New Systems Automate Composite Wind-Turbine Blade Fabrication, Double Throughput And Increase Quality

clipped from www.worldofrenewables.com The company's new Rapid Material Placement System (RMPS) and quick-cure molding system for wind blades combine to reduce labor content by two-thirds, double throughput, and produce a consistently high-quality blade from the start of a shift to the end. The new Rapid Material Placement System (RMPS) brings integrated manufacturing - with automation and repeatable process control - to what has largely been a manual or piecemeal-automated process. RMPS is an automated blade molding facility unto itself, capable of spraying in-mold coatings, dispensing/lay-up of glass and carbon fiber materials, and dispensing/application of adhesive. It brings 3 m/sec (10 ft/sec) lay-up speed to placement of materials in blade skin, spar cap, and sheer web molds, with laser- and vision-based wrinkle detection in cross or longitudinal directions. Depending on the laminate schedule, the system can reduce lay-up time 85 percent on a 45-meter blade.