Following the successful Early Stage Catalyst, this project will seek to develop the actively controlled, textile-tensioned blade technology to a prototype stage. The key work-packages are:
WP1: wind tunnel tests to validate the blade power performance. The Aerospace Sciences Division at the University of Glasgow (UG) will be in charge of the test design, execution and results validation. The tests will cover both the passive and actively controlled blade. The models for the passive blade will be manufactured by the UG, while Smar Azure (SA) will provide the blade models for the active blade. Ore Catapult (CA) will advise on the development and testing process.
The work package will comprise three sub-packages:
(a) evaluation of the static aerodynamic characteristics of aerofoil sections representative of the undeformed and deformed blade.
(b) evaluation of the static aerodynamic and deformation characteristics of a representative section of the new, flexible blade concept;
(c) evaluation of the static aerodynamic characteristics of the active blade concept with different candidate actuators.
WP2: textile tests to validate erosion and durability. WP2 will be carried out by SA and CA. Dimension Polyant (DP), the world leader textile manufacturer, will supply the materials.
WP3: engineering and production optimization, including design of embedded control systems, active control and production cost reduction. WP3 will be carried out by SA in collaboration with CA. It will be necessary to contact sensors and carbon artefact providers to optimise the manufacturing and reduce the production costs.
WP4: build a blade prototype for testing purposes. Ideally, it will be taken to a small rig for initial tests in a real environment.
WP5: commercial strategy development (SA and CA).

Potential Impact:
Wind energy is forecast to make a significant contribution to the UK's transition towards a more sustainable, secure and carbon-free energy system. Innovation is required to reduce the cost of wind energy and enable economic exploitation of this sustainable and secure energy source to its fullest extent, particularly in offshore locations. The Strategic Research Agenda (by European Wind Energy, 2014) clearly describes the importance of the wind turbine rotor, the need to develop larger blades and the integration of advanced control features in blades. The Early Stage Catalyst project showed that the actively-controlled, textile-covered blade can address the key challenges for the design and manufacture of very large blades and enable an increase of annual energy production by 15%.
The textile-engineered blade with actively controlled surface/profile pushes the boundaries beyond the current leading edge technology used to produce blades. It has the potential to bring comprehensive benefits with improved efficiency (enabling longer blades +15% annual energy production), improved control (because of the low mass and higher stiffness, the natural frequencies are higher), easier transportation (possibility to be transported in components and assembled on-site), reduced system loads (because of the ability to change shape), and better maintenance (textile can be replaced, monitoring sensors provide feedback for appropriate maintenance).
Additional impact related purely to the University activities are provided below:
- contribution to the impact of the innovative blade developments through the provision of state of the art testing facilities to validate the novel concepts, as detailed by the Lead partner;
- establishing a closer tie with industry, a key NWTF aim, creating a pull-through environment and an intended spill-over of the collaboration and benefits to other sectors;
- the recruitment of students into aerospace programmes. A key feature of this activity is the promotion of an aerospace education as a pathway to diverse range of potential careers, including renewable energy;
- strengthening research in related areas, e.g. aeroelastic tailoring of flexible wings
- helping to secure further internal funding of research through School and University scholarships