Carbon Nanofiber Composite Blade: Halpin-Tsai Stiffness Simulator

Wind-turbine blade spars are increasingly built from carbon-nanofiber-reinforced epoxy rather than plain glass-fiber composite, because nanoscale reinforcement raises stiffness much faster than it raises weight. This simulator runs the real Halpin-Tsai micromechanics equations on a unidirectional nanofiber/epoxy composite: adjust the fiber volume fraction, fiber aspect ratio and fiber alignment angle and watch the 3D microstructure re-populate with embedded carbon nanofiber rods while the effective modulus, composite density, specific stiffness and cantilever tip deflection of a full blade spar update live. A wind-speed slider drives the aerodynamic distributed load on a bending blade rendered alongside the microstructure, so the connection between nanoscale fiber geometry and macroscale blade deflection is visible in one scene.