LEP Soft shells
Lifecycle Leading
Edge Protection Soft shells
On large modern turbines, blade tips reach speeds of up to 100 m/s. At these velocities, rain droplets become destructive impact energy and erosion begins immediately. Turbines show measurable power loss after the first year if the leading‑edge protection is inadequate.
Olsen Wings’ LEP Soft shells eliminate that problem.
Deployed across wind parks worldwide, our soft shells provide the highest erosion resistance and are tested to last 25 years without compromising annual energy production.
Why lifecycle protection matters
Leading‑edge erosion is a performance, cost and reliability issue that compounds over time:
- Erosion reduces AEP long before it becomes visually detectable.
- Offshore repairs require rope teams, vessels, technicians, consumables and downtime.
- Every hour a turbine stands still is lost revenue and increased LCOE.
You either counteract erosion before you build your wind turbine or you pay for it down the line.
Field‑proven scale
- 100,000+ units delivered globally
- Installed by some of the largest wind turbine manufacturers in the world
This is not a prototype or pilot technology. It is a mature, industrial‑scale LEP solution delivering documented results in real wind turbine fleets.
What makes our LEP soft shell
the top performer
Absorbs kinetic energy
The elastomeric structure dissipates the force that would otherwise damage the hard composite underneath.
Water‑cooled under stress
Moisture and rain naturally cool the surface, stabilizing the material during high‑intensity impact cycles.
Micro‑textured surface
The shell’s fine surface structure splits raindrops, drastically reducing point‑impact force and erosion rate.
Engineered simplicity
The soft shell might look simple to the untrained eye. It isn’t. Every fiber, angle and layer is tuned for decades of offshore performance.
When only a soft shell will do
There a several ways to approach leading edge protection on wind turbine blades – each with unique properties and use cases.
- Lubricant‑based coatings work well on smaller inland turbines.
- Tape systems are used successfully for short‑term protection or lower‑speed platforms.
- Hard‑shell solutions work on the inner part of the blade, closer to the generator where aerodynamic sensitivity and impact loads are lower.
But on large offshore turbines, the outermost meters close to the tip face extreme rain impact, high tip speeds and constant weather exposure.
Here, only a soft shell provides the necessary combination of erosion resistance, flexibility and aerodynamic neutrality.
Design that follows the edge
Everything attached to a blade influences aerodynamics. That’s why leading edge protection must be:
- Blade‑specific and geometry‑matched
- Minimal in aerodynamic impact
- Tough enough to withstand continually extreme conditions over time
Olsen Wings Soft shells are made to match exact blade geometries and delivered in customer‑specific tip shells, protecting exactly the portion of the blade required for optimal performance.
Qualification Testing
Olsen Wings Soft shells surpass every major qualification benchmark:
Rain erosion
— DNV‑GL‑RP‑0171
- Zero wear after 50 hours of high‑intensity rain erosion testing
- This is 5× the standard requirement
Aging & environmental exposure
— DNV‑GL‑RP‑0573
- Passed 25 weeks of accelerated aging
- Including 25 × 1‑hour rain erosion cycles
- No penetration into sub‑material
Adhesion
— ASTM D6862
- Peel strength above 3.1 N/mm