How does a plastic blade ‘wear out’
The leading edge gets pitted and broken from bird hits, sand, warpage etc.
What’s really fun is when they use solar powered helicopters to de-ice the blades in the winter time.
Flexing. Flex it enough times and it weakens.
Also, IDIOT "journalist" doesn't know the difference between plastic and fiberglass.
Fiberglass is literally glass fibers and resin.
"Journalist" thinks since it's man made white and smooth, it's plastic.
Literally thinking sand = oil.
Most "journalists" know so little, they don't know what they don't know, so are unable to ask the right questions.
“How does a plastic blade ‘wear out’”
Stress fractures from the slight bending due to torque placed on the blade. The cyclic bending overtime causes the layers of fiber to separate from the resin. UV light in Sunlight, on at least older forms of carbon fiber, can also cause the resin to degrade which accelerates the promulgation of stress fractures. The failure, unlike steel or titanium will bend before breaking is sudden and catastrophic.
It is why aircraft components made of carbon fiber must be x-rayed every so often, the cracks show up on that way but you can’t see them with your eyes. And why carbon fiber and aluminum front forks on bicycles fail and are supposed to be replaced every 18 to 24 months or after a crash or damage to the wheel.