Abstract: The application of the structural adhesive is flourishing in wind power generation. The structural adhesive is a key component and has been widely applied in the production, assembly and parts manufacturing of the wind turbine blades. So it is extremely important to guarantee the quality of wind turbine blades based on an effective evaluation about the rheology of the structural adhesives. Since the viscosity and thixotropy are the two extremely important characterizations of rheology, the effect of different testing conditions on the viscosity and thixotropy has been summarized through carrying out a series of testing, and furthermore, the way of evaluating the thixotropy about the structural adhesives utilizing thixotropic loop has been proposed. A series of analyses show that the thixotropy of the structural adhesive can be qualitatively and quantitatively evaluated through the way of thixotropic loop.

Key words: structural adhesive, viscosity, thixotropy, wind power blades