97
Carbon/Glass
Hybrid Wind Turbine Blades--ILT
Corporation dba Think Composites, 101 Alma Street, #703, Palo Alto, CA 94301;
650-322-9433
Dr.
Stephen W. Tsai, Principal Investigator, stevewtsai@aol.com
Dr.
Stephen W. Tsai, Business Official, stevewtsai@aol.com
DOE
Grant No. DE-FG03-02ER86150
Amount:
$99,900
Research
Institution
Stanford,
CA
Lightweight,
high performance carbon or carbon/glass hybrid blades could significantly
improve wind turbine performance if three main hurdles could be overcome: the
high cost of carbon fibers, inadequate durability, and the difficulty in
designing hybrid materials. This
project will combine failure analysis and durability analysis methods to fully
characterize the complex nature of the hybrid materials, and develop an advanced
design method for wind turbine blades. In Phase I, an advanced design method for
the carbon and hybrid wind turbine blades will be developed. The design will
include an easy-to-use tool for characterizing the complex stress state and
failure mechanism of hybrid materials, and a cost analysis of the blade itself
as well as the entire system. In Phase II, a reliable, cost-effective, high
performance hybrid blade will be designed, built, and tested.
Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by the awardee: The advanced design method developed in this study should be applicable to the design of future carbon/glass hybrid wind turbine blades. In addition, the hybrid design technology could be applied to any composite structure such as for general aviation, trains, containers, and infrastructure.