Metal AM Drives Improvements to Wind-Turbine Performance

View this email online. Technologies | News | Articles | Infocenter | Newsletters | Events | More | Suppliers | Advertise Video Metal AM Drives Improvements to Wind-Turbine Performance Renishaw has collaborated with the Nova Scotia Community College (NSCC), in Canada, to produce two ocean turbine parts using metal additive manufacturing (AM), for industrial design firm Biome Renewables, specialists in designing wind turbines. Using metal AM to produce the parts reduced costs by 80 percent, and enabled the turbine components to be developed in two months. Biome Renewables approached NSCC when it decided to expand into tidal-wave energy, because of the college's expertise in ocean technology and its engineering research facility, which builds prototypes for several industries. The plastic solutions previously used by NSCC had proved unusable for tidal environments, so the team decided to use metal AM to make the parts stronger. Renishaw assisted in designing two parts for Biome. The first is a PowerCone, a retrofit part that sits on the hub of an existing turbine and improves efficiency by 10 to 15 percent, by allowing the blades to rotate at slower speeds. Renishaw also helped, thanks to metal AM, produce propellers with a curved design to reduce drag when the blades turn in the water. Learn more and watch a related video. Guidelines Developed for AM Parts for the Oil & Gas and Maritime Industries After 2 years of work and discussion, two seamlessly aligned joint innovation projects (JIPs) recently were concluded in Norway by DNV GL (a registrar and classification group) and the consulting services company Berenschot. The goal of the two JIPs was to develop guidelines for the qualification of parts produced by the laser powder-bed fusion and wire-arc additive manufacturing processes, as well as develop an accompanying economic model, to be used in the oil and gas and maritime industries.  Among the 20 companies working on the JIPs: Siemens, Voestalpine, SLM Solutions, Additive Industries, Quintus Technologies and Sandvik.   Read here of several case studies of parts developed under the programs, including a crank disc printed from Inconel 718, using an EOS M290 printer, by fluid-power specialist Aidro. The History of AM in the Aerospace Industry From Stratasys Direct manufacturing engineer Andrew Carter comes this review of the role metal AM has played among the private and public sectors of the aircraft and aerospace industries. From product development and concept visualization, to testing and final production, Carter has seen the use of AM “take off.”  Read this article to see where he thinks it’s heading. Industry News Today’s News RAPID + TCT 2020 Postponed, With 2021 Event Set for April in Chicago OSHA Publishes Guidance on Preparing Workplaces for Covid-19 MSU Vehicle-Systems Center Taps QA Software for New Metal-AM Platform Agreement Makes Available Product for Full User Control of AM Process Solar Atmospheres Adds Inhouse Metallographic Testing In This Issue Introduction to AM: Five Steps for Getting Started AM Benefits From More Powerful Process Simulation The ability to visualize the complex AM process and detect collisions wards off costly part crashes and tool damage. Coming in 3DMP's Spring 2020 Issue Metal Powders for Additive Manufacturing—What’s new, and how do these new powders impact the use of metal AM in applications throughout industry.

Technologies:

Subscribe to the Newsletter

Start receiving newsletters.