Pre-cured Pultruded Composites for Wind Turbine Rotor Blades
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Solution Overview
Problem
Wind turbine rotor blades face challenges in stiffness, buckling resistance, and manufacturing complexity due to the use of fiber laminate composites, which are difficult to control and prone to defects, especially in longer blades that require increased stiffness and strength.
Innovation Solution
The use of pre-cured pultruded composites with a continuous base portion and integral protrusions, separated by gaps, allows for improved flexibility and contourability, and a fabric layer is co-pultruded with the composite to enhance structural integrity and reduce manufacturing costs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Shape
If fiber laminate composites are used for rotor blade structural components, then the components can be manufactured with complex shapes, but the manufacturing process becomes difficult to control and prone to defects
Solution Approach 1:
The structural component is divided into multiple discrete pultruded composite sections that are subsequently assembled together. Each section is manufactured separately through pultrusion process with controlled fiber orientation and resin impregnation, eliminating the defects associated with large-scale laminate manufacturing while maintaining the ability to form complex shapes through the assembly of segmented components.
Solution Approach 2:
The composite sections are pre-manufactured using pultrusion process before final assembly into the structural component. This preliminary manufacturing step allows for controlled fiber placement, resin impregnation, and curing in a controlled environment, ensuring high quality and low defect rates before the sections are assembled into the final blade structure.
2Ease of manufacture
If pre-cured pultruded composites are used for rotor blade components, then manufacturing complexity is reduced and defect rates decrease, but the ability to contour to blade surfaces is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The pultruded composite structure is segmented into multiple sections with varying cross-sectional geometries. Each segment can be independently manufactured with optimal fiber orientation and then assembled to collectively form the complex contoured shape required for the rotor blade surface, combining manufacturing simplicity with shape flexibility.
Solution Approach 2:
Different segments of the pultruded composite are manufactured with locally optimized properties including varying fiber orientations, resin content, and cross-sectional shapes. This allows each local region to be tailored for its specific functional requirements while maintaining the overall contourability of the assembled component.
3Power
If longer rotor blades are used to produce more power, then energy generation increases, but the blades require increased stiffness and strength which increases weight
Solution Approach 1:
The rotor blade components utilize composite materials constructed from pultruded sections with optimized fiber reinforcement patterns. This composite structure provides high stiffness and strength-to-weight ratio, enabling longer blade designs that generate more power without proportionally increasing weight, as the composite structure efficiently carries loads with minimal material mass.
Solution Approach 2:
The pultruded composite sections are designed with optimized cross-sectional geometries and curvature profiles that maximize structural efficiency. The curved and contoured shapes of the composite sections provide enhanced bending resistance and stiffness required for longer blades while minimizing material usage and weight through aerodynamic and structurally efficient form factors.
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
The solution provides rotor blade components with reduced defect rates, improved contourability, and lower manufacturing expenses, while enhancing structural properties such as stiffness and flexibility, making them more suitable for longer wind turbine blades.
Implementation Method 1
the resin cures or undergoes polymerization through added heat or other curing methods
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure is directed to pre-cured composites for use in manufacturing rotor blade components of a wind turbine. In one embodiment, the pre-cured composites are pultruded composites having a continuous base portion with a plurality of integral protrusions extending from the continuous base portion, and a fabric layer cured with the continuous base portion. Further, adjacent protrusions are separated by a gap.