Page 15 - HIWT Summer 2011 World of Welding

hiwt@welding.org HOBART INSTITUTE OF WELDING TECHNOLOGY

COVER STORY
WELDING OPPORTUNITIES WITHIN THE WIND POWER

INDUSTRY

By Dale W Reckman
GLWN

As both the utility and community
grade wind market sectors continue
their unprecedented growth,
a multitude of manufacturing
opportunities abound for those so
qualified.

Wind power generation equipment
is generally classified in three
distinct market sectors being
residential, community and utility. Residential can be
classified as having a rated output of less than 100 kilowatt
while community will fall within a range of 100 – 1,000 Identifiying the parts of a wind turbine and tower.
kilowatt and utility grade will be anything in excess of 1
megawatt. Within most all turbine designs, there exists four steel components will be completed with corrosion resistant
(4) main component groups. These groups are the Hub, the coatings to even include in some cases galvanizing.
Nacelle or Machine Head, the Tower and the Blades.
Within the fabrication sector, components are generally
Specifically within the fabrication sector, opportunities include divided into different groups based upon their final use within
Main Frames, Generator Frames, Ladders, Platforms, Towers, the generating equipment. Items such as Main Frames and
Nacelle Crane Structural’s and a host of other ancillary Generator Frames are normally deemed ‘A’ critical while
components. In most cases, fabrications are either carbon many other items such as much of the internal guarding will
steel type materials or aluminum. Often times the carbon be classified as something less critical.
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