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tp=&arnumber=5673165 Application of Fiber-Reinforced Composites in Wind Turbine Blades Jin Xu College of Textiles and Clothing, Yancheng Institute of Technology, Yancheng, Jiangsu, China [email protected] Zhenqian Lu College of Textiles and Clothing, Yancheng Institute of Technology, Yancheng, Jiangsu, China Abstract Wind turbine blades are the key components in the wind power generation system. Fiber-reinforced composites in wind turbine blades are widely used in the development of large-scale wind turbines. The advantages of fiber-reinforced composites and the characteristic of reinforced fibers are introduced. The structure of fiber aggregation is enumerated and their advantages and disadvantages are analyzed. The development of wind turbine blades is presented. Keywords blade; composite; reinforced fibers; fiber aggregation I. INTRODUCTION With the global energy crisis becoming more and more serious, and the publics increasing demand for improving the ecological environment, wind energy is

a type of renewable energy. It is also a kind of green energy that receives more attention from governments. To encourage wind power, about fifty countries have promulgated relevant laws and regulations to support the development of renewable energy. China also announced a policy to support wind power. The wind turbine blade (fan blade) technology is the core technology of the wind turbine, and costs about 15%-20% of the total cost. The airfoil design and the structure of the blade directly affect the performance and power of the wind power equipment, which is the core part of wind generator. Because of the large size and complex shape of the fan blades, there are higher demands for strength and stiffness, designation precision, surface roughness and uniformity in terms of quality. The fiber-reinforced composites can meet these requirements. These blades have been widely used in large wind turbines. II. ADVANTAGES OF FIBER-REINFORCED COMPOSITE The shape and load of the blade is rather complex and there are higher requirements in dimensional accuracy, surface finish and quality distribution. Therefore, there are many problems in making and using metal blades, including complex processing using many types of technical equipment, a long

production cycle, higher labor intensity and lower finished production. Modern fan blades are textile reinforced composite with a large-scale composite structure. Compared with the metal blade, the composite blade has the following advantages [1]. A. Light weight, high strength, and stiffness According to the mechanical characteristics of the wind turbine blade, they are design with strength and stiffness. The fibers are light because they are arranged in the main direction of force. B. Simple molding process To gain maximum pneumatic power, the blade needs to possess a complex shape. Its very difficult to make medium or large leaves in a metal blade. The molding process of a reinforced composite blade can be simple, as long as there is a mold and the surface of blade is smooth with the precious blade shape. C. Good anti-vibration, and natural frequency can be designed Even though the damping of the reinforced composite is big, it has good anti-vibration. The natural frequency can be designed in a wide range to avoid the resonance area. D. Imperfection sensitivity of reinforced materials with high fatigue

Gap extension restricted by the intact fibers can improve the security of blade. E. Good corrosion resistances and weather resistance The composite blade can have a good acid and alkali resistance, water resistance, climate resistance and other properties by selecting suitable raw materials. F. Simple and easy to maintain and repair The composite blade generally does not need repair except for proper maintenance each year such as uniformly painting the outer surface. III.SELECTION OF REINFORCED FIBER MATERIAL 978-1-4244-8921-3/10/$26.00 2010 IEEE A. E-type glass fiber The molecules of a glass fiber arrange in three-dimensional network, so the glass fiber is isotropic [2]. E-glass fiber is a kind of glass fiber with low alkali and excellent strength, stiffness, ductility, insulation, heat resistance and moisture resistance. It is the primary reinforced material of wind turbine blades, having low cost and good applicability. It is a better match with many resins, and the molding process. However, as the density of the E-type fiber is large, it is generally used in smaller blades (about 22 meters). More suitable materials will be applied in large-scale blades.

