97-06: The Influence of Materials of Construction on Leading Edge Erosion of

Leading edge erosion is a maintenance concern for fiberglass fan blades on wet cooling towers. An experiment has been developed and executed to demonstrate the differences in leading edge erosion depending on the type of material used in fan blade construction. The differences in erosion are shown for three types of fan blades, namely an epoxy resin matrix with and without an erosion barrier strip and blades molded with vinyl ester resin having a barrier strip. Both pictorial and weight loss results are provided for the reader.