Spar cap for a wind turbine rotor blade

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016138569-A1
Application number	US-201414542850-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Nov 17, 2014
Priority date	Nov 17, 2014
Publication date	May 19, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

A spar cap for a rotor blade of a wind turbine is disclosed. The rotor blade includes a blade root and a blade tip, leading and trailing edges, pressure and suction sides, and at least one spar cap configured on an internal surface of either or both the pressure or suction sides. The spar cap includes one or more layers of a first material and a second conductive material contacting at least one of the layers of the first material. Further, the conductive material is different than the first material. Thus, the conductive material is configured with the first material so as to create an equipotential spar cap.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A rotor blade of a wind turbine, the rotor blade comprising:
a blade root and a blade tip; a leading edge and a trailing edge; a suction side and a pressure side; and, at least one spar cap configured on an internal surface of either or both of the pressure or suction sides, the spar cap comprising one or more layers of a first material and a second conductive material contacting at least one of the layers of first material, the conductive material being a different material than the first material, wherein the conductive material is configured with the first material so as to create an equipotential spar cap.

2 . The rotor blade of claim 1 , wherein the conductive material of the spar cap is configured to electrically connect to a lightning protection system of the wind turbine.

3 . The rotor blade of claim 1 , wherein the spar cap further comprises alternating layers of the first material and the conductive material.

4 . The rotor blade of claim 1 , wherein the conductive material is embedded within one or more of the layers of the first material.

5 . The rotor blade of claim 1 , wherein the conductive material comprises at least one metal or metal alloy.

6 . The rotor blade of claim 4 , wherein the metal comprises at least one of copper, aluminum, steel, tin, tungsten, iron, nickel, or combinations thereof.

7 . The rotor blade of claim 1 , wherein the conductive material comprises at least one of the following configurations: a mesh, a wire, or a ply.

8 . The rotor blade of claim 1 , wherein the layers of first material comprise at least one of glass fiber laminate composites, carbon fiber laminate composites, or pre-preg fiber composites.

9 . The rotor blade of claim 1 , wherein the layers of the first material and the conductive material comprise varying lengths along a length of the spar cap.

10 . The rotor blade of claim 1 , wherein the layers of the first material and the conductive material comprise uniform lengths along a spar width.

11 . A wind turbine, comprising:
a tower mounted on a support surface; a nacelle configured atop the tower; a rotor hub comprising one or more rotor blades, at least one of the rotor blades comprising at least one spar cap configured on an internal surface of at least one of a pressure side or a suction side of the rotor blade, the spar cap comprising one or more layers of a first material and a second conductive material adjacent to at least one of the layers of the first material, the conductive material being different than the first material, wherein the conductive material is configured with the first material so as to create an equipotential spar cap.

12 . A method of manufacturing a spar cap for a rotor blade of a wind turbine, the method comprising:
providing one or more layers of a first material of the spar cap; and, placing at least one conductive material adjacent to or within at least one of the layers of the first material, the conductive material being different than the first material, wherein the conductive material is configured with the first material so as to create an equipotential spar cap.

13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein placing at least one conductive material adjacent to at least one of the layers of first material further comprises alternating the conductive material with the one or more layers of first material.

14 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the layers of first material comprise at least one of glass fiber laminate composites, carbon fiber laminate composites, or pre-preg fiber composites.

15 . The method of claim 14 , further comprising embedding the conductive material within the pre-preg fiber composites.

16 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the conductive material comprises at least one metal or metal alloy.

17 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the metal comprises at least one of copper, aluminum, steel, tin, tungsten, iron, nickel, or combinations thereof.

18 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the conductive material comprises at least one of the following configurations: a mesh, a wire, or a ply.

19 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the layers of the first material and the conductive material comprise varying lengths along a length of the spar cap.

20 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the layers of the first material and the conductive material comprise uniform lengths along a spar width.

Assignees

• Gen Electric

Inventors

• Caruso Christopher Daniel
• Yarbrough Aaron A
• Hardison Richard Allen

Classifications

• F03D11/0033 Primary

  Mechanical Engineering · mapped topic

• F03D11/04

  Mechanical Engineering · mapped topic

• F03D1/0675 Primary

  of the blades · CPC title

• Y02P70/50

  Manufacturing or production processes characterised by the final manufactured product · CPC title

• B29L2031/085

  Wind turbine blades · CPC title