marincomp symposium conor glennon september 2017 · • supplier to 3 aircraft programmes –...
TRANSCRIPT
MarinComp SymposiumConor Glennon
September 2017
• Company Overview
• Tidal Energy
• Offshore wind
• Composite blades
• ÉireComposites technology
• Epoxy powder
• Heated ceramic moulds
• Advantages of ÉireComposites technology
• Higher quality
• Lower cost
• Beyond MarinComp
• Conclusions
Overview
• Supplier to 3 aircraft programmes – Bombardier Global, IAE V2500
engine (Airbus A320 family), Airbus A400M
• Manufacturer of wind turbine blades up to 14 m
• Leader in composites testing in Europe (CTL)
• Collaborative R&D with Bombardier, ESA, SRTP, Suzlon
• Patents granted & pending in heated tooling and processes
• Started in 1997 to exploit opportunities for composites technology
• Academic origins but evolved to meet industrial opportunities
• 60 staff, including over 15 engineers
• Excellent H2020 track-record
Company Overview
Other
Wind Power
Aerospace
Selection of Customers – Testing
• An emerging industry
• Bloomberg predicts 87MW by 2020
• Several competing technologies
• OpenHydro, Andritz, ScotRenewables etc
• Cost challenges
• LCOE too high (MeyGen £51m for 6MW)
• Foundations (if applicable)
• Development costs
• O & M – maintenance vessels very expensive
• Low volumes
• Reliability challenges
• Inadequate models of currents
• Blade failures
Tidal Stream Energy • Harsh marine environment
• Currents, storm waves
• Erosion (ice, sand, floating trees)
• Water ingress degradation
• Blades require high strength
• Thick composite sections
• Difficult to manufacture in commercial volumes
• Massive resource available
• Commercially viable
• Moving to floating wind
• Mainly Europe and Asia
• Drastic cost reductions
• Driving technology innovation
• Large blades – approaching 100 m
• Hybrid blades – glass-carbon interface
Offshore Wind
• Projects on Marine Energy
• MarinComp: FP7 Carbon Fibre Tidal and Wind Turbine spars
• SEAMETEC: H2020 SME Smart Blades for Tidal Energy
• FloTEC: H2020 EireComposites to build 9m blades for
ScotRenewables floating 2MW turbine
• Powderblade: H2020 FTI 60m carbon fibre wind blades
• Key technology
• Powder Epoxy and heated tooling
• Heated mould allows processing at 180°C - 200°C so heat-
activated epoxy or polyester materials can be used.
• Demonstrated on 14m wind blades
• Ideally suited for tidal blades and offshore wind
ÉireComposites Technology
• Lower cost – similar performance to Prepreg at
reduced cost
• Eliminates need to glue sub-components together
• Higher quality – no dry spots
• Powder epoxy materials do not need to be
refrigerated during transportation and storage
Technology Advantages
Glass-fibre mechanical properties Infused* Prepreg* Powder**
Tensile Strength (MPa) 821 952 957
Compressive Strength (MPa) 511 687 666
Tensile Modulus (GPa) 37.8 42 39.15
• Very-low viscosity (<0.1 Pa.s) results in excellent fibre
wet-out even for thick laminates
• Quicker cycle-times possible due to material
properties and heated tooling
• ÉireComposites holds a patent for the epoxy powder
technology
*Comparative data from Gurit**Normalised to 53% fibre volume fraction
• FloTEC (Tidal):
• 9m tidal blade manufacture
• Full-scale blade testing at NUI Galway
• PowderBlade (Wind):
• Root section for a 54m blade
• Full scale glass-carbon demonstrator
• 30m carbon-fibre spar section
• Future proposals
• Oceaneranet – fatigue testing
• Corrosion/erosion damage evaluation
• Others?
Future Work
• ÉireComposites is developing composite blades for marine
applications
• Blades for marine energy need to be high quality to survive the
sea
• ÉireComposites can deliver high-quality, low-cost blades using
• Epoxy powder and heated tooling
• Other advantages of the technology
• Avoids gluing
• Does not need to be refrigerated for transport
• Suitable for thick sections – such as tidal blades
• ÉireComposites’ technology can reduce the cost of marine energy
Conclusions
EireComposites TeoAn Choill RuaIndreabhanCo GalwayIreland
www.eirecomposites.comPhone +353 91 505430Fax +353 91 505432
Thanks for your timeConor Glennon
R&D Engineer
• 60,000 sq.ft. facility in Galway• Fully-accredited aerospace manufacturing facility• Accredited mechanical testing facility• Aerospace design facility• Research and Development facility
Company Facilities
• Autoclave 1: 450ºC, 10 bar 1.5m Ø x 3m• Autoclave 2: 250ºC, 10 bar 2.5m Ø x 6m• 100k Class Cleanrooms (264 sq m for
prepreg layup; 250 sq ft for dry fabric layup)
• Calibrated ovens (2m x 2m x 2m)
Aerospace Equipment • Thermoplastic compatible press platen size: 1.5m x
0.5m• Liquid processing equipment (RTM)• Paint booth• Non-destructive testing pulse echo & through-
thickness-transmission
•PRI Nadcap accreditation for composites manufacturing
•PRI Nadcap accreditation for NDT
•PRI Nadcap accreditation for composites testing
•AS/EN 9100 for aerospace manufacturing and design
•ISO 17025 for composite materials testing in CTL
•ADS SC21 approval
•Additional OEM and Tier One approvals
Quality System Approvals
• Future Launchers Preparatory Programme 2.1
– Composite Cryogenic Upper Stage Tank (with ESA)• Future Launchers Preparatory Programme 2.2
– Composite InterStage Structure (with ESA)• Automated Tape-Placement of Thermoplastic Composites
– Collaboration with Astrium ST & EADS CASA, GSTP)
• Development of Thermal Welding of TPC Aircraft Structures
– Collaboration with Bombardier Aerospace (Northern Ireland)
• EU Framework 7 YBRIDIO Programme
– Joining of Dissimilar Materials
• Design and development of TPC Helicopter Structures
– Collaboration with Eurocopter Deutschland (Germany)
– Clean Sky Helicopter Door
Other R&D Projects