Sandia Labs updates free marine composite materials database

The latest version of the United States Energy Department’s open-source marine and hydrokinetic (MHK) composite materials database has been released by Sandia National Laboratories.

The update includes salt water performance data that was collected to examine the effects of salt water and biofouling on composite materials performance and how to mitigate corrosion with metal-carbon fiber composite interconnects in salt water, according to the Department of Energy.

The materials research, funded by the department’s Water and Power Technologies Office (WPTO), aims to understand the fundamental materials and manufacturing science of composites by investigating structure design and components, environmental exposure issues, and costs associated with manufacturing, operations and maintenance, and reliability.

WPTO has funded Sandia National Laboratories and its partner, Montana State University, to conduct extensive testing and analysis on wind turbine blades and materials for marine hydrokinetic (MHK) devices in support of the industry and research communities.

The results of over 16,000 tests on 500 materials – since 1989 for wind, and more recently for water – have been compiled and published annually in a public database along with numerous technical publications analyzing the key trends and technical results of the tests.

Supporting publications can be found at the Composite Technologies Research Group at Montana State University.