based on the Springer model, requires coating and substrate speed of sound measurements as constant input material parameters. It considers a linear elastic response of the polymer subjected to drop impact loads, but does not account for the frequency dependent viscoelastic e ects for the materials involved. The model has been widely used and validated in the literature for di erent liquid impact erosion problems. In this work, it is shown the appropriate definition of the viscoelastic materials properties with ultrasonic techniques. It is broadly used for developing precise measurements of the speed of sound in thin coatings and laminates. It also allows accurately evaluating elastic moduli and assessing mechanical properties at the high frequencies of interest. In the current work, an investigation into various LEP coating application cases have been undertaken and related with the rain erosion durability factors due to suitable material impedance definition. The proposed numerical procedures to predict wear surface erosion have been evaluated in comparison with the rain erosion testing, in order to identify suitable coating and composite substrate combinations. LEP erosion performance at rain erosion testing (RET) technique is used widely in the wind industry as the key metric, in an e ort to assess the response of the varying material and operational parameters involved.

Top coating are usually moulded, painted or sprayed onto the wind blade Leading-Edge surface to prevent rain erosion due to transverse repeated droplet impacts. Wear fatigue failure analysis based on Springer model has been widely referenced and validated to quantitatively predict damage initiation. The model requires liquid, coating and substrate speed of sound measurements as constant input parameters to define analytically the shockwave progression due to their relative vibro-acoustic properties. The modelling assumes a pure elastic material behavior during the impact event. Recent coating technologies applied to prevent erosion are based on viscoelastic materials and develop high-rate transient pressure build-up and a subsequent relaxation in a range of strain rates. In order to analyze the erosion performance by using Springer model, appropriate impedance characterization for such viscoelastic materials is then required and represents the main objective of this work to avoid lack of accuracy. In the first part of this research, it is proposed a modelling methodology that allows one to evaluate the frequency dependent strain-stress behavior of the multilayer coating system under single droplet impingement. The computational tool ponders the operational conditions (impact velocity, droplet size, layer thickness, etc.) with the appropriate variable working frequency range for the speed of sound measurements. The second part of this research defines in a complementary paper, the ultrasonic testing characterization of di erent viscoelastic coatings and the methodology validation. The modelling framework is then used to identify suitable coating and substrate combinations due to their acoustic matching optimization and to analyze the anti-erosion performance of the coating protection system.