Wind off the coasts of the U.S. could be used to generate more than double the combined electricity capacity of all the nation’s electric power plants, reports have suggested.

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But building wind turbines offshore is expensive, requiring parts to be shipped at least 30 miles away from a coast. Purdue University engineers are conducting research on a way to make these parts out of 3D-printed concrete, a less expensive material that would also allow parts to float to a site from an onshore plant.

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“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 […]

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