APPLICATION TECHNOLOGY
Prepreg enables higher output
UK based wind turbine designer and manufacturer FuturEnergy has announced a new 10kw wind turbine which it says generates 50% more output, at wind speeds of 6 meters per second, than any turbine on the market.
I
n addition to a carefully engineered design, FuturEnergy’s success came from developing the processes to fabricate their blade design with a highly uniform surface quality and thickness made possible by using prepreg from Amber Composites. Using prepreg helped to create significant efficiency gains and decrease wear on the entire turbine. Previously thought to be cost prohibitive, FuturEnergy and Amber Composites worked together to create a process
to manufacture these high-quality blades with less material and labour. “Amber Composites really partnered with us, helping us at each step of the design and development of the blade.
Their composites knowledge complemented our design expertise, resulting in a very high-quality turbine with a 3-year payback period,” said Peter Osbourne, president of FuturEnergy.
Araldite® the waves
B rides
Huntsman Advanced Materials has been working with Italian yacht maker Persico to build a pioneering new design of Volvo Open 70 racing yacht, for the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority.
uilt at Persico SpA, Nembro, in Italy, the ‘Abu Dhabi’ is a 70 foot long, ergonomic lightweight vessel, designed to weigh less and be more robust than other yachts in its class.
To achieve the super-high levels of component
endurance and performance required to compete in some of the world’s longest and most demanding yacht races, Persico used Araldite®
AW4859/Hardener HW4859, a high
performance structural adhesive, to complete the yacht. Araldite®
AW4859/Hardener HW4859 fixes together
different highly loaded components, from bonding titanium fittings to the yacht’s carbon structure to assembling the hatch, rudder bearing sleeves and components, bow sprit, chain-plate, mast and keel structure. Another Huntsman adhesive, Araldite®
420 A/B, is also used to bond many
other details on the boat. “We selected Araldite®
AW4859/Hardener HW4859
for its proven ability to deliver outstanding performance to marine applications. When it comes to delivering the exact levels of stiffness required to ensure the ‘Abu Dhabi’ performs well in racing conditions, Araldite® AW4859/Hardener HW4859 is certainly living up to our expectations,” said Mark Somerville from Persico. The key features of Araldite®
AW4859/Hardener
HW4859 are sag resistance, gap filling properties up to 4mm, high temperature resistance (140°C) and good moisture and chemical resistance.
tesa eases turbine blade production
tesa reports that its high performance adhesives tapes are finding success in the resin infusion moulding process used to manufacture wind turbine blades.
T
he resin infusion mould process enables the manufacture of high quality composite parts in a wide range of fibre and resin combinations. Central to the structural integrity and performance of finished parts made this way is saturation of
the glass fibres with the resin to eliminate voids and provide a pinhole- free surface finish. The resin infusion moulding process (RIM) delivers on all these fronts and is used to produce parts for marine, aerospace, transportation and infrastructure applications. RIM relies on vacuum-assisted resin transfer provided through
spirals located in the moulds. These are temporarily fixed and removed after processing with tesa 51960 fabric reinforced double sided PP film with a differential (different adhesive coat weight either side of the carrier) acrylic adhesive. The side with the highest adhesive coat weight bonds to the spiral preventing lift-off during moulding while enabling residue-free removal after processing. Similarly, resin infusion profiles which speed up preparation
process before RIM starts are securely positioned and fixed into the resin distribution net using tesa 4970, a double sided PVC tape with acrylic adhesive, and tesa 4914, a double sided non-woven tape, again with differential adhesive. In the production of wind turbine blades the acrylic adhesive is essential as a natural rubber based adhesive system would contaminate the blade structure and affect its life cycle performance properties. Essential anti-stick surfaces inside RIM moulds are created with
tesa 4810, a single sided PTFE laminated glass cloth tape with a silicon adhesive. The use of this tape eliminates the time-consuming process of using liquid mould releasing agents and avoids the potentially damaging transfer of liquid release agent to the surface of the turbine blades and other finished components. Once produced turbine blade leading edges are permanently
protected with tesa 54994. This tape extends the performance to the gel coat on the part of the blade under most stress. Already approved by some major OEMs and Tier 1s the tape does not stain, lift or dry out.
120 Fastener + Fixing Magazine • Issue 72 November 2011
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