Wind Turbine Blade With Multiple Spar Caps for Fibre Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
The manufacturing of large wind turbine blades is challenging due to the alignment of fibre-reinforced materials in spar caps, which can lead to fibre misalignments and structural integrity issues, particularly in blades exceeding 70 meters in length.
Innovation Solution
A wind turbine blade design featuring a recess with varying widths and a transition region to minimize fibre misalignments, using two spar caps with different widths and a smooth transition, along with a method of manufacturing that includes gelcoat application to simplify the process.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If a single wide spar cap is used to reduce manufacturing complexity, then ease of manufacture improves, but fibre misalignment and structural integrity deteriorate due to difficulty in aligning large continuous fibre sheets
Solution Approach 1:
The spar cap is divided into multiple segments (first spar cap and second spar cap) that can be manufactured and positioned separately. This segmentation allows each segment to be more easily aligned and bonded to the shell, reducing the complexity of handling large continuous fibre sheets while maintaining structural integrity through the bonding interfaces between segments
2Strength
If multiple spar caps with different widths are used to optimize structural performance, then strength and stability improve, but device complexity increases due to multiple components with varying dimensions
Solution Approach 1:
The spar cap structure employs different widths at different locations along the blade span. The first spar cap has a first width and the second spar cap has a second width that is different from the first width. This local variation in dimensions optimizes the structural performance by providing appropriate stiffness and strength at different positions along the blade, where different spanwise locations experience different loading conditions
3Ease of manufacture
If a recess with sudden width changes is used to accommodate spar caps, then manufacturing simplicity improves, but fibre misalignment increases at the transition regions
Solution Approach 1:
The recess incorporates a transition region with a tapered width that gradually changes between the first region and the second region, rather than having sudden sharp transitions. This curved/tapered geometry allows fibre sheets to be laid up with gradual orientation changes, minimizing fibre misalignment and wrinkling while maintaining manufacturing feasibility
Data Source
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AI summary
The present invention relates to wind turbine blade and a method of manufacturing the wind turbine blade. An aerodynamic shell is provided with a recess (70) at its inner surface, the recess (70) extending with-in the shell along a spanwise direction of the blade. A first region of the recess (70) has a first width and a second region of the recess (70) has a second width exceeding the first width. A transition region is provided between the first region and the second region of the re-cess. A first and a second spar cap (80, 82) are arranged within the shell.