National Composites Week: Top 20 stories in the last decade
As we celebrate National Composites Week, we’ve collected our top content over the last ten years.
U.K. launches initiative for recyclable wind turbine blade technologies
The SusWIND initiative, addressing the recyclability and future development of composite wind turbine blades, will be delivered in three developments.
Vestas to acquire offshore business in joint venture
Per the agreement, Vestas will acquire Tokyo-based Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’ shares in the MHI Vestas Offshore Wind (MVOW) joint venture. MHI gets 2.5% in Vestas and a seat on the Vestas board.
Arkema wins Pierre Potier Prize for Elium thermoplastic resin
Following a depolymerization, purification and reformulation process, the resulting Elium thermoplastic resin is said to enable the manufacture of 100% recyclable wind turbine blades.
Arkema's partnership with ZEBRA project commits to circular economy
Arkema’s Elium thermoplastic resins might be key to the project’s goal to design and produce the first 100% recyclable wind turbine blade.
GE finalizes supply contract for Haliade-X 13 MW variant
The Dogger Bank wind farm will comprise of 190 units of the 13 MW Haliade-X wind turbine, due for completion by 2026.
UT receives funding for wind turbine blades recycling technology
The university is developing a large-scale glass fiber composite recycling system as an end-of-life (EoL) solution for wind blades.
Reimagining wind blade design
Wind turbine blade architecture is so well established that it’s difficult to imagine there might be a better alternative. ACT Blade’s skeleton-based design is a step in that direction.
Jeff Sloan
Editor-in-Chief, CompositesWorld
GE rolls out first turbine nacelle for 480 MW offshore wind farm
Run by consortium partners EDF Renewables, Enbridge and GE Renewable Energy, the offshore wind farm project will be comprised of 80 wind turbines to be installed by 2022.
Vestas wins 409 MW order in Brazil
The contract includes the supply and commissioning of V150-4.2 MW wind turbines, as well as a 20-year Active Output Management 5000 (AOM 5000) service agreements.
National Composites Week: Why are composites essential?
On the last day of the 2020 National Composites Week, composites professionals tell us why they think composites are essential. A million thanks to everyone who participated.
Vestas wins 443 MW landmark deal in the U.K.
Located on the Shetland Islands in the Northern Atlantic, the landmark deal will be Vestas’ largest single wind park in Europe to date.
TPI Composites announces second quarter 2020 earnings results
Returning to pre-COVID capacity levels, the company has extended two supply agreements and added production lines, adding approximately $800 million of potential contract value.
Covestro machine developed for direct infusion of polyurethane rotor blades
Covestro’s tailor-made Baulé machine enabled production of a 64.2-meter-long polyurethane turbine blade.
FASTIGUE: Empowering digital twins of large-scale composite structures
A 3D finite element technique to resolve the fidelity-versus-speed dilemma of performing fatigue analysis for large composite structures.
UMaine develops collaborative floating offshore wind demo project
The floating offshore wind demonstration project will reduce Maine’s overdependence on imported fossil fuels, produce more than $150 million in total economic output and create hundreds of jobs.
Gurit supports Indian Wind Energy industry with major investments
The company is investing more than 20 million CHF to set up a core material kitting factory and production site for blade molds, core material extrusion operation and more.
DNV GL issues provisional type certificate for GE Haliade-X
Selected as the preferred wind turbine for 4.8 GW projects in the U.S. and U.K., the Haliade-X is considered the most powerful in operation to date.
Vestas wins 50 MW order for largest Vietnam intertidal wind project
Vestas is supplying and supervising installation of 13 wind turbines made of composites, with the third quarter of 2021 the expected completion date.
Tech Table: Mold release agents
A table of mold release agents collected from data provided by suppliers.
Sino Polymer develops high-performance epoxy resin prepreg
Used in railway applications, the carbon fiber prepreg can be cured at 150℃ for 10 minutes, and is suitable for structural parts requiring Tg within 120-140℃.
Digital thread vs. digital twin
Visualizing the difference between digital representations and data flows and understanding the applications that are changing composites manufacturing and business models.
Ginger Gardiner
Senior Editor, CompositesWorld
ACT Blade, AMRC cooperate on 13m blade demonstrator
ACT Blade’s wind turbine blade design uses a textile shell overwrapping a structural spar to help reduce blade weight and manufacturing cost.
FLOTANT project to develop composite mooring cable system for deep water wind farms
Project partners are testing pultruded carbon fiber/thermoplastic profiles for use in a more cost-efficient, robust offshore wind farm mooring system.
Fiberline to supply carbon fiber profiles for Nordex Group wind blades
Denmark-based Fiberline says this transaction is its largest carbon fiber profile contract in the wind industry to date.
U.K. develops Sustainable Composites to address composite recycling challenge
The partnership will accelerate new recycling technologies, such as delivering a series of R&D projects, investing in new material feedstocks and more.
PlasmaBound completes €1.1 million investment round
Ireland-based PlasmaBound has developed controlled polymer ablation (CPA) technology, which joins structural adhesives to composites materials.
Bio-based hybrid tapes assessed for lightweight applications
A project of AZL’s partner institute, ITA, integrates flax fiber reinforcement with a PA11 resin matrix. Targeted end markets include automotive and wind energy.