Wind Turbine Composites Playing an Important Role in Renewable Energy Industry
Wind turbines have become one of the most prevalent sources of renewable energy in recent decades. Though made of several complex parts working in harmony, one of the primary drivers of wind energy’s growth has been advances in materials, especially composites. Composites refer to materials that are made by combining two or more constituent materials to produce a new material with superior properties. In the case of wind turbines, fiber reinforced polymer composites are emerging as the material of choice for many components.
Advantages of Using Composites in Wind Turbines
While alternative Wind Turbine Composites like steel and aluminum have traditionally been used, composites offer some key advantages that have spurred their adoption. Composites provide high strength and stiffness relative to their weight, making the large rotating parts of wind turbines lighter. This improves transportation and installation logistics as well as lowers structural loading. They also exhibit excellent corrosion resistance suitable for the harsh outdoor environment. Their anisotropic properties allow blades, hubs and other parts to be efficiently designed and optimized for the applied loads. Composites are also relatively inexpensive to manufacture using well established infusion and prepreg layup processes for large sections.
Composite Materials Used in Modern Wind Turbines
The main composite materials used in modern wind turbines include glass fiber, carbon fiber and sandwich construction composites. Glass fiber-reinforced polymers (GFRP) are commonly used for non-rotating parts due to their relatively low cost such as for the nacelle cover, tower sections and support frames. However, for highly loaded parts requiring maximum strength and stiffness, carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (CFRP) are the material of choice. Examples include turbine rotor blades, spinners and other rotating components. Sandwich construction composites leverage a strong but lightweight core material like balsa or foam sandwiched between two thin composite face sheets. This is especially suitable for blades where a stiff, insulated shell resists bending loads while minimizing mass. Hybrid constructions using long carbon fibers coupled with short glass fibers are also gaining popularity.
Composite Blades – Enabling Larger Rotor Sweeps
Without doubt, Wind Turbine Composites have seen the most innovation with composites. Early blades in the 1970s were made from wood but switched to composites by the 1990s. Modern offshore turbines regularly use blades over 60 meters in length composed of CFRP/GFRP skins, spars and tailored fiber placements. The increased usage of composites has allowed rotor diameters to almost triple from 30 meters in 1990s wind turbines to over 160 meters for some utility scale turbines today. Larger rotors improve energy capture and reduce the levelized cost of energy, addressing two major needs of the industry. Composite blades have also facilitated innovative blade designs spanning multiple segments for easier transport and assembly. Their combination of strength, stiffness and lightweight has been instrumental to the dramatic scaling up of wind turbine size and power output over the past three decades.
Use of Composites for Enhanced Durability
In addition to enabling scaling, composites provide durability benefits critical for wind turbines. Glass and carbon fibers have high tensile strength and do not corrode, lowering lifetime maintenance costs. Advanced resins and additives also improve ultimate compression strength relative to metals. Furthermore, sandwich construction in blades resists moisture ingress, delamination and damage from harsh outdoor conditions including significant temperature swings, UV radiation, lightning strikes and hail impacts. Composites are also repairable on-site, helping reduce downtime. Overall, these composite properties have extended service lifetimes from the initial design target of 20 years to over 25 years today – further improving the business case of wind energy projects. Manufacturers continue innovating with new materials, layups, additives and blade designs to push durability even higher.
Opportunities for Advanced Composite Technologies
While composites have revolutionized many aspects of Wind Turbine Composites, continued material and process innovations provide opportunities. Researchers are developing low-cost natural fiber reinforced polymer composites from flax, hemp or cellulose fibers as a greener alternative. Others focus on graphene or other nanofillers to enhance mechanical properties. 3D printing techniques may enable complex blade or hub geometries. Self-healing composites incorporating microcapsules of healing agent could autonomously repair cracks. At a systems level, digital twin modeling and embedded sensors are helping optimize performance and predict maintenance needs through composites’ entire lifecycle. Wind energy’s ambitious future targets will rely on even further composite technology advancements to deliver economical power generation on land and offshore. Composites have enabled the green energy transition thus far – and continued material innovation is key to realizing its full renewable potential.
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1. Source: Coherent Market Insights, Public Source, Desk Research
2. We have leveraged AI tools to mine information and compile it.
