windadmin posted on October 27, 2009 14:06
A new collaboration between MAG Industrial Automation Systems and Dowding Machining LLC is poised to revolutionize manufacturing of wind turbine components with specially designed CNC modules for the production of hubs and new automated technology for composite wind blade production. The Lansing, Mich.-based venture, dubbed Astraeus from the Greek mythological
"father of the four winds," will use a unique new machine design to dramatically reduce
the production times of turbine hubs, the large castings to which the blades are attached, to about four hours – a process that now typically takes 20 to 24 hours on the best production lines. In what will be the first implementation of MAG's Rapid Material Placement System (RMPS), the
new company will bring integrated manufacturing, with automation and repeatable process control, to wind blade fabrication – a process that has historically been manual, making blades prone to imperfections and weight variations, and exposing wind turbine manufacturers to warranty and replacement costs.
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