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U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Design and evaluation of low-cost stainless steel - fiberglass-foam blades for large wind-driven generating systems

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:6535655
The development of a low cost wind turbine blade design based on a stainless steel/fiberglass foam design concept is described, and its principle characteristics, its low cost features, and its advantages and disadvantages are evaluated. A blade structure was designed and construction methods and materials were selected. Complete blade tooling concepts, various technical and economic analysis, and evaluations of the blade design were performed. A study was made to determine the applicability of the blade design concept to various blade lengths in the range of 15 ft to 200 ft. A test specimen of the spar assembly, including the root and attachment, was fabricted. This 20 ft long full-scale section will be fatigue tested by NASA. It was concluded that the stainless steel/fiberglass-foam blade concept is a viable design for application to large wind turbine systems. A blade design was completed which meets the requirements for operation on the MOD-OA wind turbine. The design concept is applicable to various length blades. Blades less than 60 feet would use a stainless steel spar and blades of larger size would have a fusion welded carbon steel spar. The design permits a choice of a wide selectivity of air-foil shapes and, because of its modular construction, the design provides producibility and quality in high volume production.
Research Organization:
Budd Co., Fort Washington, PA (USA). Technical Center
DOE Contract Number:
AI01-76ET20320
OSTI ID:
6535655
Report Number(s):
DOE/NASA/0129-1; NASA-CR-165491; ON: DE83007588
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English