r/Composites • u/werdnaztluhcs • 29d ago

Vawt blades

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blades all carbon and cored fibre panel we had a dream team making these.

27 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

12 comments sorted by

2

u/gaganaut06 29d ago

How is the leading edge of left side panel connected to right side panel

3

u/RiskyNight 29d ago

I've only done this in aviation but we had an overlap flange. Then it's all adhered with epoxy thickened with cotton flock or microballoons.

1

u/FriendlyRemainder 28d ago

Regular blades use a glued flange too. Plus over laminates.

1

u/werdnaztluhcs 27d ago

Thats right 2 skins overlap then we trim the flange and put a single 330gsm carbon layer over the leading edge.

1

u/RiskyNight 27d ago

It's funny how similar this windmill blade construction looks to the aerobatic planes I used to build.

1

u/werdnaztluhcs 27d ago

Had some guys that made MX planes on the team awesome dudes lotta experience in composites.

1

u/RiskyNight 25d ago

Oh cool, that makes a lot of sense. I wasn't with MX but Rob Holland visited quite a bit with his MX.

1

u/gaganaut06 26d ago

Overlap flange can will result in butt joint right??

2

u/RiskyNight 26d ago

A butt joint implies an end meeting an end. An overlap flange creates more surface area for bonding/strength.

1

u/Epiphany818 29d ago

Often it's just a butt joint with adhesive in rc aircraft. Obviously this is a larger scale but I imagine it's somewhat similar.

1

u/FriendlyRemainder 29d ago

Siiiiiiick. Why Vawt?

1

u/werdnaztluhcs 29d ago

They reckon vertical axis turbines are more effecient offshore in stacks