Simulation of Glass Fiber Reinforced Polypropylene Nanocomposites for Small Wind Turbine Blades

Occupational exposures to styrene vapor in a manufacturing plant for fiber-reinforced composite wind turbine blades.

OBJECTIVES A utility-scale wind turbine blade manufacturing plant requested assistance from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) in controlling worker exposures to styrene at a plant that produced 37 and 42 m long fiber-reinforced wind turbine blades. The plant requested NIOSH assistance because previous air sampling conducted by the company indicated concerns about...

Modifiers for Glass Fiber-reinforced Polypropylene and Polyamide

An Investigation into the Deep Drawing of Fiber-Metal Laminates based on Glass Fiber Reinforced Polypropylene

Abstract   Fiber-metal laminates (FMLs) are new type of composite materials which could improve defects of traditional composites in ductility, formability, impact and damage tolerance. Drawing behavior of a thermoplastic based FML was investigated consisting of glass-fiber reinforced polypropylene composite laminate and aluminum AA1200-O as the core and skin layers, respectively. The effects o...

Glass Fiber Reinforced Polypropylene Mechanical Properties Enhancement by Adhesion Improvement

Glass fibers (GF) are the reinforcement agent most used in polypropylene (PP) based composites, as they have good balance between properties and costs. However, their final properties are mainly determined by the strength and stability of the polymer-fiber interphase. Fibers do not act as an effective reinforcing material when the adhesion is weak. Also, the adhesion between phases can be easil...

Materials for Wind Turbine Blades: An Overview

A short overview of composite materials for wind turbine applications is presented here. Requirements toward the wind turbine materials, loads, as well as available materials are reviewed. Apart from the traditional composites for wind turbine blades (glass fibers/epoxy matrix composites), natural composites, hybrid and nanoengineered composites are discussed. Manufacturing technologies for win...