Rain erosion of wind turbine blade coatings using discrete water jets: Effects of water cushioning, substrate geometry, impact distance, and coating properties

Results of this work, with more pertinent parameters explored, confirm the conclusion from the previous investigation that a direct correlation of data from discrete water jet experiments with those obtained in the whirling arm rig does not seem possible (at least not for the blade coatings considered). The underlying mechanisms of rain erosion are substantially different in a setup based on impacting water jet slugs and a setup where a rotor arm impacts falling water drops.