Manufacturing Technologies for Turbine Power Blades - Hybrid Anisotropic Materials for Wind Power Turbine Blades - page 101

Top hinge Blade section

Ball bearing

Bottom hinge

Hydraulic power hinges for blade assembly

FIGURE 4.7
Hydraulic.power.hinges.for.blade.assembly.

recognized.the.labor.intensiveness,.health.risks,.and.environmental.impact.
of.traditional.hand-laid.open.molding.laminating.methods.in.the.1970s.and.
began. experimenting. with. vacuum. infusion.. The. product. of. this. research.
and.development.was.SCRIMP,.the.Seeman's.composites.resin.infusion.mold-
ing.process..This.technology.illuminates.VOC.(volatile.organic.compound).
emissions.and.creates.a.clean,.worker-friendly.environment..It.also.produces.
aerospace-grade.mechanical.properties.with.a.practical.size.limit,.low.cost.
tooling,.and.consistent.results..SCRIM.was.awarded.its.irst.US.Patent.since.
1990..Its.patent.has.been.used.throughout.the.world.to.fabricate.a.wide.vari-
ety.of.high-quality.composite.products.for.military.and.commercial.clients,.
including.pleasure.boats,.surface.and.subsurface.naval.applications,.ground.
vehicles,.and.aircraft.structures..The.success.of.SCRIM.was.a.result.of.hav-
ing.a.background.in.commercial.composites.and.an.operation.for.aerospace.
quality..The.irst.customer.was.the.Naval.Surface.Warfare.Center,.Carderock.
Division,.for.whom.it.built.a.test.module.for.the.advanced.technology.com-
posite.deckhouse.program..When.the.project.proved.an.unqualiied.success,.
the.navy.began.to.accept.that.there.was.a.way.to.build.high-quality.composite.
parts.at.a.price.that.was.affordable.for.large-scale.structures.on.navy.ships..
The. infusion. process. of. the. thick. laminate. stack. has. been. used. to. absorb.
15.drums.of.resin.that.was.dry.less.than.seven.hours,.and.then.was.cured.
quietly.under.vacuum.overnight..The.resin.automation.infusion.process.has.
been.identiied.as.a.cost-effective.fabrication.technique.for.producing.toler-
ant. textile. composites.. Dry. textile. preforms. have. been. resin. impregnated,.
consolidated,. and. cured. in. a. single. step,. eliminating. costly. prepreg-type.
manufacture. and. ply-by-ply. layup.. The. large. number. of. material. proper-
ties. of. solid. processing. parameters. must. be. speciied. and. controlled. dur-
ing. resin. iniltration. and. cure. of. textile. composites.. The. development. of. a.