WhoshouldIsee Tracks
4C Offshore Empowering Intelligence

GE, Fraunhofer IGCV, and voxeljet AG to develop 3D Printer for Haliade-X turbines

4C Offshore | Tom Russell
By: Tom Russell 16/09/2021 GE Renewable Energy

GE Renewable Energy, Fraunhofer IGCV and voxeljet AG have announced a research partnership to develop the world’s largest 3D printer for offshore wind applications in order to streamline the production of key components of GE’s Haliade-X offshore wind turbine.


The Advance Casting Cell (ACC) 3D printer under development will benefit from financial support from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy and is designed to be capable of printing moulds to cast components for the nacelle of the GE Haliade-X that can each weigh more than 60 tons. This is expected to reduce the time it takes to produce this pattern and mould from ten weeks or more to just two weeks. In addition, the use of the 3D printer is anticipated to reduce the product’s carbon footprint by eliminating the need to transport the large parts from a central manufacturing location. The partners expect to launch the project during the third quarter of 2021 with initial printer trials starting during the first quarter of 2022.


The project involves the development of a new, large format 3D printer capable of producing sand moulds for casting the metal parts of different shapes and sizes that make up an offshore wind turbine nacelle. The modular 3D printing process, which is based on voxeljet’s core “Binder-Jetting” technology, can be configured to print moulds for castings up to 9.5m in diameter and 60 plus tons in weight.


Juan Pablo Cilia, Senior Additive Design Engineer at GE Renewable Energy, said: “The 3D printed moulds will bring many benefits including improved casting quality through improved surface finish, part accuracy and consistency. Furthermore, sand binder jet moulds or additive moulds provide cost savings by reducing machining time and other material costs due to optimized design. This unprecedented production technology will be a game changer for production efficiency allowing localized manufacturing in high cost countries, a key benefit for our customers looking to maximize the local economic development benefits of offshore wind.”


The Fraunhofer Institute for Casting, Composite and Processing Technology IGCV is responsible for casting and materials technology issues as well as digital process monitoring.

“We are taking a close look at thermal management during casting, and we will evaluate the ideal proportions of the printing materials,”
said Dr. Daniel Günther, Head of Department Molding Processes and Molding Materials at Fraunhofer IGCV. “Also, we will develop and test new approaches to process monitoring as part of the project.”

Based on prior experience the team expects to significantly improve the environmental footprint of processes involved in producing the Haliade-X type wind turbines. This sustainability aspect is a firmly established guiding principle of research at Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, according to the institute’s director, Prof. Dr. Wolfram Volk, who adds: “We aim to optimize the mold printing to avoid extremely costly misprints or even miscasts, to save on binder and activator, and to improve mechanical and thermal behaviour during casting. By developing a process that conserves resources as much as possible, we want to help to improve the environmental and cost balance in the manufacture of wind turbines.”


Christian Traeger, Director of Marketing and Sales at voxeljet, said: “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.”


“While offsite on-demand 3D printing provides many benefits for small quantities of cast parts, running a 3D printing system on-site leverages the technology to its fullest capacity. Given the demand for offshore wind turbines, that will help a lot to fulfill project schedules and high market demands,”
adds Dr. Ingo Ederer, CEO at voxeljet. “With our productive “Binder-Jetting” technology in combination with our experience in large format industrial 3D printing, we are serving customers in the foundry industry for over 20 years. It is our mission to bring 3D printing into true industrial manufacturing and we are therefore very excited to be part of this groundbreaking project.”


The Haliade-X offshore turbine features a 14 MW, 13 MW or 12 MW capacity, 220m rotor, a 107-meter blade, and digital capabilities. GE Renewable Energy has been selected to supply its Haliade-X turbine for over 5 GW worth of projects in Europe and the US.

The Haliade-X 13 MW will power the two first phases of the Dogger Bank offshore wind farm (
A&B) in the UK, while the Haliade-X 14 MW has been selected as the preferred technology for the third and last instalment of the Dogger Bank offshore wind farm, located off the coasts of Yorkshire, UK. The Haliade-X has also been selected as a preferred technology for two major projects in the US: the 1,100 MW Ocean Wind offshore wind farm, and the 800 MW Vineyard offshore wind farm.

For more information on offshore wind farms worldwide, click here.

Premium

ForeSEE Premium, our most popular subscription, gives you full access to use the ForeSEE WebApp which includes exclusive offshore wind, transmission and vessel reports, news and downloads.

Request a 30 minute Demo

Trending News!