Rotor blade and wind turbine

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11828262-B2
Application number	US-202017626384-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 8, 2020
Priority date	Jul 12, 2019
Publication date	Nov 28, 2023
Grant date	Nov 28, 2023

Abstract

A rotor blade of a wind turbine, to an associated wind turbine and to an associated method. A rotor blade for a wind turbine, which extends in the longitudinal direction with a profile course from a blade connector to a blade tip, wherein the profile course comprises a course of a lift coefficient, comprising a hub portion adjacent to the blade connector and a tip portion adjacent to the blade tip, a middle portion adjacent to the hub portion and to the tip portion, wherein the middle portion substantially comprises those profile sections which have a relative profile thickness, which is defined as the ratio of maximum profile thickness to profile depth, of between 20% and 30%, and wherein the middle portion comprises a local minimum of the course of the lift coefficient.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A rotor blade for a wind turbine, comprising:
a rotor blade body comprising:
a blade connector;
a blade tip; and
a profile including a plurality of profile sections extending in a longitudinal direction from the blade connector to the blade tip, each profile section including a respective lift coefficient, a relative profile thickness, and a thickness setback,

wherein at each profile section, the relative profile thickness is defined as a ratio of a maximum cross-sectional thickness to a chord length,
wherein at each profile section, the thickness setback is defined as a ratio of (i) a distance along the chord length from a leading edge of the profile to the maximum cross-sectional thickness to (ii) the chord length,
wherein the plurality of profile sections is divided into groups of profile sections including a hub portion adjacent to the blade connector, a tip portion adjacent to the blade tip, and a middle portion between the hub portion and the tip portion,
wherein the profile sections in the middle portion include a relative profile thickness between 20% and 30%,
wherein the profile further includes a local minimum lift coefficient and a local maximum thickness setback each arranged in the middle portion, and
wherein a minimum thickness setback of the profile is arranged between 0% and 40% of a rotor blade length measured from the blade connector toward the blade tip.

2. The rotor blade as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the thickness setback of each profile section is arranged along the profile so as to collectively form an S-shape including a local minimum thickness setback and the local maximum thickness setback.

3. The rotor blade as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the S-shape includes first, second, and third turning points, wherein:
the first turning point is arranged between 10% and 25% of the rotor blade length measured from the blade connector toward the blade tip, and/or
the second turning point is arranged between 40% and 50% of the rotor blade length measured from the blade connector toward the blade tip, and/or
the third turning point is arranged between 65% and 90% of the rotor blade length measured from the blade connector toward the blade tip.

4. The rotor blade as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the local minimum thickness setback is greater than 35%.

5. The rotor blade as claimed in claim 4 , wherein the local minimum thickness setback is greater than 40%.

6. The rotor blade as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the middle portion extends between 30% and 80% of the rotor blade length measured from the blade connector toward the blade tip, and
wherein the profile sections in the middle portion include a thickness setback between 35% and 40%.

7. The rotor blade as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the hub portion extends between 0% and 30% of the rotor blade length measured from the blade connector toward the blade tip, and
wherein the profile sections in the hub portion include a thickness setback between 25% and 50%.

8. The rotor blade as claimed in claim 7 , wherein the profile sections in the hub portion are arranged such that the thickness setbacks decrease in a direction from the blade connector toward the blade tip.

9. The rotor blade as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the tip portion extends between 80% and 100% of the rotor blade length measured from the blade connector toward the blade tip,
wherein the profile sections in the tip portion include a thickness setback between 25% and 35%, and
wherein the profile further includes a local minimum thickness setback arranged in the tip portion.

10. The rotor blade as claimed in claim 1 , wherein:
the hub portion extends between 0% and 30% of the rotor blade length measured from the blade connector toward the blade tip, and/or
the middle portion extends between 30% and 80% of the rotor blade length measured from the blade connector toward the blade tip, and/or
the tip portion extends between 80% and 100% of the rotor blade length measured from the blade connector toward the blade tip.

11. The rotor blade as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the relative profile thickness of each profile section is between 15% and 100%.

12. The rotor blade as claimed in claim 1 , wherein at least a portion of the plurality of profile sections includes a flatback profile.

13. The rotor blade as claimed in claim 12 , wherein the flatback profile is arranged in the hub portion.

14. The rotor blade as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the minimum thickness setback is less than 35%.

15. The rotor blade as claimed in claim 14 , wherein the minimum thickness setback is less than 30%.

16. A wind turbine comprising a tower, a rotor, and at least one rotor blade as claimed in claim 1 coupled to the rotor.

17. A windfarm comprising at least two wind turbines as claimed in the claim 16 .

Assignees

• Wobben Properties Gmbh

Inventors

• Möller Christian
• Maass Hauke
• Stemberg Jochen

Classifications

• F03D1/0641 Primary

  of the section profile of the blades, i.e. aerofoil profile · CPC title

• F03D1/0675

  of the blades · CPC title

• F05B2240/301

  Cross-section characteristics · CPC title

• F03D1/0633 Primary

  of the blades · CPC title

• Y02E10/72

  Wind turbines with rotation axis in wind direction · CPC title