Leveraging the Advantages of Additive Manufacturing to Produce Advanced Hybrid Composite Structures for Marine Energy Systems
Many marine energy systems designers and developers are beginning to implement composite materials into the load-bearing structures of their devices, but traditional mold-making costs for composite prototyping are disproportionately high and lead times can be long. Furthermore, established molding t...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-02-01
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| Series: | Applied Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/11/3/1336 |
| _version_ | 1797416461586661376 |
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| author | Paul Murdy Jack Dolson David Miller Scott Hughes Ryan Beach |
| author_facet | Paul Murdy Jack Dolson David Miller Scott Hughes Ryan Beach |
| author_sort | Paul Murdy |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Many marine energy systems designers and developers are beginning to implement composite materials into the load-bearing structures of their devices, but traditional mold-making costs for composite prototyping are disproportionately high and lead times can be long. Furthermore, established molding techniques for marine energy structures generally require many manufacturing steps, such as secondary bonding and tooling. This research explores the possibilities of additively manufactured internal composite molds and how they can be used to reduce costs and lead times through novel design features and processes for marine energy composite structures. In this approach, not only can the composite mold be additively manufactured but it can also serve as part of the final load-bearing structure. We developed a conceptual design and implemented it to produce a reduced-scale additive/composite tidal turbine blade section to fully demonstrate the manufacturing possibilities. The manufacturing was successful and identified several critical features that could expedite the tidal turbine blade manufacturing process, such as single-piece construction, an integrated shear web, and embedded root fasteners. The hands-on manufacturing also helped identify key areas for continued research to allow for efficient, durable, and low-cost additive/composite-manufactured structures for future marine energy systems. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T06:04:37Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ac81ca511f774ebab5be63a2a7131c7c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-3417 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T06:04:37Z |
| publishDate | 2021-02-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Applied Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-ac81ca511f774ebab5be63a2a7131c7c2023-12-03T12:05:52ZengMDPI AGApplied Sciences2076-34172021-02-01113133610.3390/app11031336Leveraging the Advantages of Additive Manufacturing to Produce Advanced Hybrid Composite Structures for Marine Energy SystemsPaul Murdy0Jack Dolson1David Miller2Scott Hughes3Ryan Beach4National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO 80401, USANational Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO 80401, USADepartment of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59715, USANational Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO 80401, USANational Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO 80401, USAMany marine energy systems designers and developers are beginning to implement composite materials into the load-bearing structures of their devices, but traditional mold-making costs for composite prototyping are disproportionately high and lead times can be long. Furthermore, established molding techniques for marine energy structures generally require many manufacturing steps, such as secondary bonding and tooling. This research explores the possibilities of additively manufactured internal composite molds and how they can be used to reduce costs and lead times through novel design features and processes for marine energy composite structures. In this approach, not only can the composite mold be additively manufactured but it can also serve as part of the final load-bearing structure. We developed a conceptual design and implemented it to produce a reduced-scale additive/composite tidal turbine blade section to fully demonstrate the manufacturing possibilities. The manufacturing was successful and identified several critical features that could expedite the tidal turbine blade manufacturing process, such as single-piece construction, an integrated shear web, and embedded root fasteners. The hands-on manufacturing also helped identify key areas for continued research to allow for efficient, durable, and low-cost additive/composite-manufactured structures for future marine energy systems.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/11/3/1336marine energytidal turbinedesign for additive manufacturingcomposite manufacturinghybrid structurescomposite structures |
| spellingShingle | Paul Murdy Jack Dolson David Miller Scott Hughes Ryan Beach Leveraging the Advantages of Additive Manufacturing to Produce Advanced Hybrid Composite Structures for Marine Energy Systems Applied Sciences marine energy tidal turbine design for additive manufacturing composite manufacturing hybrid structures composite structures |
| title | Leveraging the Advantages of Additive Manufacturing to Produce Advanced Hybrid Composite Structures for Marine Energy Systems |
| title_full | Leveraging the Advantages of Additive Manufacturing to Produce Advanced Hybrid Composite Structures for Marine Energy Systems |
| title_fullStr | Leveraging the Advantages of Additive Manufacturing to Produce Advanced Hybrid Composite Structures for Marine Energy Systems |
| title_full_unstemmed | Leveraging the Advantages of Additive Manufacturing to Produce Advanced Hybrid Composite Structures for Marine Energy Systems |
| title_short | Leveraging the Advantages of Additive Manufacturing to Produce Advanced Hybrid Composite Structures for Marine Energy Systems |
| title_sort | leveraging the advantages of additive manufacturing to produce advanced hybrid composite structures for marine energy systems |
| topic | marine energy tidal turbine design for additive manufacturing composite manufacturing hybrid structures composite structures |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/11/3/1336 |
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