Sectional blade

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9255566-B2
Application number	US-201113578119-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 10, 2011
Priority date	Feb 10, 2010
Publication date	Feb 9, 2016
Grant date	Feb 9, 2016

Abstract

A sectional blade for a wind turbine, the blade extending lengthwise between a tip and a root where the blade is attachable to a hub of a wind turbine, crosswise between a leading edge and a trailing edge, and thickness wise between a windward and a leeward outer surface. The sectional blade comprises a first blade portion and a second blade portion. The blade portions are formed as separate components and arranged to extend lengthwise in opposite directions from a junction where the blade portions join. The blade forms, in a cross section perpendicular to the lengthwise direction and through the junction, a maximum thickness location between the leading and trailing edges, the maximum thickness location being where the distance between the windward and leeward outer surfaces is larger than at any other location in this cross section. The sectional blade comprises an assembly board which is adhesively joined to an outer surface of both blade portions between the trailing edge and the maximum thickness location.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A sectional blade for a wind turbine, the blade extending lengthwise between a tip and a root where the blade is attachable to a hub of a wind turbine, crosswise between a leading edge and a trailing edge, and thickness wise between a windward and a leeward outer surface, the sectional blade comprising:
a first blade portion and a second blade portion, the blade portions being formed as separate components and arranged to extend lengthwise in opposite directions from a junction where the blade portions join, the blade forming, in a cross section perpendicular to the lengthwise direction and through the junction, a maximum thickness location between the leading and trailing edges, the maximum thickness location being where the distance between the windward and leeward outer surfaces is larger than at any other location in this cross section; and
an assembly board extending across the junction and adhesively joined to an outer surface of both blade portions to define a region at the intersection of the junction and the assembly board entirely between the trailing edge and the maximum thickness location and having a first end that is closest to the trailing edge and a second end that is closest to the maximum thickness location, wherein the first end is spaced from the trailing edge and the second end is spaced from the maximum thickness location, and wherein the distance along the junction from the second end to the maximum thickness location is greater than the distance along the junction from the first end to the trailing edge.

2. The blade according to claim 1 , further comprising an insert extending along the lengthwise axis into both blade portion and arranged to counteract flapwise loads on the blade.

3. The blade according to claim 1 , further comprising a leading edge assembly board curved around the leading edge.

4. The blade according to claim 3 , wherein the leading edge assembly board is fixed to the outer surfaces of the blade portions between the leading edge and the maximum thickness location.

5. The blade according to claim 3 , wherein the leading edge assembly board is adhesively bonded to an outer surface of the sectional blade.

6. The blade according to claim 1 , comprising an assembly board both on the windward and on the leeward surface of the sectional blade.

7. The blade according to claim 1 , wherein the assembly board comprises multi-directional fibres in a matrix material.

8. The blade according to claim 1 , wherein the blade portions are made from a windward blade shell and a leeward blade shell, each having a shell thickness in the thickness wise direction, and wherein the assembly board has a thickness in the thickness wise direction which corresponds to less than 75 percent of the shell thickness.

9. The blade according to claim 1 , wherein the assembly board has a length in the lengthwise direction which corresponds to 1-10 percent of the length of the sectional blade in the lengthwise direction.

10. The blade according to claim 1 , wherein the assembly board has a width in the crosswise direction which corresponds to 10-50 percent of the size of the sectional blade in the crosswise direction.

11. The blade according to claim 1 , wherein the assembly board has a non-uniform thickness in the thickness wise direction.

12. The blade according to claim 1 , wherein the blade portions comprises at least one indentation in the outer surface, the indentation having a shape corresponding to an assembly board to enable countersink of the assembly board in the outer surface.

13. A method of assembling a sectional blade for a wind turbine, the blade extending lengthwise between a tip and a root where the blade is attachable to a hub of a wind turbine, crosswise between a leading edge and a trailing edge, and thickness wise between a windward and a leeward outer surface, the blade forming, in a cross section perpendicular to the lengthwise direction, a maximum thickness location between the leading and trailing edges, the maximum thickness location being where the distance between the windward and leeward outer surfaces is larger than at any other location in this cross section, the method comprising:
providing a first blade portion and a second blade portion, the blade portions being formed as separate components;
providing an assembly board;
arranging the blade portions so that they extend lengthwise in opposite directions from a junction where the blade portions join; and
adhesively joining the assembly board to an outer surface of both blade portions so as to extend across the junction to define a region at the intersection of the junction and the assembly board entirely between the trailing edge and the maximum thickness location and having a first end that is closest to the trailing edge and a second end that is closest to the maximum thickness location, wherein the first end is spaced from the trailing edge and the second end is spaced from the maximum thickness location, and wherein the distance along the junction from the second end to the maximum thickness location is greater than the distance along the junction from the first end to the trailing edge.

14. A wind turbine comprising a sectional blade according to claim 1 .

Assignees

• Hibbard Paul
• Vestas Wind Sys As

Inventors

• Hibbard Paul

Classifications

• Y02E10/721

  Cross-Sectional Technologies · mapped topic

• F05B2240/302

  Segmented or sectional blades · CPC title

• F03D1/0675 Primary

  of the blades · CPC title

• F03D1/0683 Primary

  Mechanical Engineering · mapped topic

• Y10T156/10

  Methods of surface bonding and/or assembly therefor · CPC title