In an historic moment for the American offshore wind industry, the Block Island Wind Farm has reached its “steel in the water” milestone with the installation of the first wind farm foundation component. Deepwater Wind’s offshore foundation installation contractor set the first, 400-ton steel jacket on the sea floor on Sunday, July 26 at the…
Generating eco-friendly power with metal rotor blades
Wind turbines deliver environmentally friendly electricity. Yet the fiber-reinforced plastics often used in very large rotor blades are almost impossible to recycle. Not so with steel blades: since these are composed of steel, their re-cyclability exceeds 90%. Plus they cost significantly less than comparable plastic blades. Wind turbines feed eco-friendly power into the grid. To…
Composite manufacturer MARKOS has been EN 1090 certified
MARKOS, a composite manufacturer, has been EN 1090 certified by TÜV SÜD. The main production activity of MARKOS company is glass-reinforced plastic production of wind turbine nacelles, hub covers, as well as technical boats and other products. MARKOS also manufactures steel elements designed for wind turbine nacelles and steel or aluminum structures for other sectors.…
High-strength alloy achieves specification
SAE International has issued Aerospace Material Specification 6516 for Ferrium M54, an ultra-high-strength, high-toughness steel that is also highly resistant to stress corrosion cracking. The material covers the procurement of bars, forgings, and forging stock of M54 as a double-vacuum-melted (i.e., VIM/VAR) aircraft-quality alloy, and defines chemistry, thermal processing, properties and other material requirements. And hey, if it works in aerospace it could work for wind too.
What Works in Aerospace Can Work in Wind
What do the areospace and wind industries have in common? They both depend on high-performance steel. Illinois-based QuesTek Innovations LLC (www.questek.com) has developed two types of gear steels that are already commercially available and in use in aerospace applications, but are suitable for wind-turbine gearboxes as well. Ferrium C61 and C64 are high-performance, double-vacuum-melted steels…
Steel facility in Kansas to produce new wind tower
A wind tower manufacturing plant is planned for Ottawa, Kansas. Schuff Steel Company, a subsidiary of Schuff International, Inc.— a family of steel construction companies — is moving ahead with their plans.