Gurit showcases 2010 Product Portfolio at Wind Power Asia 2010, Beijing, China

With over 15 years experience in the global Wind Energy market Gurit has developed a broad range of award winning products and solutions for the Wind Energy Market. Gurit is unique in covering both infusion and prepreg blade technology and has the capability to supply all the relevant materials needed for building a composite blade.

The successful creation of a large composite structure needs specialist knowledge of structural design, materials technology and composite processing. Gurit is in the unique position of possessing all of these disciplines in one integrated technology centre, maximising the potential for innovation and rapid development of technology solutions.

With plans to broaden its offering to Wind Energy customers and in particular to the wind turbine blade manufacturers employing infusion technology, Gurit acquired Suzhou Red Maple Wind, a world-wide leading manufacturer of moulds for the manufacture of wind turbine blades, in 2009. Founded in 2008, Suzhou Red Maple Wind is a market leading Chinese mould manufacturer specialising in the production of high quality wind blade moulds at competitive prices and with short lead-times, traditionally supplying its moulds predominantly to the Chinese rotor blade manufacturers. With plans to expand both its product and customer portfolio beyond infusion technology moulds and beyond China, Red Maple, the tooling business of Gurit, has successfully started to export its moulds globally.

The phenomenal growth of the market has driven the global expansion of Gurit’s operations. In 2007 Gurit became the first global supplier of prepreg to the wind market when a new facility was opened in Tianjin, China, and in 2009 Gurit also acquired a majority stake in the Chinese structural foam company, China Techno Foam Co., Ltd. in Qingdao.

Having a manufacturing capability for prepregs, SPRINT®, structural cores, adhesives and infusions systems in Asia, North America and Europe, Gurit is ideally positioned to provide local service to its global customers.

Staff will be available at the show to discuss this year’s product portfolio.

Corecell™
Corecell™ T-Foam is a high-performance structural foam based on SAN polymer (Styrene AcryloNitrile). With mechanical properties meeting most customer specifications, Corecell™ T-Foam is a suitable and cost-effective alternative to PVC foams.

Main Benefits:

• Properties meeting most customer specifications
• Lower resin uptake than PVC cores offering cost and weight savings
• Direct replacement for PVC cores
• Availability from production facilities located in Tianjin, PRC
• Available in typical infusion formats and in kitted form
• Det Norske Veritas (DNV) and Germanischer Lloyd (GL) approved

Corecell™ T-Foam has a proven track-record having been used in thousands of wind turbine blades produced in the US, Europe and Asia.

G-PET
G-PET is a structural foam based on the cost-effective polymer PET. It is particularly aimed at replacement of Balsa core.

Main Benefits:

• Good economy of production through automated extrusion process and cost effective raw materials
• Recyclable, reducing the cost of waste
• Lower resin uptake than Balsa
• Available up to 160mm sheet thickness without bonding
• Mechanical properties meeting most customer specifications
• Temperature resistance for prepreg or high exotherm processes

G-PET is used extensively in wind turbine blade manufacture. G-PET is manufactured in Tianjin, PRC and is available in sheet, grooved/perforated forms or kit-cut to customer’s desired shapes.

PVCell G-Foam
PVC Foam has been the core material of choice for wind blade producers around the world. Gurit PVCell G-Foam foam provides new choice and availability of high quality PVC Foam for sandwich composite applications, particularly to wind blade manufacturers in China.

PVCell G-Foam is produced at a Gurit production facility in Qingdao, PRC. Production facilities are rated ISO9000 to offer confidence in quality. Due to production within mainland China, Gurit can offer short lead times, local technical support, and low supply chain risk for our customers.

PVCell G-Foam is a closed cell, cross-linked polymer foam that exhibits high stiffness and strength to weight ratios with superior toughness. It has excellent properties meeting most customer specifications, particularly compressive and shear properties, one of the most important design criteria in structural composites.

Main Benefits:

PVCell G-Foam has been specifically developed for vacuum infusion applications and is compatible for use with Epoxy, Polyester, and Vinylester resin systems
Can be used in practically every sandwich composites application such as wind energy, marine, transportation, infrastructure, and industrial markets
Consistent high quality, excellent adhesion, excellent chemical resistance, low water absorption and good thermal insulation
Can be supplied with grid-scored, double cut and 'infusion’ grooved/perforated forms
                                 

For those involved in series production, PVCell G-Foam can be supplied in kits where each piece is pre-cut, shaped, as necessary, and numbered to fit exactly into its designated place in the mould. PVCell G60 has received GL certification with the whole range being GL and DNV certified by the end of 2010.

Main Benefits:

• Compatible with vacuum infusion applications using various resin systems
• Micro-sanded with a special coating applied to reduce resin absorption during vacuum infusion process
• Apt for a wide operating temperature range, suitable for thick laminate parts, and compatible with high exotherm resins

Balsa is an abundant natural resource in Ecuador. The end grain configuration of honeycomb like cells exhibits superior physical properties unmatched by many core materials in the market. The rich Ecuadorian soil, ideal rainfall and tropical sun light conditions allow rapid growth of Balsa trees reaching around 28 meters in 5 to 6 years.

G-Balsa is available as plain sheets, contoured with scrim, grooved, and perforated, as well as in kits where each piece is pre-cut, shaped, as necessary, and numbered to fit exactly into its designated place in the mould. G-Balsa is GL qualified.
                           

Spabond 340LV is GL and Aerodyn-approved with over 11,000 blades, 40m+ having been bonded using Spabond 340LV providing a proven track record of performance and durability. The system has a simple 2:1 mix ratio by weight and volume and has been specifically designed to retain thixotropy when being mixed/pumped at high output rates. Spabond 340LV is available in a range of sizes from convenient 900ml cartridges for finishing/repair to 200 litre drums for machine mixing/dispense.

Main benefits:

• High Strength & Toughness
• High fatigue resistance – improved crack resistance when compared to competitive systems
• 10% lower density when compared to glass filled systems
• Range of working times
• Can be mixed and dispensed at up to 20Kg/minute
• Low exotherm & shrinkage in thick bondlines
• Sag resistance up to 25mm on a vertical surface
• Compatible with a wide range of mixing/dispensing equipment
• Resin & hardener components are pigmented to give a visual indication of mix quality

Gurit can supply an adhesive/mixing machine package, which removes the need to invest in expensive mixing machines and ensures a consistent high quality adhesive mix.

Local supply from Gurit (Tianjin) combined with a team of process engineers to support the use of Spabond 340 ensures that Gurit is well placed to support customer needs.

PRIME™ 20LV
PRIME™ 20LV is a low viscosity epoxy infusion resin designed for infusing large parts with complex reinforcements.

The exceptionally low exotherm characteristic of PRIME™ 20LV allows thick sections to be manufactured without risk of premature gelation due to the heat of exothermic reaction. This low exotherm will also help to extend the life of mould tools.

PRIME™ 20LV is GL and Aerodyn approved and over 7000 blades, 40m+ have been manufactured using PRIME™ 20LV providing a proven track record of performance and durability.

It has been used successfully for the single-operation moulding of components ranging from narrow shear webs and spars, up to 60 metre blade shells. It achieves excellent mechanical and thermal properties from a moderate (50°C) postcure.

Main Benefits:

• Low viscosity – 220cP at 25°C
• Low exotherm in thick sections
• Excellent mechanical & thermal properties after postcure at 50°C
• GL & Aerodyn approved
• Proven track record in the manufacture of large, 40m+ wind turbine blades