Modular Wind Turbine Blade Mold With Exchangeable Tip Shells
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing mold designs for wind turbine blades are inflexible and require significant modifications or replacement when changes occur in the blade design, particularly in blade length, leading to inefficiencies and increased costs.
Innovation Solution
A modular mold system with exchangeable tip shell elements of varying geometries, which can be easily fixed to a support, allowing for adjustments in blade length and design without the need for extensive retooling.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a traditional fixed mold is used for wind turbine blade production, then the mold provides structural stability and manufacturing precision, but the mold cannot be adapted when blade design changes occur, requiring costly and time-consuming retooling
Solution Approach 1:
The mold shell is divided into multiple exchangeable tip shell elements that can be independently replaced. Each tip shell element corresponds to a specific blade tip geometry, allowing the mold to be adapted to different blade designs by swapping only the relevant tip element rather than redesigning the entire mold structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The support structure is designed with universal connection interfaces that can accommodate multiple different tip shell elements. This universal interface design allows a single support structure to work with various tip shell elements, providing multi-functionality and reducing the need for multiple specialized mold configurations.
2Manufacturing precision
If the mold is redesigned and manufactured for each blade length variation, then the manufacturing precision matches the specific blade design, but the production time and costs increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
Different tip shell elements are pre-manufactured with precise geometries for specific blade designs and stored for quick exchange. This preliminary preparation of exchangeable elements eliminates the need for time-consuming mold redesign and manufacturing when blade geometry changes are required.
Solution Approach 2:
The mold transitions from a static, fixed structure to a dynamic, exchangeable system where tip shell elements can be quickly swapped. This dynamic capability allows the mold to adapt to different blade geometries without requiring complete retooling, significantly reducing the time loss associated with design changes.
3Adaptability or versatility
If exchangeable tip shell elements are implemented in the mold, then the adaptability to blade design changes improves, but the device complexity and initial manufacturing costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the mold into standardized tip shell elements with universal connection interfaces, the manufacturing complexity is distributed across multiple simple, repeatable components rather than one complex custom mold. This segmentation makes each individual element easier to manufacture while providing overall system adaptability.
Solution Approach 2:
The tip shell elements are designed with standardized parameters and connection interfaces that remain constant, while only the geometric parameters specific to blade tip geometry vary. This approach allows for easier manufacturing by maintaining consistent manufacturing processes and interfaces while adapting only the necessary geometric parameters.
Data Source
AI summary
Provided is a mold adapted for producing at least a part of a wind turbine blade, including a support and shell fixed to the support for accommodating blade building elements to be embedded in a resin matrix, wherein the shell includes at least one main body shell element and several diverse tip shell elements, which are exchangeably fixable to the support.