IACMI DEVELOPS PROTOTYPE 9M WIND BLADE
Each year, the AWEA WINDPOWER Conference provides an opportunity to highlight the newest trends and innovations that are making wind energy technologies faster, cheaper, and more sustainable.
The Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation (IACMI), which is supported by the Advanced Manufacturing Office, was front and centre to showcase an advanced technology prototype wind blade that is the result of an IACMI-facilitated collaboration between national laboratories, public sector partners including universities and government entities, and 11 industrial partners.
The team investigated new technologies in a novel nine meter prototype blade, exploring new materials and processes that could be used in manufacturing.
Full-scale wind turbine blades average between 35 and 45 meters. Using the smaller prototype blade to test and validate a number of innovative technologies enables researchers to explore processes that can then be scaled-up and commercialized to speed production times, reduce manufacturing costs, and provide stronger, more energy efficient blades.
A number of innovations are integrated into the design of the blade including impact resistant components, continuous fibre reinforced thermoplastic parts, and exterior shell components produced with less than half the emissions associated with wind blade manufacturing.
The technical expertise of industry partners was paired with the foundational knowledge base in manufacturing materials and processes from DOE’s national laboratories and university partners and IACMI’s shared innovation infrastructure facilities.
The result is a unique prototype blade that successfully demonstrates scalable, cross-cutting platform technologies that can be applied both within the wind industry and in other composites manufacturing applications.
The ultimate goal of showcasing technologies like these is new knowledge that can subsequently be adopted by industry resulting from early-stage R&D. AMO’s partnerships with industry support foundational research projects that enable industry to develop next-generation manufacturing technologies.
​