Materials News

Fibre composite for wind blades comes to Asia

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Tycor core material is for composites and combines glass fibres with closed-cell, low density foam in an engineered architecture. The family of products is used to produce lightweight, high strength sandwich structures in a wide range of markets from wind turbine blades to truck bodies, railcar decks, military shelters, bridge decks, cargo ship floors, temporary mats and runways.

Targeted at the wind energy market, Tycor W is finding success in GL-approved (Germanischer Lloyd) wind turbine blades as it is said to offer higher specific shear modulus compared with traditional core materials such as balsa wood and PVC foam.

It is suited for both flat and curved geometries with the distinct advantage that it absorbs less resin than foam and balsa cores. The material is offered in four standard core products to give blade designers and manufacturers the flexibility to optimise blade designs. WebCore is also able to tailor its products to individual blade and turbine specifications.