Wind Measurement Systems 101

Archived; click post to view.
Excerpt: Wind measurement systems: Measuring wind speed and direction is now done at least three ways: mechanically (cup anemometer with a vane), with ultrasonics, or with laser-based devices. There are variations to each. Mechanical sensors, for instance, use moving parts and can connect to data recording d …

Engineering & Manufacturing 101

Archived; click post to view.
Excerpt: Like most complex machines, manufacturing a modern wind turbine is the story of materials, processes, and trends. The material story is mostly of composites. For instance, blades in particular are manufactured from fiberglass in an infusion process that excludes air. For other tasks, interest has be …

Molding tips and tricks soon revealed at molding show in Vegas

Archived; click post to view.
Excerpt: Composites One, along with the Closed Mold Alliance and over 15 industry partners, will host  comprehensive, ongoing demonstrations of closed-mold technology –on the show floor – during COMPOSITES 2012 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Presentations will take place in a specially designed staging area …

Software assists designing wind turbines

Archived; click post to view.
Excerpt: Software called Bladed provides wind turbine and component manufacturers, certification agencies, design consultants, and research organizations a design tool that has been extensively validated against measured data from a wide range of turbines. The developer says the software is the industry …

Accurate modeling for slender composite structures (Think blades)

Archived; click post to view.
Excerpt: A provider of efficient high-fidelity modeling software for aerospace, energy composites, and other advanced materials has released VABS 3.6. The developer says the software is the tool of choice for efficient and accurate modeling of composite slender structures such as wind-turbine blades, he …

Bolting company celebrates 25 years of tension…and torquing

Archived; click post to view.
Excerpt: Heading into 2012, Aztec celebrates its 25thanniversary of providing quality tooling.  The company is investing full force into the future through the expansion and addition to their headquarters and ISO 17025 accreditation. After completing a recent expansion to the headquarters in League C …

Couplings 101

Archived; click post to view.
Excerpt: Mechanical couplings connect shafts so one can transmit rotational power to the other. Shafts are never perfectly aligned so the coupling tolerates slight misalignments, but only to a degree. There are three types of misalignment. The center lines of the shafts might be parallel but offset, t …

Seals 101

Archived; click post to view.
Excerpt: Component design often overlooks the importance of well-engineered seals. Properly engineered seals increase the mean time between component failures, reduce manufacturing costs associated with the use of exotic coatings, and reduce power consumption due to unnecessarily high friction. Data required …

Carbon fiber tech center for wind and more

Archived; click post to view.
Excerpt: Carbon-fiber manufacturer Zoltek Corp. has taken a step toward growing its carbon fiber prepreg capabilities by expanding into a new 135,000 ft2 facility near St. Louis, Mo. The new facility will house Zoltek’s prepreg manufacturing and new Technical Center. The company says it is making the mo …

Why gears fail and a few ideas for building better replacements

Archived; click post to view.
Excerpt: Loads on wind turbine gearboxes are difficult to imagine and more so to quantify. Experience and software can provide some insight and solutions to designing better replacement gears. By: N.K. Chinnusamy, President of Excel Gear Inc. Gearboxes designed to acceptable and proven industrial st …