High performance pultrusion for advanced composites (HIPPAC)

使用脉冲激光制造风力涡轮机（WT）部件--如翼梁帽--将使运营效率显著提高，并将使更大的WT叶片的开发成为可能。风能的重要性继续增长，2018年占全球总发电量的3.5%（960 TWh），高于2008年的0.8%。英国-占总发电量的57 TWh（17%）-是该行业的领先者。2018年，英国开始运营世界上最大的海上风电场--位于坎布里亚郡海岸的价值10亿英镑的沃尔尼风电场，其发电量足以为60万户家庭供电。这一惊人的进展之所以成为可能，是因为风力发电供应链和生命周期的进步使得风力发电变得越来越便宜。主要因素是WT叶片越来越大，越来越高。通用电气可再生能源公司宣布了一个超过100米长的涡轮机叶片。五年前它们只有50米长。更大的叶片收获更多的风力，更高的结构受到更强和更恒定的风。这提高了他们的电力收集能力和能源的可用性;这大大降低了风能成本（英国海上：2015年的150英镑/千瓦时降至今天的57.5英镑/千瓦时）。然而，更大的叶片也面临着自身的技术挑战：主要是叶片和支撑结构承受的应力。先进的复合材料技术在风力涡轮机叶片生产中变得至关重要。纸浆模塑是聚合物复合材料的连续制造工艺，其中形成的部件/型材被拉过加热的模具。制浆提高了叶片部件的制造效率，降低了成本，提高了复合材料的质量。重量减轻和更坚固的部件具有积极的连锁效应，因为它允许齿轮箱，机舱和塔架等其他部件缩小尺寸。翼梁帽是WT叶片内部的关键结构元件。它们沿着叶片的沿着运行，提供关键的增强作用，并承担大部分的机械载荷。该行业正在转向基于纸浆的制造，但纸浆目前仅占复合材料部件生产的5%。HIPPAC旨在通过开发一种数字工具来改进翼梁帽纸浆模塑工艺，以便在实施前快速设计纸浆模塑生产线，在线质量控制以及以定制和原创的方式改进工艺控制。这将使生产更具成本效益的更强和更轻的部件成为可能。

Using pultrusion to manufacture wind turbine (WT) components -- such as spar caps -- will make operations significantly more efficient and will enable the development of much larger WT blades. Wind energy continues to grow in importance, generating 3.5% (960TWh) of the total electricity produced worldwide in 2018 - up from 0.8% in 2008. The UK -- with 57TWh (17%) of total electricity generated -- is leading figure in the industry. In 2018 the UK started running the world's largest offshore wind farm -- the £1 billion Walney wind farm off the coast of Cumbria, which generates enough energy to power 600,000 homes.This fantastic progress is made possible because wind energy is getting ever cheaper due to advances in the WT supply chain and life cycles. The main factor is that WT blades are getting larger and taller. GE Renewable Energy announced a turbine blade over a 100m long. They were only 50m long five years ago. Larger blades harvest more wind power and taller structures are subject to stronger and more constant winds. This improves their power harvesting capacity and availability of energy; this dramatically reduces the wind energy cost (UK offshore: £150/kWh in 2015 down to £57.5kWh today). However, larger blades present their own technical challenges: chiefly the stresses that blades and the supporting structures experience.Advanced composites technologies are becoming critical in wind turbine blades production. Pultrusion is a continuous manufacturing process for polymer composites where the part/profile formed is pulled through a heated die. Pultrusion improves the efficiency of manufacturing blade components, lowers costs and improves composite quality. Weight savings and stronger parts have a positive knock-on effect as it allows other components such as gear boxes, the nacelle and tower to be downsized. The spar cap is a key structural element inside a WT blade. They run along both sides of the blade to provide crucial reinforcement and take-up most of the mechanical load.The industry is turning to pultrusion based manufacturing, however pultrusion currently only represents 5% of the composite parts produced. HIPPAC aims to improve the spar cap pultrusion process by developing a digital tool to allow for the rapid design of the pultrusion line prior implementation, in-line quality control and improved process control in a tailored and original way. This will enable the production of more cost-effective stronger and lighter parts.