Blade erosion key topic in AMI’s 2016 wind turbine blade conference
Blade erosion plays a critical role on blade performance and durability and so it has emerged as a hot topic in the industry. A whole session of the 7th annual conference on Wind Turbine Blade Manufacture 2016, which takes place from 12th to 14th December 2016 at the Maritim Hotel in Düsseldorf, Germany, will be devoted to tackling this complex and relevant subject.Key companies such as Siemens Wind Power, DNV GL, Aerox Advanced Polymers, 3M and Fraunhofer IFAM will provide the audience with essential insight into this matter. Top manufacturers and turbine makers will also be talking about their latest developments in AMI’s Wind Turbine Blade conference.
The event will kick off with a market analysis by Cristina de Santos, Energy & Infrastructure Unit Manager with AMI Consulting.
The design and industrialization of large blades in reliable and cost effective serial production is a key factor in this industry as blade length continues to grow. Having recently developed the largest blade in the market, LM Wind Power will provide invaluable insight into this subject. Advances in blade root technology are essential in order to design longer and reliable blades, so SSP Technology will address this issue by sharing with the audience an interesting case study. Continuous development of new and improved blade designs is a key factor in such a competitive market. Tecsis, a fast growing independent blade manufacturer in South America, will describe their approach when introducing a new blade in the market.
Blade manufacturing continues to be a complicated process that requires intense manual work. As an independent blade manufacturer, Euros is well aware of the significance of production technology when manufacturing next generation blades and they will review their own latest advances on this matter. Resin infusion is undoubtedly the default technology in use in this industry having pre-preg lost significance. Hexion is currently undertaking a detailed analysis of the effects on blade quality of degassing of infusion systems. This investigation is intended to help bring future material and manufacturing technology improvements through a better understanding of this process and the main conclusions will be shared with delegates attending AMI’s Wind Turbine Blade Manufacture 2016 conference.
On the other hand, the German Aerospace Center (CDR) will be explaining the current status of the development and qualification of the direct roving placement technology (DRP). The constant need to reduce the cost of energy keeps pressuring the industry to reduce production cycle times. Suzlon Energy has valuable insight in this matter and will talk about the need for faster processing and the main challenges still faced regarding materials.
Materials are indeed critical to the success of wind turbine blades and Professor Brøndsted of DTU Wind Energy will share their latest results on how to measure and document fatigue properties of composite materials. CPIC, the leading glass fiber supplier in the Chinese market, will announce their latest innovations on high modulus glass fiber as an alternative to more expensive carbon fiber. Diab will introduce to the audience a different approach to resin absorption of core materials while Kömmerling will present an advanced PUR adhesive.
Blade quality is critical to reliability both in production and in service. A verification approach will be identified by Adwen Offshore as a way for enhancing blade cycle life. From the US and as a continuation of their very well received presentation in AMI’s 2015 conference, Sandia National Laboratories will share with the audience the latest results of their ongoing research to establish the reliability of quality assurance measures in the wind industry. EDP Renewables and Renewable Advice will highlight the most important lessons learnt during the life in service and maintenance of the blade.