Development of rotor blades based on date palm fibers for wind turbines: A feasibility study

This work presents a feasibility study investigating the potential of wind turbine blades manufactured from a thermoplastic matrix (Polyvinyl Chloride) reinforced with short palm date fibers as an alternative to traditional materials. Tensile testing, conducted according to the ISO 527 standard, assessed the palm date fiber polymer composite. Composite properties were estimated using the Halpin Tsai model for short fiber reinforced polymers. A simplified aeroelastic model based on Blade Element Momentum (BEM) and Finite Element Analysis (FEA) was employed to compare the performance of two composite materials: a conventional carbon fiber-based composite and a novel date palm fiber-based composite. Results indicate that materials comprising date palm fibers hold significant promise for the development of sustainable wind turbine blades, offering potential advantages over conventional materials.