case study

3D Printed Wind Blade Lamination Tool from Recycled Materials

15 Feb, 2023

author avatar
3D Printed Wind Blade Lamination Tool from Recycled Materials

Large Format Additive Manufacturing can be game-changing in product and process optimization, contributing to fighting climate breakdown. For the project Demo4Green - š—„š—”š—„š—²-š—Ŗš—”š—¦š—§š—˜, Caracol used recycled glass fibers and polypropylene to produce a lamination tool for micro wind turbines.

Large Format Additive Manufacturing solutions can play a game-changing role in product and process optimization, contributing to fighting climate breakdown. With Caracol's LFAM system Heron AM it was possible to support the ultimate purpose of circular economy, as demonstrated with the research project Demo4Green - š—„š—”š—„š—²-š—Ŗš—”š—¦š—§š—˜ ā€œš—„š—¼š—Æš—¼š˜š—¶š—° š—Ÿš—®š—暝—“š—² š—™š—¼š—暝—ŗš—®š˜ š—”š—±š—±š—¶š˜š—¶š˜ƒš—² š—„š—²š—ŗš—®š—»š˜‚š—³š—®š—°š˜š˜‚š—暝—¶š—»š—“ š—³š—暝—¼š—ŗ š—„š—²š—°š˜†š—°š—¹š—²š—± š—Ŗš—®š˜€š˜š—²ā€, a project organized by EIT Manufacturing and MADE Competence Center 4.0 in Italy. 

Using recycled glass fibers and polypropylene, the company has been working to produce components for the energy sector. The company focused its effort on developing a glass fiber lamination tool for micro wind turbine blades (these turbines are used in urban and rural areas to generate power for factories, offices, buildings, ...). 

With its LFAM system HeronAM, Caracol 3D printed a lamination tool for micro wind turbines out of recycled material, achieving and providing evidence of several tangible benefits if compared with traditional processes, such as: 

āœ”ļø improved lead time by 50% 
āœ”ļø increased raw material saving by 72% 
āœ”ļø enhanced waste reduction by 90% compared

The application was validated also from a technical standpoint. The dimensional tolerances and surface roughness of the component were maintained, while the material porosity was equal to a maximum of 0.2 mm.

More by Caracol

Caracol offers extreme Additive Manufacturing solutions with no scale limits. The company has developed its own LFAM system: with a patented extrusion head and proprietary algorithms. This system saves costs, reduces lead time, minimizes waste, and can reutilize waste or recycled materials.