Up to 20 % higher tensile strength: SAERTEX® develops new "High Strength" UD fabric for wind energy
At JEC WORLD 2018 in Paris, SAERTEX is presenting a newly developed glass fiber reinforcement material that is used in the production of rotor blades for wind turbines. The unidirectional "High Strength" fabric enables up to 20% better values in terms of tensile strength. In addition, wave-free placement in the component is significantly improved and the laying time is therefore shortened.
The rotor blades of wind turbines are exposed to strong mechanical forces. The lighter the materials, the more efficiently and economically the turbine works. Lightweight components therefore dominate the market in the manufacture of modern wind turbines. Composite components made from multiaxial fabrics open up the possibility of transferring the forces that occur into the component in the direction of the load by means of targeted fiber alignment. The "belt" of a rotor blade is one of the composite elements that is exposed to the highest loads.
SAERTEX has succeeded in achieving better mechanical values and easier handling of the materials by further developing the textile unidirectional fabrics used in the belt. The fibers now remain stretched and the composite component has up to 20 percent higher tensile strength than conventional glass UD fabrics. Infusion with resin also reduces resin build-up between the fiber strands and improves laminate quality. Wave-free placement in the mold not only makes handling easier for the customer, it also shortens the lay-up time in rotor blade production by up to 15%.
"We have succeeded in meeting the ever-increasing requirements of rotor blades in wind power generation. The turbines are getting bigger and bigger and this results in enormous demands on the stability and (bending) stiffness of the reinforcement materials used, especially for rotor blades. With the new Glass UD fabrics, we are meeting the requirements of the market and guaranteeing our customers improved quality for their composite components," says Steffen Baitinger, Application Engineering Wind Power at SAERTEX.
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