Windmill Blades | Types
Windmill blades are the wings of a windmill, a machine which is used for the conversion of the wind energy in to the rotational motion with the help of sails that are commonly known as vanes. Windmill blades are used mostly in the production of windmill electricity in addition to many other functions including reduction of coarse or solid substances into granular material or pulp by grinding or processing with the help of rotational motion produced by blades. Paper industry, saw industry, hammers industry and wind pumps also use windmill blades. A windmill blade works on the rule of thumb, which makes sure of the proper working of the blades with respect to the movement of air. One of the earliest types of blades is horizontal axis windmill blade which is called so because of the dimensions of its sails movement. The other type of blade is vertical axis.
The energy crisis in world today has led to various alternative energy sources in last few years, energy produced by windmill blades one of them. With the increase in the efficiency of windmills many problems can be solved like pollution, expensive electricity and much more. So the frequent usage of electricity made by windmills is helpful for both economy and the environment.
The shape of windmill blade is the most important factor during the installation of windmill because the shape of the blades improves overall productivity. Rotation of the windmill blades is greatly effected by their shape. There are different shapes of available including rectangular, flat, wing shaped, taper edged and airplane wings shaped blades. For the most efficient working of horizontal axis blades, the best shape is wing shape blades. While for the vertical axis windmill blades all the above described shaped work efficiently however the best performance can be obtained with the usage of flat blades.
In old times wood was used for making windmill blades but today still wood is used for making these blades but this wood is much lighter in weight and with carved edges to maintain faster speed of the blades. The latest technology that makes sure the unique curvature and also catches low winds is fiber glass and the epoxy resin which is now used for making modern wind turbine blades. However there are some other materials are also used for making blades like PVC these blades are not much resistant to the high winds and break when the wind intensity is too strong, but they have an advantage also, PVC windmill blades are also easy to replace because they are very cheap. Carbon fiber is also used for making windmill blades. Carbon fiber has its own advantages among which the most attractive feature is its light weight. Another advantage of carbon fiber is that it makes no noise and works with greater power as compared to the various other materials.