Toward the Advanced Manufacturing of Land-Based Wind Turbine Blades

Exploring the Impact of Near-Term Innovations on the Technical Potential of Land-Based Wind Energy

“…This report is available at no cost from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory at www.nrel.gov/publications. (Bortolotti et al 2022) on a slightly higher specific power concept but with a higher turbine rating, including a segmented blade, illustrates the potential interest of industry for producing turbines that are similar to our assumed technology. Advanced towers (U.S. Department of Energy [DOE] 2019) also reduce costs for all towers modeled, and on-site manufacturing reduces transportation limits and significantly reduces tower mass and cost as hub height increases relative to conventional transportable towers.…”

“…This results in a specific power rating, defined as the rated electrical output of the generator divided by the swept area of the rotor, of 170 W/m 2 , which is lower than all commercially available turbines in the United States. Notably, General Electric (GE) has continued to explore the feasibility of low-specific-power turbines for higher ratings based on the Sierra platform using segmented blades ( Bortolotti et al 2022). This turbine configuration and associated costs are most appropriate for an International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) Class 3 site suitability.…”

Composite materials in wind energy: design, manufacturing, operation, and end-of-life

“…Introduction. Low debonding toughness in the skin/core interphase region of the sandwich composites is always considered one of the shortcomings [25]- [27]. Furthermore, it is an understanding of the mechanical properties of the skin/core interphase region in the nanoscale, which can illustrate how a low debonding toughness formed in the skin/core interphase [28]- [30].…”

Using Large-Scale Additive Manufacturing for Wind Turbine Blade Core Structures

“…Concerns surrounding logistics, supply chain, automation, and domestic manufacturing needs are inviting new design for manufacturing strategies. Recent advancements in large-scale, polymer-based, additive manufacturing technologies, coupled with low-viscosity infusible thermoplastic resins, is attracting new research into the techno-economic benefits of 3D-printed stiffened panels in the wind industry (Bortolotti et al 2023).…”