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Saertex makes longest, thickest carbon fibre spar cap

19 Jul '17
2 min read

Saertex has announced its contribution to the prototype production of a wind turbine blade with probably the longest and thickest carbon fibre spar cap made in vacuum infusion technology. The spar cap is part of the 83.6 metre blade prototype made by a major Chinese manufacturer in June 2017. The spar cap takes up most of the mechanical load.

The spar cap is made of carbon fibre to reduce the part’s weight and achieve higher stiffness which is essential for rotor blades of such extreme length.

The blade was designed by WINDnovation. Its spar cap was pre-produced in May and represented a technical challenge because of its length of 80.5 metre and thickness, which is 70 millimeters at its broadest section

An infusion-optimised carbon fibre UD 618gsm (unidirectional non-crimp fabric) with increased z-permeability material was used from Saertex, which had been specially developed for the infusion of thick lay-ups. The latent resin system 3325 A/B from CTP AM with optimised viscosity and extended pot-life was also used.

The spar cap was infused in VAP technology with Composyst's VAP membrane which enables degassing of the resin during the entire infusion and eases resin distribution throughout the entire part as well as control of the resin content in the part. This makes the entire process safer.

The infusion process itself took less than three hours and was completed without any problems. The following day after curing and demolding, the entire team was very pleased to inspect a near perfect part free of defects. The prototype production was technically supported by Saertex, WINDnovation, Composyst, CTP AM and ITD. (SV)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India

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