Spar cap, wind turbine blade, method for fabrication of a spar cap, and method for fabrication of a wind turbine blade

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11215167-B2
Application number	US-201916244206-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 10, 2019
Priority date	Jan 11, 2018
Publication date	Jan 4, 2022
Grant date	Jan 4, 2022

Abstract

Provided is a spar cap for a wind turbine blade, including a main body, which includes an electrically conductive portion, and at least one metal conductor, wherein the metal conductor includes a terminal portion and at least one connection portion, wherein the connection portion of the metal conductor is wrapped by a first end of an electrically conductive and stripe-shaped carbon fibre mat, which abuts with a second end at least partly on the electrically conductive portion of the main body.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A spar cap for a wind turbine blade, comprising:
a main body comprising an electrically conductive portion and at least one metal conductor, wherein the at least one metal conductor comprises a terminal portion and at least one connection portion; and
an electrically conductive and stripe-shaped carbon fibre mat having a first end and a second end, the first end wrapping around the at least one connection portion of the at least one metal conductor, and the second end abutting at least partly on the electrically conductive portion of the main body.

2. The spar cap according to claim 1 , wherein the metal conductor, which is a braided cable or a metal stripe, comprises a rectangular or oval or substantially rectangular or substantially oval cross-section, wherein an entire cross-section of the at least one connection portion is wrapped at least by one layer of the carbon fibre mat.

3. The spar cap according to claim 1 , wherein the main body comprises a top side and a bottom side, further wherein at least the top side is covered partly or entirely by at least one cover mat comprising a glass fibre-based material or a carbon fibre-based material or an aramid-based material, the second end of the carbon fibre mat being sandwiched between the electrically conductive portion of the main body and the at least one cover mat.

4. The spar cap according to claim 1 , wherein the electrically conductive portion of the main body comprises a carbon fibre-based compound material comprising at least one unidirectional carbon fibre layer, wherein the carbon fibres of the unidirectional carbon fibre layer are oriented along a length axis of the spar cap.

5. The spar cap according to claim 4 , wherein the carbon fibre-based compound material comprises several unidirectional carbon fibre layers and one or more layers of a biaxial carbon fibre material, further wherein the unidirectional carbon fibre layers or stacks of layers and the biaxial carbon fibre layer or the biaxial carbon fibre layers are alternately stacked.

6. The spar cap according to claim 1 , wherein the main body comprises at least one core wedge comprising balsa wood and/or plywood and/or a foamed polymer material, with a rectangular cross-section or trapezoid cross-section or polygonal cross-section abutting the electrically conductive portion of the spar cap.

7. A wind turbine blade comprising at least one spar cap according to claim 1 .

8. The wind turbine blade according to claim 7 , wherein the wind turbine blade comprises at least one down conductor, which is connected to the terminal portion of the at least one metal conductor of the at least one spar cap by at least one connection element, which is oriented chord-wise and/or oriented perpendicular to the terminal portion and/or U-shaped.

9. The wind turbine blade according to claim 8 , wherein the at least one down conductor is arranged on a web structure of the wind turbine blade, the web structure being arranged in an internal cavity of the wind turbine blade, further wherein the terminal portions of the one or more metal conductors of the at least one spar cap are extending into the internal cavity.

10. The wind turbine blade according to claim 9 , wherein an inner shell of the wind turbine blade is arranged between the at least one spar cap and the web structure, the inner shell comprises one or more openings, through which the terminal portion of the one or more metal conductors extend into the internal cavity.

11. A method for fabricating a wind turbine blade, comprising the following steps:
providing at least one spar cap according to claim 1 ;
arranging one or more panels of the wind turbine blade, so that the one or more panels abut each at least one spar cap;
arranging a web structure, which supports a down conductor of the wind turbine blade, and/or an inner shell of the wind turbine blade and/or an outer shell of the wind turbine blade; and
connecting a terminal portion of each of the one or more metal conductors to the down conductor by at least one connection element, which is oriented chord-wise and/or oriented perpendicular to the terminal portion and/or U-shaped.

12. A method for fabricating a spar cap for a wind turbine blade, the method comprising:
providing an electrically conductive portion of a main body of the spar cap made of one or more carbon fibre-based layers, at least one core wedge of the spar cap main body comprising a rectangular cross-section or a trapezoidal cross-section or a polygonal cross-section, and at least one metal conductor;
forming the main body of the spar cap by arranging the at least one core wedge so that the at least one core wedge abuts the electrically conductive portion of the main body;
wrapping a first end of an electrically conductive and stripe-shaped carbon fibre mat around a connection portion of the at least one metal conductor; and
arranging the at least one metal conductor and the carbon fibre mat, so that a second end of the carbon fibre mat abuts at least partly on the electrically conductive portion of the main body.

13. The method according to claim 12 , wherein the at least one metal conductor is used, which is a braided cable or a metal stripe, and comprises a rectangular or substantially rectangular cross-section, further wherein an entire cross-section of the connection portion is wrapped at least by one layer of the carbon fibre mat.

14. The method according to claim 12 , wherein one or more cover mats comprising a glass fibre-based material or a carbon fibre-based material or an aramid-based material are used for covering a top side of the main body or the top side and a bottom side of the main body, further wherein the second end of the carbon fibre-based mat is sandwiched between the electrically conductive portion of the main body and the at least one cover mat.

15. The method according to claim 12 , wherein the electrically conductive portion of the main body is used, which comprises a carbon fibre-based compound material comprising at least one unidirectional carbon fibre layer, further wherein the carbon fibres of the unidirectional carbon fibre layer are oriented along a length axis of the spar cap.

Assignees

• Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy As

Inventors

• Girolamo Donato

Classifications

• F05B2280/6003

  Composites; e.g. fibre-reinforced · CPC title

• B29D99/0025

  Producing blades or the like, e.g. blades for turbines, propellers, or wings · CPC title

• F03D80/30 Primary

  Lightning protection · CPC title

• F03D1/0675

  of the blades · CPC title

• F05B2230/60

  Assembly methods · CPC title