Babcock announces 'world first' centre for accelerated tidal turbine blade testing

A new £2.4m facility could play a key part in a growing international energy sector, as the world’s first centre designed for large-scale, accelerated testing of composite tidal turbine blades.

Aiming to “accelerate and support the development of new efficient technologies”, the Fastblade centre at Babcock International’s Rosyth laboratory in Scotland will also house the testing of composite materials and structures for sectors including nuclear and aerospace.

Testing at the centre, being developed as part of a new industrial partnership between Babcock and the University of Edinburgh, will expose parts such as turbine blades, aeroplane components and bridge sections to the simulated complex forces of real environments.

Engineering researchers will use an efficient hydraulic technology that reportedly enables structures to be tested “significantly” faster and with less energy than existing technologies. The system will recover energy between load cycles, reducing the cost of testing.

“Our engineers, working alongside the university’s renowned academics, have shown what the art of the possible is, in engineering and in working together,” said Neil Young, technology director at Babcock. “Whilst we are still at the early stages of development, we are creating something that will have real benefits for all the companies using the facility in years to come.”

The partners said that “pioneering measurement systems will enable developers to learn from test datasets, to understand damage accumulation and optimise blade structures through data-driven design”.

The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and the University of Edinburgh partially funded the facility.