Knoxville, TN, January 31, 2017- The Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation (IACMI) unveiled an advanced technology prototype wind blade during the Winter IACMI members meeting February 1-2 in Denver, Colorado. The nine- meter long blade was fabricated at IACMI’s Wind Technology Area in the Denver, Colorado area. Commercialization of the wind blade prototype created could speed production times, reduce manufacture cost, and provide stronger, more energy-efficient blades for the United States.
A large 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. Pultruded spar caps were fabricated at Strongwell in Bristol, Virginia and shipped to Colorado for incorporation into the blade shells. The project was led by IACMI’s Wind Technology Area, based in the Denver, Colorado area , with support from IACMI Headquarters, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Manufacturing Office, and the Advanced Industries Program administered by the Colorado Office of Economic Trade and Development (OEDIT).
The prototype blade is based on an existing design from previous work conducted by the DOE, representing a small-scale version of a utility-scale multi-megawatt blade. The new blade, molded on tooling supplied by TPI Composites, Inc., features innovations such as impact resistant components, continuous fiber reinforced thermoplastic parts and exterior shell components produced with less than half the normal CO2 emissions commonly emitted in wind blade manufacture.
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