B. S-type glass fiber When there is a high requirement for the strength and stiffness of blades, the high-strength S-type glass fiber with a higher price can be used. The S-type glass fiber is a glass fiber with higher strength, modulus, acid resistance and heat resistance than the E-type. It also has good performance for impact. Its modulus can reach 85.5Gpa, which is 18% higher than the E-type glass fiber, and 33% higher in strength [3]. From a technical point of view, people will show interest in the wind turbine blade with high strength and fracture strain applied, but its price has been high (much higher than E-type) so it did not become the mainstream of leaf reinforcement. Currently, some producers see the potential of the S-type glass fiber in the wind energy market, so they are developing the S-type to cut down its prices. C. Carbon fiber The longitudinal strength of high strength carbon fiber is 2.2 - 4.0Gpa and the longitudinal modulus of high modulus carbon fiber is 350 - 700Gpa. The following are recently developed carbon fibers. The strength and modulus of T1000 made by Japan is respectively 9Gpa and 300-350Gpa. The strength and modulus of N60J carbon fiber is respectively 5Gpa and

700Gpa. As the density of carbon fiber is only 1.76 1.81g/cm3 , the specific strength and stiffness is high. It has good heat resistance, corrosion resistance, damping and X-ray and other characteristics. It also provides the resin matrix composite materials with electrical conductivity and thermal stability [4-5]. In addition, the diameter of a carbon fiber is only 8m; the matrix is more rigid, and its surface can be treated by different methods (oxidation, coating, electrolysis, and plasma, etc.) to integrate with the substrate, which can be better reinforced material, so it is suitable for a wind new leaf material, but its price is higher. D. Other high performance fibers Some new fibers can be used as candidates, such as aramid fiber, ultra-high molecular polyethylene fiber, basalt fiber and so on. Aramid fiber belongs to organic fibers. Its degree of axial orientation is very high and the longitudinal tensile strength and modulus is high, while its weight is light with higher strength and stiffness than other organic fibers. Whats more, it tolerates temperatures well. Basalt fiber is a new type of organic fiber, which is drawn from a melted state at high temperature. It has the same mechanical properties as S2 glass fiber, but with better acid and temperature

resistance. The main properties of all fibers are shown in Table 1. In addition, to reduce costs, we can mix several fibers, such as carbon/glass fiber, carbon fiber/light wood/ E glass fiber hybrid and so on. Hybrid materials are seen as a means to access high strength and stiffness with low cost. TABLE 1PROPERTIES OF REINFORCED FIBERS Type Tensile strength /GPa Tensile modulus /GPa Density g/cm3 Elongation % E-type glass fiber 3.1 74 2.54 2.5-3 S-type glass fiber 4.6 90 2.5 4.0 Carbon fiber 5.5 294 1.76 1.9 Aramid fiber 2.8 124 1.44 2.8 Polyethylene

fiber 3.0 172 0.97 2.7 Basalt fiber 3.04.8 79.3 93.1 2.80 3.1 IV.SELECTION OF FIBER ASSEMBLY Requirements applicable for composite fabrics include a linear, planar and three-dimensional structure. The processing methods are organic woven, knitted, woven and non-woven, those used in the wind turbine blade are organic fabrics or knitted fabrics. The following describes their structures and characteristics. A. Woven fabric This is a common fabric made of two or more groups of yarn that interweave, as shown in Fig. 1. The structure can be designed with good nature, its warp and weft show good stability and large surface coverage factor. Currently plain weave fabric, side flat organizations, twill weave and stain weave are used in composite materials. The disadvantage of this fabric is anisotropy, finite deformation that limits its applicability, poor sheer resistance performance in surface causing difficulty in weaving the opening component, and the yarn crossing curls as reduced shrinkage yarn tension on the delivery of efficiency. In order to overcome the shortcoming of anisotropy this ordinary fabric has, a three axial plane fabric has been developed, using three yarn systems with cutting

angle of 60 as shown in Fig. 2. In the oblique direction, the fabric stiffness and strength is the same as that of other parts. Therefore, the three axial plane fabric is isotropic. At same time, the fabrics plane sheer stiffness is high and its uniformity can create an open structure. In order to overcome the loss of strength caused by the blending of yarns and the disadvantage of low intensity in a two-dimensional layer, three-dimensional woven fabric can be used as shown in Fig. 3. The structures of the fiber in warp and broad wise can be designed for a non-curled shape, which means high strength and high stiffness are retained. Z-fiber improves the fracture toughness and the poor damage of composite materials. Considering the costs of manufacturing, because the structure allows resin infusion faster, it shortens the working hours; the shape is thicker, reducing the number of levels, saving labor, and therefore lower manufacturing costs. Fig. 1. Structure of general woven fabrics Fig. 2. Structure of three-directional fabric Fig. 3. Structure of three-dimensional fabric B. 3.2 Knited fabric Knitted fabric is formed by one or more root of spun yarn. The area of the structure of the knitted

