Title: Effect of surface treatment on fatigue of composite support wind turbine blade

Abstract

The cyclic deformation behavior of two metal-matrix composites, namely, aluminum-based composites reinforced with a steel wire and an aluminum alloy 3030 wire, were investigated at room temperature for wind blade support. All materials were synthesized using sand-casting and subjected to mechanical surface treatment using ball burnishing. High-cycle fatigue was observed under reversed bending-loading at 50 Hz. The composites reinforced with wire volume fractions (28% and 34%) show excellent fatigue life and endurance limits under stress-controlled conditions. The tensile and microstructural properties of these materials were also examined. The alloyed aluminum-matrix-steel-wire-reinforced composite showed higher fatigue behavior than the wire reinforced using ball burnishing of as-cast alloys.