Nowadays, wind turbine blades are manufactured using several materials and methodologies to save cost and to increase their performance. This article gives a brief overview of blade materials and prevailing manufacturing traits to make them more reliable and cost‐efficient. The surface roughness, manufacturing defects, and fluctuating loads in flow fields significantly affect wind turbine power generation. However, these problems can be reduced by using appropriate materials. Therefore, selection of wind turbine materials is extremely important to maintain its performance even in harsh environmental conditions. This article describes an overview of current material solutions for overcoming material defects like delamination, structural distortion, and icing problems in the Polar Regions. It involves composites, smart alloys, protective coatings, etc. © 2018 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 38:e13046, 2019
Highlights
Types of loading, failure mechanisms and current manufacturing methods of wind turbine blades.
Innovative blade material approach: Morphing concepts, Glass or Carbon fiber/Nano‐/Bio‐Composites.
Active and passive strategies for anti‐icing or de‐icing of wind turbine blades.