An IACMI-supported automated blade finishing project to build better wind turbine blades, lower costs, improve worker safety and transform wind technology manufacturing has successfully completed full-scale trials in a wind turbine blade factory. Launched in 2020, the partnership through IACMI between by GE Renewable Energy, LM Wind Power and GE Research, and DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) enabled innovative solutions to be developed that will have a meaningful impact on domestic wind blade manufacturing, says NREL Technical Project Manager David Snowberg.
Blade finishing includes trimming excess material after molding and grinding blade surface to meet quality requirements. The IACMI 4.10 project aimed to leverage knowledge of advanced composite processing together with sensing, robotics and automation to develop low-cost solutions for wind blade finishing with potential to increase throughput by 30 percent and improve EHS in factories.