Study on mechanical properties of cork composites in a sandwich panel for wind turbine blade material

Abstract

Wind energy has become one of the most promising energy sources due to its environmentally friendliness, unlimited amounts. To become competitive energy source among other sustainable and clean energy, such as solar cell, tidal energy, the price to produce the wind energy should drop and stable energy supply should be achieved. In the components of wind turbine, the highest cost item is rotor blades. The study on rotor blades material has been conducted globally in order to find cheaper materials without significant performance defects. The most widely used material for manufacturing rotor blades is glass reinforced plastic (GRP) these day, but in terms of being green technology, GRP does not satisfy all our environmental concerns. The cork is a raw material of great value for the country whose economy is strongly bonded to cork industry. It has excellent properties such as low density, high energy absorption, low thermal conductivity, and water tightness. However, its application has been restricted to some traditional sectors such as bottle stoppers, not having reached all of its potential use. In this study, using sandwich structures, the possibility of cork core composites as a rotor blade material has been explored by determining its mechanical properties. In order to compare the mechanical properties of GRP, fiberglass laminates samples are also made and tested.