Industrial Automation Magazine India

DOPAG metering and mixing systems for the production of rotor blades

Published on : Friday 25-11-2022

DOPAG supplies metering and mixing technology for the entire manufacturing process from a single source.

 

November 2022 – Rotor blades are subjected to the toughest stresses during operation. They must withstand any weather conditions. At rotor speeds of up to 400 km/h, even rain drops can be a threat. For this reason, the highest quality requirements apply to the manufacturing process - especially to the metering and mixing technology. For all applications, from bonding to infusion and gelcoat to putty, DOPAG offers efficient dispensing systems from a single source.

 The company will present these at the AMI Wind Turbine Blade Manufacture trade fair in Düsseldorf, Germany, from December 13-15, 2022. The focus of the event is on the efficient manufacture of rotor blades for large wind turbines. Above all, it is about optimising the manufacturing process as well as the topics of efficiency and automation.

 

For reliable production, the metering and mixing systems has to meet two key factors. The mixing ratio has to be consistent at all times and a high degree of flexibility is required in terms of the flow rate. The production process begins with the manufacture of the upper and lower shells. As the first layer, a gelcoat may be applied using the gelcomix metering and mixing system to give the component a high- quality surface finish. In the following infusion process, semi-finished fiber products are impregnated with infusion resin. For this purpose, DOPAG offers the compomix DI metering and mixing system. The individual rotor blade elements are then bonded. DOPAG has developed the gluemix metering and mixing system especially for adhesive applications in rotor blade production. It processes large quantities of adhesives precisely and in high, consistent quality.

 New to the DOPAG product portfolio is the puttymix. The finishing process of rotor blades has become more and more important based on the increasing blade lengths. To protect the surface of the rotor blade particularly well, small unevennesses are filled with putty material at the end of the production process. With the puttymix, DOPAG has developed a specific system, which perfectly meters and mixes the two-component putty material with its high viscosity variance.