3B Fibreglass announce new product for the wind energy sector

3B the fibreglass company have announced the introduction of a renewed range of reinforcements each designed for specific resin systems and engineered to provide optimum performances for the manufacture of wind turbine blades.

The first product in the series to be revealed is Advantex SE2020 which is a new single-end roving specifically engineered for epoxy polymer systems utilised in resin infusion or prepreg processes.

Luc Peters, 3B Wind Energy Technical Product Manager:

At 3B we focus on understanding the needs of wind energy OEMs by working hand in hand with the designers, the weavers and ultimately the manufacturers of turbine blades.  Collaborating with the entire value chain enables us to bring to market new benchmark rovings which further pushes the limits of glass fibre composite blade designs to address new challenges facing the wind industry.

At present multi-compatible reinforcements are commonly used with different resin systems such as epoxy, unsaturated polyester, vinyl ester, etc. However by developing innovative and proprietary sizing technology focused on a specific resin family (epoxy) and by optimizing the coupling of the reinforcement uniquely for epoxy resin systems 3B thereby achieves best-in-class composite properties.

Onur Tokgoz, 3B Wind Energy Global Business Leader.

Aligned with our strategy to be the wind energy solution provider, 3B has been continuously analysing the market to better understand the challenges confronting the entire value chain. Our company has put tremendous R&D efforts in developing and combining new reinforcements with precise sizing technology to respond to the needs of the industry.

Compared to conventional materials in the market place, 3B’s new Advantex® SE2020 roving for epoxy resin systems is claimed to offer better wet out therefore providing a more consistent laminate quality, a significantly improved resin matrix adhesion which delivers higher shear strength, and substantially greater interfibre strength. This, together with the resulting enhanced fatigue performance.

Advantex SE2020 roving has been designed specifically for epoxy resin applications in the wind energy market, however, its properties and mechanical performances together with very good hydrolysis resistance and inherent corrosion resistance will be of interest to many other epoxy resin composite structural applications such as pressure vessels, pipes, leaf springs, tidal turbine blades, etc.