Process Modeling of Composite Materials for Wind-Turbine Rotor Blades: Experiments and Numerical Modeling.
MATERIALS 2017;
10:ma10101157. [PMID:
28981458 PMCID:
PMC5666963 DOI:
10.3390/ma10101157]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2017] [Revised: 09/29/2017] [Accepted: 10/01/2017] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
The production of rotor blades for wind turbines is still a predominantly manual process. Process simulation is an adequate way of improving blade quality without a significant increase in production costs. This paper introduces a module for tolerance simulation for rotor-blade production processes. The investigation focuses on the simulation of temperature distribution for one-sided, self-heated tooling and thick laminates. Experimental data from rotor-blade production and down-scaled laboratory tests are presented. Based on influencing factors that are identified, a physical model is created and implemented as a simulation. This provides an opportunity to simulate temperature and cure-degree distribution for two-dimensional cross sections. The aim of this simulation is to support production processes. Hence, it is modelled as an in situ simulation with direct input of temperature data and real-time capability. A monolithic part of the rotor blade, the main girder, is used as an example for presenting the results.
Collapse