GC: n

CT: the rotor for a typical utility-scale wind turbine includes three high-tech blades, a hub and a spinner. The blades are one of the most critical aspects for a wind turbine and are considered a strategic component by wind turbine OEMs. Most manufacturers create multiple blade types for a single wind turbine in order to enhance performance in different wind conditions. The blades range in size from about 34 to 55 meters and are made of laminated materials – such as composites, balsa wood, carbon fiber, and fiberglass – that have high strength-to-weight ratios. These materials are molded into airfoils to generate lift, which causes the rotor to turn. The blades also often include material to protect against lightning strikes. They are bolted onto the hub, with a pitch mechanism interposed to allow the blade to rotate about its axis to take advantage of varying wind speeds. The hub – usually made of ductile cast iron – is one of a wind turbine’s heaviest components, weighing 8 to 10 tons for a 2-MW turbine. The hub is designed to be rigid yet able to absorb a high level of vibration.

S: AWEA – http://www.awea.org/Resources/Content.aspx?ItemNumber=5083&RDtoken=29819&userID=4379 (last access: 12 December 2014).

N: 1. hub (n): “solid center of a wheel,” 1640s, perhaps from hubbe, originally “lump,” the source of hob of a fireplace and hobnail, as in boots. A wheelwright’s word, not generally known or used until c.1828; it reached wider currency in connection with bicycles. Meaning “center of interest or activity or importance” first recorded 1858 in writings of Oliver W. Holmes, and originally especially of Boston.
2. The central part of a wind machine rotor to which the blades are attached; its height above ground is frequently used as a reference point for wind speeds.

S: 1. OED – http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=hub&searchmode=none (last access: 12 December 2014). 2. TERMIUM PLUS (last access: 12 December 2014).

SYN:
S:

CR: blade, rotor , wind energy, wind turbine (1).