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Article: Carbon Fiber Boosts Blade Performance.
- Article from:
- Design News
- Article date:
- November 17, 2008
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2008 Reed Business Information, Inc. (US). This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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By Doug Smock, Contributing Editor, Materials and Fastening
As blade size grows, engineers selectively apply carbon in a page taken from the Boeing Dreamliner
Demand for wind turbines is now exploding, shaking up materials' technology in the long-moribund industry.
For more than 30 years, turbine blades have been made from glass-reinforced thermoset composites, pretty much the standard technology long used to make boats and some automotive parts - most famously the body panels for the Chevrolet Corvette.
'The recent dramatic growth in the wind industry is just beginning,' says Steven C. Lockard, CEO of TPI Composites ...