From the first blades for offshore wind turbines to the ones for the world's largest turbine. Our Jylland trip in Janaury!
Just before the semester started, WESA was very lucky to be able to visit LM Wind Power, the manufacturer of the blades for the Haliade X, the largest turbine in the world in 2020.
As it already became tradition, more than 20 WESA members left in a full bus from Lyngby to Lunderskov. Our January trip led us once again to the testing facilities and the brand center of LM Wind Power. Students from various study lines had the opportunity to interact with a researchers and engineers out of different areas at LM, also partly graduated from DTU Wind Energy. As every time it was an extremely interesting and insightful experience for our members, especially being surprised about the real size of blades. The whole day showed the great relationship between the wind industry and WESA.
Brand Center
Entering the hall of the brand center, some students, being new to the field, wondered about the huge size of the blade in the entrance - with 40m still being quite small compared to the latest blades. We had a guided tour through the center, hearing about the development of onshore and offshore wind turbines and especially the blade technology. Besides seeing the recent history and rapid evolution of the wind industry, several explanation and testing simulation videos were combined with the possiblity of physically touching some of the materials and composites used in blades.
Testing Center
After having a generous snack, we continued to the most interesting part of the trip - the visit of the testing facilities. Heavy load simulation and dynamic stress tests, with nothing but safety goggles between the eyes and oscillating blades. Walking through the testing hall was without exception a highlight for all our WESA members. Other great experiences were the wind channel, as well as the coating and erosion test room. Seeing where and how the knowledge and softwares learned during their studies are applied and what impact they have on industry and the technology used in the field offers all our engineering students great added value.
Thank you!
The team from LM Wind was very hostile and received us with a technical and entertaining program and was keen on answering hundreds of curious questions by our master students.
The event received excellent feedback and WESA is very grateful for LM Wind Power repetitively hosting WESA in Jylland, it is worth every single minute of the long trip.