Building blocks towards progressive fatigue damage modeling of a whole wind turbine blade

This paper presents a concise summary of the recent fatigue damage modeling research in the Mechanics of Materials and Structures (MMS) research group at Ghent University, which utilizes physics-based models and microscopic experiments to develop components for a progressive fatigue damage model of laminated composite structures. The paper discusses the evolution of ply cracking and delamination under cyclic loading and highlights distinct modeling elements for stress analysis and fatigue damage evolution characterization. It also explores the experiments required for model calibration and validation, including the use of digital image correlation to quantify damage mechanisms. Additionally, the paper discusses the use of neural networks for efficient and robust modeling of damage effects and outlines the remaining steps required to develop a comprehensive fatigue design tool. Finally, the recent developments with the BladeMesher software of the research group provide a platform to integrate this fatigue design tool for complete wind turbine blades.