Moulds are part of the design

Design, materials and processes are closely linked, and this is particularly clear in the development and production of LM Glasfiber moulds. With all the necessary know-how available in-house, we can build in specific blade performance requirements right from the beginning, in the early stages of mould development and production tooling.
This in-house expertise also lets us benefit in full from the experience acquired in all the different phases of developing and producing a new blade design. Similarly, optimising the production process can have an important influence on the overall design.

Simple and transferable

The majority of LM blades are based on glass fibre/polyester technology. This is a clear choice, based on our desire to keep material costs down plus the fact that the processes involved are more dependable and versatile.
Using polyester as saturation material does away with the need for expensive, complicated heating chambers or other equipment for heating the mould. It also makes it easier for us to plan for maximum efficiency – switching production from one blade type to another is straightforward, and we can simply move moulds from one factory to another if needed.

Same material as the blades

The shells for our moulds are made of composite materials supported by a steel framework. This means that the materials used in both the moulds and the blades feature the same coefficient of expansion, giving us much better control of the process. Moulds made of composite materials are also lighter, and thus easier to move.

Manufacturing moulds

Every blade is a mirror image of the mould in which it was cast. The technology behind designing and building these moulds is therefore crucial for the quality of the finished blades.
The engineers and technicians in this department therefore work closely with our production staff so that everything conforms with the highest standards. Once cast, the blade profile must be both up to spec and with no difference at all between the first and the very last to leave the mould. There are also stringent requirements about the process, including a rapid throughput time during casting.
Building a new blade mould begins by designing a so-called plug, a full-scale model with the exact shape of the final blade. This plug is produced using computer-controlled CNC milling for maximum accuracy and speed. We focus intensely on quality assurance procedures during the design of the plug, because the plug forms the basis for the mould that is then cast over it. It therefore helps determine the quality of all the blades subsequently cast from it.

Laser measurement

We measure the mould using lasers to check whether or not the geometry deviates from the specifications. Laser measurement enables us to measure deviations of less than one millimeter.