Rotor Blades - Mainsprings of Wind Energy

Rotor blades are the core of wind turbines. They determine the maximum harvest of wind energy. Their full functionality and security against fatigue and degradation has to be designed and assured for a service life of at least twenty years. Meanwhile, keeping pace with the rapid development of the market, rotor blade size is steadily increasing particularly for off-shore operations. In order to meet the requirements within the framework of design, development and construction of rotor blades, a comprehensive knowledge of the specific essentials, e.g. of the outer and inner stresses and strains, computing and evaluation methods, and material capability and performance characteristics is necessary. Durable construction and optimised production technologies, therefore, are necessary prerequisites for long service intervals, just as new and yet to be developed structural health monitoring systems (SHM) are.

The international conference on Wind Turbine Rotor Blades at Haus der Technik, Essen, will be held completely bilingual in German and English and provide a comprehensive overview of the subject matter pertaining to the complete life-span of a rotor blade from computing and evaluation methods, material capability and performance characteristics, to aerodynamics and optimised production technologies as well as structural health monitoring (SHM), maintenance, recycling and disposal.

The conference in Essen will be on 15 - 16 June 2010. The guest speaker will be Prof. John F. Mandell, Montana State University, an internationally distinguished expert on material fatigue and degradation in fibreglass constructions in wind turbines.

Lectures, under the chairmanship of Christoph Kensche (Hexion Specilaity Chemicals GmbH), will be given by eminent specialists who will combine theoretical observations with their long-standing repertoire of practical experience.

The conference is aimed at developers, constructors, manufacturing engineers and technicians of the manufacturers, as well as personnel from operators and public utilities, insurance companies, banks and other experts and specialists.

Detailed conference programme is available from Haus der Technik, tel. +49.(0)201.1803 329 (Ms Sabine Gebauer), email s.gebauer@hdt-essen.de or at www.my-windenergy.com or http://www.hdt-essen.de/htd/veranstaltungen/W-H010-06-302-0.html