Wind Turbine Blade Shell Assembly Using Prefabricated Laminates
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current wind turbine blade manufacturing processes are slow, labor-intensive, and prone to defects due to the large size and evolving scale of blades, making automation challenging and costly, especially for blades over 50 meters long, which suffer from severe aerodynamic conditions leading to frequent repairs and safety concerns.
Innovation Solution
The use of preformed parts processed into prefabricated laminates for wind turbine blades, including spar cap, root, and aerodynamic fairing laminates, which are lightweight, easily transportable, and can be assembled into a shell structure with internal shear web structures for enhanced structural integrity, allowing for efficient automation and reduced labor costs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If conventional fabric laying process is used to manufacture large wind turbine blades, then the blade structure can be built up layer by layer, but the manufacturing process becomes slow and labor-intensive with high risk of defects
Solution Approach 1:
The blade laminate is divided into multiple preformed parts that are manufactured separately and then assembled together. This segmentation allows each part to be pre-formed with high precision using automated processes, while the overall blade assembly remains flexible and adaptable to different blade designs, resolving the contradiction between manufacturing precision and productivity.
Solution Approach 2:
The preformed parts are manufactured in advance before final blade assembly. This preliminary action enables high-precision manufacturing of individual components using optimized automated processes, while the final assembly stage can proceed quickly by simply joining the pre-formed parts, thereby improving both precision and productivity.
2Power
If the blade size increases to meet power requirements, then the power generation capacity increases, but the manufacturing complexity and labor content increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
Large blades are constructed by assembling multiple preformed parts rather than manufacturing the entire blade as a single piece. This segmentation reduces manufacturing complexity by breaking down the large-scale construction into manageable modules that can be produced using standardized automated processes, while still achieving the required power generation capacity through increased blade size.
Solution Approach 2:
The preformed parts are designed with universal characteristics that allow them to be used across different blade configurations and sizes. This universality reduces manufacturing complexity by enabling the use of the same production tools and processes for various blade designs, while still accommodating the increased size requirements for higher power generation.
3Extent of automation
If automation is implemented in blade manufacturing, then labor content is reduced, but the investment cost becomes very high due to the large and constantly changing scale of blades
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the blade into standardized preformed parts, the invention enables the use of automated manufacturing processes for each part. The standardized nature of these parts allows automation equipment to be more easily programmed and reused across different production runs, reducing the overall investment required compared to automating the entire large-scale blade construction process.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the manufacturing parameters from building up entire large blades layer by layer to assembling pre-formed parts. This parameter change allows for more cost-effective automation solutions, as the automated processes can be optimized for specific part geometries and assembly operations rather than having to handle the full complexity of variable-scale blade manufacturing.
4Reliability
If leading edge repair is performed with the blade erected on the turbine, then the blade can be maintained in service, but the repair process is difficult and poses significant safety and cost implications
Solution Approach 1:
The blade is designed with segmented construction using assembleable preformed parts. This segmentation allows the leading edge components to be accessed and replaced more easily by disassembling the blade into its constituent parts, significantly reducing repair difficulty and safety risks compared to working on an erected blade, while maintaining blade reliability through effective repairs.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
A wind turbine blade including a shell structure defining a leading edge and a trailing edge, and an upwind shell and a downwind shell joined along at least one of the leading edge or the trailing edge. The shell structure includes an assembly of preformed parts processed into a collection of prefabricated laminates. The invention also includes a method of manufacturing a wind turbine blade, the method includes processing a number of preformed parts into a collection of prefabricated laminates and assembling the collection of prefabricated laminates to build a shell structure defining a leading edge and a trailing edge.