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Due to the increasing demand for clean and sustainable energy, wind turbine technology has also witnessed significant developments in terms of its output capacity which is proportional to its size (length of wind turbine blades). The only limitation to this scaling is the availability of applicable materials with expected strength and low weight which can support a longer span wind turbine blade. Although studies have been carried out on alternate materials for the development of wind turbine blades, the use of Grey Relational Analysis for the optimization of natural fiber-reinforced composites for this application is rare. Also, pineapple leaf fiber, having considerable mechanical properties and low density has not been optimally considered as reinforcement in this regard. This is a robust study concerned with developing more eco-friendly materials for application in the manufacture of wind turbine blades. In this study, a material PxGyEz, a natural fiber/synthetic fiber polymer composite was developed and optimized based on the major criteria for selecting materials for wind turbine blades which are high tensile strength, high flexural strength, and low density. Grey relational analysis coupled with the Taguchi robust optimization technique was used for the optimization process and statistical analysis was employed to know the percentage contribution of each of the variable parameters (PALF volume percentage, glass fiber volume percentage, and fiber length) to the grey relational grades. The material P10G20E15 was the optimum having a grey relational grade of 0.7977 at experimentation and tensile strength of 95.3144 MPa, a flexural strength of 92.818 MPa, and a density of 1.3274 g/cm3. SEM analysis showed microstructural formations that explained the mechanical and physical behavior of the optimized hybrid composite. Simulation of an NREL 5 MW wind turbine blade developed with the optimized material P10G20E15 proved reliable for service with a 64% reduction in weight. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to their low density, natural fibers have increasingly found application in the development of systems such as wind turbine blades, airplane wing spar where flexural strength is a strong criterion for material selection. Although different researchers have studied the mechanical properties of such natural fiber composites, none has focused on the optimization of the flexural strength of pineapple leaf fiber (PALF)/glass fiber (GF) reinforced epoxy hybrid composite. This study applied the Taguchi and general regression analysis method in the optimization and modeling of the flexural strength of the PxGyEz composite. Flexural strength of 144.5 MPa at an optimum development parameter of PALF at 20% volume content, GF at 20% volume content, and fiber length of 25 mm. Analysis of variance and regression analysis was also employed to describe and model the flexural behavior of the developed composite. The PALF fiber showed to have a higher contribution to the flexural strength of the material. The equation developed to model the flexural behavior of the material showed a good correlation between the simulated value and the experimental values of the flexural strength at different combinations of manufacturing parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to rising environmental concerns, there has been the need to replace synthetic fibers which are non-environmentally friendly and of limited availability, with natural fibers which are eco-friendly, having considerable mechanical properties, and of a renewable source. Pineapple leaf fibers, known with high strength to weight ratio, have shown promising features. This study seeks to harness the features of these synthetic and natural fibers in a polymer composite material. In this study, a composite material PxGyEz (with x, y, and z representing the volume fraction of pineapple leaf fiber (P), the volume fraction of glass fiber (G), and fiber length respectively in Epoxy (E) matrix) was developed and its manufacturing parameters and constituents optimized for high tensile strength. The Taguchi robust experimental design technique was employed for the combination of the variable parameters of volume content of pineapple leaf (10%, 15%, and 20%), glass fiber volume content (20%, 15%, and 10%), and the fiber length (15mm, 20mm, and 25mm). The optimal combination of the variable parameters for the best tensile strength was pineapple leaf fiber at 10% volume content, glass fiber at 20% volume content, and fiber length at 15mm. The optimized composite P10G20E15 possessed a tensile strength of 95.3144MPa which was only a 5.9% deviation from the predicted optimum tensile strength. Analysis of variance showed that the glass fiber had the highest contribution of 50.64% to the tensile strength of PxGyEz, PALF 15.53%, and fiber length 28.84%. SEM images of the PALF, glass fiber, and fractured surface of the optimized material P10G20E15 revealed the surface structure which explained their different contributions to the tensile strength of the materials. A regression equation was developed to predict the behavioral trend of the tensile strength of PxGyEz. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to rising environmental concerns, there has been the need to replace synthetic fibers which are non-environmentally friendly and of limited availability, with natural fibers which are eco-friendly, having considerable mechanical properties, and of a renewable source. Pineapple leaf fibers, known with high strength to weight ratio, have shown promising features. This study seeks to harness the features of these synthetic and natural fibers in a polymer composite material. In this study, a composite material PxGyEz (with x, y, and z representing the volume fraction of pineapple leaf fiber (P), the volume fraction of glass fiber (G), and fiber length respectively in Epoxy (E) matrix) was developed and its manufacturing parameters and constituents optimized for high tensile strength. The Taguchi robust experimental design technique was employed for the combination of the variable parameters of volume content of pineapple leaf (10%, 15%, and 20%), glass fiber volume content (20%, 15%, and 10%), and the fiber length (15mm, 20mm, and 25mm). The optimal combination of the variable parameters for the best tensile strength was pineapple leaf fiber at 10% volume content, glass fiber at 20% volume content, and fiber length at 15mm. The optimized composite P10G20E15 possessed a tensile strength of 95.3144MPa which was only a 5.9% deviation from the predicted optimum tensile strength. Analysis of variance showed that the glass fiber had the highest contribution of 50.64% to the tensile strength of PxGyEz, PALF 15.53%, and fiber length 28.84%. SEM images of the PALF, glass fiber, and fractured surface of the optimized material P10G20E15 revealed the surface structure which explained their different contributions to the tensile strength of the materials. A regression equation was developed to predict the behavioral trend of the tensile strength of PxGyEz. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]