Gallery: Blade Dynamics prototype modular blade

The glass-fibre stiffening rings and spar box (green), bound by a carbon layer, are fitted together and closed in the shell
Blade parts being placed inside a 49-metre shipping container
The blade in Nasa's car park in New Orleans
Engineers adjusting the ring that supports and turns the blade during construction (credit Eric Bordelon, NASA)
Pre-painted blade section, revealing core materials and composites
Inspecting the blade's edge (credit Eric Bordelon, NASA)
The 13-metre tip of the blade
Rendering of T-bolts on root of blade, where it connects to the nacelle

Google Translate

Windpower Monthly was given a tour of the facility as the final stages of production were reached of Blade Dynamics' D-78 modular rotor blade, before shipping to the UK for testing.

The prototype blade has been designed for offshore use but, according to Blade Dynamics, it serves as proof of concept for advanced onshore blades too.

Being a test blade, the D78's composite skin surfaces were all unpainted at the time of the factory visit, giving a chance to see details such as the different core materials sandwiched within the structure.

The blade itself consists of four sections from the blade root, with individual lengths of 30, 25, 10 and 13 metres each.

The D78 is being shipped from New Orleans harbour to the UK's Offshore Renewable Energy Centre's research and testing facilities, where it will undergo five months of static and dynamic fatigue testing for type certification.

The full, exclusive technical review is available in Windpower Monthly's July issue or online.

Picture credits: Blade Dynamics unless otherwise stated.