Wind Turbine Composite Laminate Flow Media for Resin Flow and Conductivity
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for manufacturing composite laminate structures in wind turbine blades face challenges in achieving both effective resin flow and conductivity, particularly with carbon fibres, leading to reduced conductivity and increased risk of delamination under lightning strikes.
Innovation Solution
A method involving alternately stacking fibre-reinforcement layers with conductive carbon fibres and a flow-enhancing fabric layer made of an open-structured material, incorporating electrically conductive filaments or bundles at an angle to provide a conductive path through the laminate, ensuring both resin flow and conductivity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If a conventional flow media is placed between fibre layers to enhance resin flow, then resin flow is improved, but conductivity between carbon fibre layers is significantly reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The flow media is constructed as a composite material combining glass fibres (for flow enhancement) with conductive carbon fibres (for maintaining conductivity). This composite structure allows the material to simultaneously provide both flow enhancement and electrical conductivity functions that single materials cannot achieve alone.
Solution Approach 2:
The flow media layer performs multiple functions simultaneously: it enhances resin flow through its porous glass fibre structure while also maintaining electrical conductivity through the integrated carbon fibres. This multi-functional design eliminates the need for separate flow media and conductivity layers.
2Ease of manufacture
If conventional flow media is used to separate fibre layers for resin flow, then resin infusion is facilitated, but the lightning current dissipation capability is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The flow media combines glass fibres and carbon fibres to create a material that simultaneously facilitates resin infusion and maintains lightning strike resistance by providing continuous conductive pathways through the carbon fibre network.
Solution Approach 2:
The flow media has different local properties: the glass fibre portion provides flow enhancement while the carbon fibre portions provide conductivity. This local differentiation of properties within a single layer allows simultaneous achievement of infusion ease and lightning resistance.
3Strength
If carbon fibres with small fibre size are used, then structural strength is improved, but void size between fibres becomes insufficient for resin flow
Solution Approach 1:
The flow media acts as an intermediary layer between carbon fibre layers, providing a macro-scale porous structure that facilitates resin flow while the carbon fibres within the flow media bridge the micro-scale voids between carbon fibre layers to maintain conductivity.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach enhances resin distribution and maintains conductivity across the laminate thickness, reducing the risk of delamination and failure from lightning strikes while optimizing manufacturing efficiency.
Implementation Method 1
a flow-enhancing fabric layer for enhancing a flow of the resin during infusion of the fibre-reinforcement layers
Implementation Method 2
the flow-enhancing fabric layer further comprises filaments or bundles of fibres made of a second material, which is an electrically conductive material and which are arranged and configured to provide a conductive path
Data Source
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AI summary
The present disclosure provides a method (500) of manufacturing a composite laminate structure of a wind turbine blade part by means of resin transfer moulding, preferably vacuum-assisted resin transfer moulding. In a resin transfer moulding, fibre-reinforcement material is impregnated with liquid resin in a mould cavity. The mould cavity comprises rigid mould part having a mould surface defining a surface of the wind turbine blade part. The method comprises alternately stacking on the rigid mould part: - i. a number of unidirectional fibre-reinforcement layers (42, 46) comprising electrically conductive fibres, such as carbon fibres (42a, 42b), and - ii. a flow-enhancing fabric layer (70) for enhancing a flow of the resin during infusion of the fibre-reinforcement layers, the flow-enhancing fabric layer comprising an open-structured layer (71) made of a first material, wherein the flow-enhancing fabric layer comprises a longitudinal direction and a transverse direction, The flow-enhancing fabric layer further comprises filaments or bundles (72) of fibres made of a second material, which is an electrically conductive material and which are arranged and configured to provide a conductive path from first electrically conductive fibres of a first fibre-reinforcement layer on a first side of the flow-enhancing layer to second electrically conductive fibres of a second fibre-reinforcement layer on a second side of the flow-enhancing layer.