It’s planned to use a new large-format sand binder jet additive system named Advanced Casting Cell (ACC) for producing casting equipment involved in the manufacturing of the components of the Haliade-X wind turbine. The diameter of the parts might reach 9.5 meters and they can weigh as much as 60 metric tons. (It’s even bigger than what the Modix Big-180 can produce, and that’s the machine that can print things reaching 1.8 meters, we covered it in the article about large-format 3D printers)
The Haliadе-X offshore wind turbines are the pride of General Electric. It's the most powerful solution of its class in the world. The height can reach 248 meters (813 feet). The bigger the tower is, the more effective is the power output of the turbine. The capacity factor of the Haliade-X is 64 percent. That’s significantly superior to 20-40 percent, achieved by an average turbine. One rotation of the 220-meter (722 feet) rotor with a 107-meter (351 feet) long blade would produce the amount of energy that would be enough for one house to function for two days. The Haliade-X are offered in the variants producing 12MW, 13MW and 14Mw. The latter outputs up to 74 GW per year and reduces CO2 emissions by 52,000 tonnes per year.
Producing the components of a large turbine is a complex task in itself. GE are planning to simplify the process with the help of additive technologies. The company partnered with Voxeljet AG, German 3D printer manufacturer, and Fraunhofer Institute for Casting, Composite and Processing Technology IGCV. The aim is to design a new additive manufacturing system to 3D print casting molds and equipment. Voxeljet is already specialized in the production of such devices. For example, they sell the VX4000 binder jet 3D printers with a building volume of 8,000 liters and with the size limit of 4 meters in one dimension. This is the largest additive manufacturing system of such a segment in the world. But it’s still not enough: the new system will 3D print the components sized up to 9.5 meters in diameter and weighing between 30 and 60 tonnes.
Christian Traeger, Director of Marketing and Sales at Voxeljet, commented “The test mold we printed for GE in 2019 consisted of dozens of individual parts. With the ACC, we aim to print a significantly reduced number of parts for the full set. Added to that, the mold can be optimized in terms of functionality and material consumption. This optimization makes completely new casting designs possible that can further enhance the efficiency of the turbines.”
How it works:
