The demand for bigger wind turbines, powered by longer blades, has placed many challenges on the blade manufacturers and their suppliers. In the early days of blade production, hand lay-up was the standard processing method. A key inflection point in technology development was the introduction of vacuum assisted resin transfer moulding (VARTM) for the epoxy systems used with glass fibre. This process had already been implemented for polyester blade manufacturing. It's obvious that the lower the viscosity of the resin, the faster it can be sucked through the mould, and the faster the overall process. Increasing the infusion temperature can be employed to decrease resin mix viscosity. However, infusion at higher than recommended temperatures significantly impacts the resin mix pot life. To optimise the VARTM process, blade makers and their resin suppliers must get the mix of resin viscosity and vapour pressure just right, while making sure the strength of the finished composite isn't compromised. Although big improvements have been made in fibre wetting, many types of defects can still arise during production. Advanced non-destructive inspection (NDI) technologies - such as ultrasound - are being actively investigated to detect unacceptable defects in the early stages of manufacturing. New epoxy resin systems are currently being developed that combine low mix viscosity with significant improvements in TTS performance. Tests with traditional glass fibre have shown increased TTS (transversal tensile strength) (+15%) under lab conditions. Increases in TTS mean ever longer blades can be used with the same size turbine. For every 1% increase in TTS, they can save 1% of blade weight. One processing practice which could radically improve blade quality while shortening process cycle times is automated components deposition. With automated components deposition, the fibre would be placed mechanically and monitored electronically, so that any necessary corrections could be made prior to the infusion process. Whatever path the technology takes, the direction toward bigger blades is all but assured.


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    Titel :

    Big challenges: The role of resin in wind turbine rotor blade development


    Weitere Titelangaben:

    Große Herausforderungen: Die Rolle des Harzes bei der Entwicklung von Windturbinen-Drehflügeln


    Erschienen in:

    Reinforced Plastics ; 54 , 1 ; 36-39


    Erscheinungsdatum :

    2010


    Format / Umfang :

    4 Seiten, 3 Bilder



    Medientyp :

    Aufsatz (Zeitschrift)


    Format :

    Print


    Sprache :

    Englisch




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