fabric can change greater than the woven fabric. The structure of both warp and weft has rather large extension in all directions, so it can well adapt to the deep drawing formed composited material. Knitted fabric can be divided into warp and weft. The biaxial and multiaxial fabric can be formed by pad yarn, which can give the best stability to structural materials. 1) Warp knitted fabric Warp knitted fabric is formed by a group, or several groups, of parallel yarns feeding through the warp knitting machine needle simultaneously forming into a circle. Figures 4 - 6 show the structures of uniaxial, biaxial and multiaxial warp knitted fabrics. Fig. 4. Structure of uniaxial warp knitted fabric Fig. 5. Structure of biaxial warp knitted fabric Fig. 6. Structure of multiaxial warp knitted fabric As the mechanical characteristics and the sizes of the various parts of the wind turbine blades are different, the biaxial, three-axial, and four-axial warp knitted fabrics are applied to the wind turbine blades [6]. Warp knitted fabric has the characteristic of good dimensional stability, falls of easy, smaller extension and so on. It can reasonably use the good performances of each component in material. The warp knitted fabric as the composite material with its structural diversity, the integrated performance, the designable form, good

shape and the permeability to enhance the framework, has gained wide attention in the wind turbine blade and industrial areas. 2) Weft knitted fabric In the weft knitting process, the yarns on the loom are in order forming coil rows, which are woven in weft into weft knitted fabric. The multi-layer biaxial and multi-axial fabrics can be developed by adding directional yarns. Figures 7 - 8 shows the structures of multi-layer biaxial and multi-axial fabrics. Fig. 7. Structure of biaxial weft knitted frabic Fig. 8. Structure of multi-axial knitted fabric In the multi-axial knitted fabric, the yarn in each layer is very strict, therefore, we can take full use of the performance of the yarn to create fabric with high tensile strength, but its time to tear, the parallel arrangement of the yarn layer will produce the phenomenon of agglomeration, so the fabric has a high tear strength. Multi-layer biaxial and multiaxial wefts knitted fabrics have better formability because of the characteristics of the weft structure. Therefore, it has excellent application prospects used in the structure of blades. V. CONCLUSION

Compared with other materials, fiber-reinforced composites are used in the wind turbine blades, which have the absolute advantages of flexible design, good vibration in use, good fatigue resistance, corrosion resistance, weather resistance, easy maintenance and so on. Blades made of glass fiber-reinforced composite are mostly used. As the leaves move forward to being large, lightweight, environmental protected and with the growing development of high-performance fiber materials, the blades will go to the direction of carbon composite, carbon/light wood/glass hybrid composite and thermoplastic composite. REFERENCES [1] G. X. Qiu, L. S. Liu, and Y. M. Jiang, Textile composites and wind power, Science of Textile, 2006(5): pp. 56-61. [2] X. M. Tao, X. J. Xi, and G. X. Gao, Textile Structural Composites, Science Press, 2001. *3+ X. F. Xie, and Z. H. Bi, New progress of abroad wind turbine material, FRP, 2006, (4): pp. 21-25. *4+ Y. Pan, Z. P. Zhou, and J. Wang, Overview of wind turbine blade technology, Hunan University of Technology, 2007, 21 (3): pp. 48-51. *5+ S. J. Shao, S. H. Shen, and H. S. Xu, Composite materials and wind turbine blades, Nameable Energy, 2008, 26 (2): pp. 90-92.

*6+ L. J. Li, G. M. Jiang, and X. H. Miao, Multi-axial warp knitted fabric applied in the wind power, Science of Textile, 2009 (5): pp. 68-72.