Winds off the coasts of the US could be used to generate more than double the combined electricity capacity of all the nation's electric power plants, according to estimates.
However, building wind turbines offshore is expensive, requiring parts to be shipped at least 30 miles away from a coast.
Engineers at Purdue University have been conducting research on a way to make wind turbine parts out of 3D-printed concrete – a less expensive material that would also allow parts to float to a site from an onshore plant.
"One of the current materials used to manufacture anchors for floating wind turbines is steel," said Pablo Zavattieri, a professor in Purdue's Lyles School of Civil Engineering. "However, finished steel structures are much more expensive than concrete."
Conventional concrete manufacturing methods also require a mould to shape the concrete into the desired structure, which adds to costs and limits the design possibilities...