MAY/JUNE 2012REINFORCEDplastics 8 www.reinforcedplastics.com

APPLICATIONS

SP-High Modulus

to engineer Dream

Symphony

SP-HIGH MODULUS, the marine

business of Gurit, has signed a

contract to provide engineering

services for the 141 m (463 ft)

Dream Symphony, which is

scheduled to be the largest

private sailing yacht ever

constructed. The yacht will be a

wood construction, incorporating

some composite materials and

steel in the design.

The project is a collaboration

between the boat builder Dream

Ship Victory, Ken Freivokh Design

and Dykstra & Partners Naval

Architects. The yacht is currently

in construction at new purpose-

built facilities at the Dream Ship

Victory yard in Turkey.

The SP-High Modulus team will

be working with Dykstra &

Partners on the fi nite element

analysis (FEA) of the structure,

covering the global strength of

the design. The FEA will incorpo-

rate the properties and scantling

of the wood, composites and

steel using the team’s experience

of composite engineering.

Detailed engineering of the

construction details for the wood

structure will follow the FEA.

“For a project of this scale with

epoxy cold moulded construct-

ion, our engineering experience

in composite materials really

helps when the structure utilises

materials of very diff erent prop-

erties,” reports Graham Harvey,

General Manager Engineered

Structures, Gurit.

SP-High Modulus;

www.gurit.com/marine

Dream Ship Victory;

www.dsvyachts.com

LM 73.5 m blades on 6 MW turbine

LM WIND Power’s 73.5 m blades

have been installed on Alstom’s

fi rst 6 MW Haliade 150 off shore

wind turbine at Carnet in the

Loire-Atlantique region of France.

The composite blades were devel-

oped specifi cally for the turbine by

the two companies. They are

designed to boost energy capture

while keeping loads down. The

blade design went through several

rounds of testing before being

installed on the turbine in France.

“Our technology enables us to

design and manufacture relatively

lighter glass fi bre and polyester

blades for the length, but above

all, LM has proven ability to handle

the industrialisation of these

blades, which is not easy,” notes

LM Wind Power VP Sales &

Marketing, Ian Telford.

The turbine’s 25 m sub-structure

was installed on pillars driven

more than 30 m into the ground

on which the 75 m high tower

was then gradually mounted. The

turbine and its support structure

have a combined weight of

1500 tons.

The Alstom turbine has been

chosen by a consortium led by

EDF Energies Nouvelles for three

projects to install off shore turbines

generating 3 GW of wind power

off the coast of France. Alstom

and LM Wind Power plan to

establish a facility in Cherbourg,

France, to produce the composite

blades.

LM Wind Power;

www.lmwindpower.com

Alstom; www.alstom.com

The fi rst Alstom 6 MW Haliade 150 off shore wind turbine, in France.

Dream Symphony is currently under construction in Turkey.

QUICKSTEP HOLDINGS Ltd of

Australia has completed the fi rst

production parts for the interna-

tional F-35 Lightning II Joint

Strike Fighter (JSF) programme

under a purchase order secured

in July 2011. The assembled

access panels for the aircraft

were presented to Northrop

Grumman ahead of schedule.

These parts represent the fi rst

‘fl ying’ Group 1 JSF parts manu-

factured by Quickstep. The

company expects to manufacture

approximately one completed

part per week and will gradually

ramp up in quantity.

Quickstep specialises in the

production of advanced compos-

ites for aerospace, defence and

automotive use, using both the

traditional autoclave process and

its own out of autoclave tech-

nology – the Quickstep Process.

“With serial production now

underway we will be making

regular shipments of Group 1 JSF

parts to Northrop Grumman and

receiving regular cash fl ow, with

the intention of ramping up

production over the next 12

months,” says Quickstep’s

Managing Director, Philippe

Odouard.

Quickstep recently received its

second Purchase Order for Group

1 parts, covering manufacturing

and delivery throughout 2013.

Quickstep;

www.quickstep.com.au

Quickstep’s first JSF production parts