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According to reports, American scientists have for the first time manufactured carbon nanotube-enhanced polyurethane wind turbine blades. Compared with traditional materials, this material is light weight, strong and durable, and is expected to be an ideal material for the manufacture of next-generation wind turbine blades.
In order to further expand the scale of wind power generation and make more efficient use of wind power resources, many engineers and scientists are working to create better blades for wind turbines to increase the efficiency of wind turbines. As long as the area of ​​the blade is increased, more wind energy can be captured, but it is not so simple. If the blades are too heavy, pushing the rotor to rotate requires more wind, which means that more wind is wasted on the rotor rather than on the power. Therefore, a lighter, larger, more durable blade is the best choice.
To this end, the United States Case Western Reserve University, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering postdoctoral Mahir Ross and his collaborators to create this kind of carbon nanotube reinforced polyurethane fan.
Mechanical performance tests show that this carbon nanotube-reinforced polyurethane material is superior to the resin material currently used in wind turbine blade manufacturing. By contrast, the researchers found that the weight per unit volume of the new material was lighter than that of the carbon fiber material and aluminum, while the tensile strength was 5 times that of the carbon fiber material and 60 times that of the aluminum.
In the fatigue test, the lifespan of this reinforced polyurethane composite blade is 8 times longer than that of glass fiber reinforced epoxy resin. At the same time, its fracture toughness is better than glass fiber reinforced epoxy resin.
In addition, carbon nanotube-reinforced polyurethanes were also successful in each test in comparison with another glass fiber-reinforced vinyl ester resin commonly used in wind turbine blades.
The researchers said that the project is still in the testing phase and everything is operating normally. In the next step, their team will further test the dispersion of carbon nanotubes in the composite material to achieve the best performance of the material. This carbon nanotube reinforced polyurethane fan will be tested first on a 400 watt wind turbine generator.
Casey Reserve University professor Ika Manas Zložzowel said that this kind of composite material is expected to become the ideal material for the next generation of wind power blades, and bring new opportunities for the entire wind power industry.
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