Advanced fabrication and composite materials technologies were used to design a 9-m wind blade prototype that could speed production times, reduce manufacturing cost, and provide stronger, more energy-efficient blades.

The project was launched by The Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation (IACMI), a partnership of industry, universities, national laboratories, and federal, state, and local governments. The institute is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Manufacturing Office.

Eleven industry partners worked with the IACMI to assemble an innovative 9-m wind blade. Source: IACMIThe prototype extends previous work conducted by the U.S. Department of Energy, representing a small-scale version of a utility-scale multi-megawatt blade. The new blade features impact resistant components, continuous fiber reinforced thermoplastic parts, and exterior shell components produced with less than half the carbon dioxide emissions commonly emitted in wind blade manufacture (see video).

The production scheme can be deployed in the near term in existing blade manufacturing facilities. Reductions in the levelized cost of energy, a metric of wind turbine efficiency, can be realized by the ability to infuse at room temperature and demold more quickly.

A team of eleven industrial partners, including Arkema Inc., Johns Manville, TPI Composites Inc., Huntsman Polyurethanes, Strongwell, DowAksa USA, Chomarat North America, Composites One, SikaAxson, Creative Foam, and Chem-Trend provided materials and on-site fabrication support for blade component manufacturing and assembly.