Wind turbines and wind turbine rotor blades with reduced radar cross sections

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9033671-B2
Application number	US-201213348586-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 11, 2012
Priority date	Jan 11, 2012
Publication date	May 19, 2015
Grant date	May 19, 2015

Abstract

Wind turbine rotor blades include a shell having a leading edge opposite a trailing edge, a structural support member that supports the shell and is disposed internal the wind turbine rotor blade between the leading edge and the trailing edge and extends for at least a portion of a rotor blade span length, and a resistive cellular support structure disposed at least partially about the wind turbine rotor blade that physically supports at least a portion of the wind turbine rotor blade and at least partially absorbs radar energy.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A wind turbine rotor blade comprising:
a shell comprising a leading edge opposite a trailing edge;
a structural support member that supports the shell and is disposed internal the wind turbine rotor blade between the leading edge and the trailing edge and extends for at least a portion of a rotor blade span length; and,
a resistive cellular support structure disposed at least partially about the wind turbine rotor blade that physically supports at least a portion of the wind turbine rotor blade and at least partially absorbs radar energy, wherein the resistive cellular support structure comprises a plurality of open structural cells comprising a plurality of cell walls that form a plurality of cell passages, and wherein the structural support member at least partially comprises the resistive cellular support structure.

2. The wind turbine rotor blade of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of open structural cells comprise a honeycomb configuration.

3. The wind turbine rotor blade of claim 1 , wherein the resistive cellular support structure comprises a variable amount of resistive material.

4. The wind turbine rotor blade of claim 1 , wherein the structural support member comprises fiberglass.

5. The wind turbine rotor blade of claim 4 , wherein the structural support member comprises a spar disposed between an upper spar cap and a lower spar cap.

6. The wind turbine rotor blade of claim 1 , wherein the shell at least partially comprises the resistive cellular support structure.

7. The wind turbine rotor blade of claim 6 , wherein the structural support member comprises carbon fiber.

8. A wind turbine rotor blade comprising:
a shell comprising a leading edge opposite a trailing edge;
a structural support member that supports the shell and is disposed internal the wind turbine rotor blade between the leading edge and the trailing edge and extends for at least a portion of a rotor blade span length;
a first resistive cellular support structure disposed at least partially about a first location of the wind turbine rotor blade that physically supports at least a portion of the wind turbine rotor blade and at least partially absorbs radar energy, wherein the first location comprises the structural support member; and,
a second resistive cellular support structure disposed at least partially about a second location of the wind turbine rotor blade that physically supports at least a portion of the wind turbine rotor blade and at least partially absorbs radar energy.

9. The wind turbine rotor blade of claim 8 , wherein the second location comprises the shell.

10. The wind turbine rotor blade of claim 9 , wherein the structural support member comprises fiberglass.

11. The wind turbine rotor blade of claim 9 , wherein the structural support member comprises carbon fiber.

12. The wind turbine rotor blade of claim 8 , wherein the first resistive cellular support structure has a first amount of resistive material and the second resistive cellular support structure has a second amount of resistive material greater than the first amount.

13. The wind turbine rotor blade of claim 8 , wherein the first resistive cellular support structure has a first orientation and the second resistive cellular support structure has a second orientation different than the first orientation.

14. A wind turbine comprising:
a nacelle comprising a rotor hub mounted on a tower;
a plurality of wind turbine rotor blades connected to the rotor hub, wherein at least one of the plurality of wind turbine rotor blades comprises:
a shell comprising a leading edge opposite a trailing edge;
a structural support member that supports the shell and is disposed internal the wind turbine rotor blade between the leading edge and the trailing edge and extends for at least a portion of a rotor blade span length; and,
a resistive cellular support structure disposed at least partially about the wind turbine rotor blade that physically supports at least a portion of the wind turbine rotor blade and at least partially absorbs radar energy, wherein the resistive cellular support structure comprises a plurality of open structural cells comprising a plurality of cell walls that form a plurality of cell passages, and wherein the structural support member at least partially comprises the resistive cellular support structure.

15. The wind turbine of claim 14 , wherein each of the plurality of wind turbine rotor blades comprises the resistive cellular support structure.

16. The wind turbine of claim 14 , wherein the plurality of open structural cells comprise a honeycomb configuration.

17. The wind turbine of claim 14 , wherein the resistive cellular support structure comprises a variable amount of resistive material.

Assignees

• Baucke Russell Craig
• Gen Electric

Inventors

• Baucke Russell Craig

Classifications

• F03D1/0675 Primary

  of the blades · CPC title

• H01Q17/00

  Devices for absorbing waves radiated from an antenna; Combinations of such devices with active antenna elements or systems · CPC title

• Y02E10/72

  Wind turbines with rotation axis in wind direction · CPC title

• F03D1/0683

  Mechanical Engineering · mapped topic

• Y02E10/721

  Cross-Sectional Technologies · mapped topic