Gulf Wind Technology Is Optimizing Wind Turbine Design With 3D Printing

Gulf Wind Technology (GWT) is an American company dedicated to developing wind turbine rotors. On November 20th, the company announced that it uses Stratasys additive manufacturing solutions to enhance its ability to test and improve wind turbine models. Specifically, they adopt Stratasys Neo stereolithography (SLA) technology, which dramatically reduces the design and fabrication cycle for wind tunnel models.

GWT is far from the first to leverage 3D printing for wind energy equipment production. For years, AM has been used for prototyping and creating custom parts for wind energy. Notably, General Electric began 3D printing large wind turbine components in 2019, and the startup Orbital Composites has been using on-site, large-scale additive manufacturing to build turbines, wind turbine blades, foundations and towers with funding from the US Department of Energy.

GWT can fabricate wind tunnel models dramatically faster with SLA technology

Why are these companies turning to additive manufacturing? One of the draws in this sector is the technology’s ability to create parts or prototypes faster and at a lower price-point. In the case of GWT’s wind tunnel models, additive manufacturing makes a staggering difference: a design that previously took 30 to 40 days to iterate and finalize can now be completed in just three to four days.