Vestas Wind Systems A/s

Blade Dynamics Limited

Lm Wind Power A/s

Neg Micon A/s

General Electric Company

Mark Hancock

Tomas Vronsky

Anton Bech

Andrew Hedges

Frank Hoelgaard Hahn

Chris Payne

Paul Trevor Hayden

Peter Frans Thomsen

Paul Hibbard

Rens Christiaan Verhoef

Adrian Gill

Ole Gunneskov

Nicholas Dudley Barlow

Ib Svend Olesen

Jonathan Smith

Srikanth Narasimalu

Wuh Ken Loh

Lars Bo Hansen

Carsten Hein Westergaard

Casper Kildegaard

Manish Mukherjee

Harald Behmer

Lars Glavind

Karl Gregory

Paul Todd

David Roberts

Paul Damian Michael Todd

Harry Fish

Peter Anthony Broome

Yun Chong Gabriel Chang

Andrea Giuseppe Avaldi

Gary Holloway

Andrew Stuart Edge

Dick Veldkamp

Nicolas Dudley Barlow

Nicholas Seruntine

Guy Scoggin

Lars Bang Jønsson

Richard Craven

Hans Minnee

Tomas Muchenik Cena

Thomas Vronsky

A method for joining rotor blade segments of a rotor blade includes placing a first blade segment in an assembly fixture. The assembly fixture has an outer carrier and at least one bladder arranged with the outer carrier. The first blade segment has an adhesive applied at one or more locations. The method also includes arranging the first blade segment with a second blade segment at at least one joint using the assembly fixture with the adhesive positioned at the at least one joint. Further, the method includes inflating the at least one bladder to provide pressure to the at least one joint, wherein the pressure causes the adhesive to displace between the first and second blade segments at the at least one joint, thereby securing the first and second blade segments together at the at least one joint. Moreover, the method includes maintaining the pressure via the at least one inflated bladder to allow the adhesive to cure, thereby securing the first and second blade segments together.

Assembly fixture for a modular rotor blade

A male spar beam for mutually attaching a segmented wind turbine blade and, comprising: a leading-edge part comprising a second upper wall, a second lower wall, and a second shear wall connecting the second upper wall with the second lower wall, the leading-edge part; and a trailing-edge part comprising a first upper wall, a first lower wall, and a first shear wall connecting the first upper wall with the first lower wall. The leading-edge and trailing-edge parts being separately formed integrally in one piece, respectively. An end of the first lower wall is attached to an end of the second lower wall so that the first lower wall and the second lower wall form a lower spar cap of the male spar beam, and an end of the first upper wall is attached to an end of the second upper wall so that the first upper wall and the second upper wall form an upper spar cap of the male spar beam.

Male spar beam for a segmented wind turbine blade

A wind turbine blade includes: an aerodynamic shell body with a suction side shell part and a pressure side shell part that extends in a longitudinal direction between a root and a tip and in a transverse direction between a leading edge and a trailing edge, and a de-icing system. The de-icing system includes: a number of heating layers each having electrically conductive fibres extending substantially in the longitudinal direction of the wind turbine blade along a longitudinal section of the aerodynamic shell body to provide resistive heating to the longitudinal section of the aerodynamic shell body; a number of metallic patches including a first metallic patch, the number of metallic patches being arranged to contact at least the number of heating layers; and a conductor cable that is electrically connected to the number of metallic patches and further is configured for electrically connecting to a power source.

Wind turbine blade having a de-icing system

A system and method for manufacturing a wind turbine blade. The wind turbine blade includes a shell structure defining a leading edge and a trailing edge. The wind turbine blade also includes a longitudinal edge extension arranged to extend at least partially along the leading edge or at least partially along the trailing edge to modify an aerodynamic characteristic of the wind turbine blade. The longitudinal edge extension includes a center section and a peripheral section comprising attachment means, and the shell structure is arranged to engage with the attachment means to secure the longitudinal edge extension.

Longitudinal edge extension

The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a wind turbine blade comprising the steps of manufacturing a pressure shell halves and arranging a spar structure () within one of the shell halves. The spar structure () comprises two parts releasably coupled to each other. The method results in a segmented wind turbine blade for easy transportation and re-assembly.

Manufacturing of segmented wind turbine blade

A rotor blade assembly includes a rotor blade defining a pressure side and a suction side extending between a leading edge and a trailing edge. Further, the rotor blade assembly includes at least one structural feature secured within the rotor blade and spaced apart from the trailing edge to define a void between the pressure side, the suction side, and the trailing edge. Moreover, the rotor blade assembly includes an adhesive filling the void between the pressure side, the suction side, and the trailing edge to provide an adhesive connection between the pressure side, the suction side, the trailing edge, and the structural feature(s). In addition, the adhesive contacts the structural feature(s) at an interface and defines a fillet profile.

Wind turbine rotor blade assembly having a structural trailing edge

A reinforcing structure for a wind turbine blade is in the form of an elongate stack of layers of pultruded fibrous composite strips supported within a U-shaped channel. The length of each layer is slightly different to create a taper at the ends of the stack; the centre of the stack has five layers, and each end has a single layer. The ends of each layer are chamfered, and the stack is coated with a thin flexible pultruded fibrous composite strip extending the full length of the stack. The reinforcing structure extends along a curved path within the outer shell of the blade. The regions of the outer shell of the blade on either side of the reinforcing structure are filled with structural foam, and the reinforcing structure and the foam are both sandwiched between an inner skin and an outer skin.

Wind turbine blades

A rotor blade assembly for a wind turbine is disclosed with a first blade segment having a female structural member defining an internal cavity, and a second blade segment connected to the first blade segment at a chord-wise extending joint. The second blade segment has a male structural member that is received within the internal cavity of the female structural member of the first blade segment. At least one floating connector, for joining the first and second blade segments, is positioned in at least one of a generally chord-wise direction and a generally span-wise direction. The floating connector has a biasing element configured to restrain bi-directional movement of a floating pin within the floating connector.

Wind blade joints with floating connectors

Apparatus for manipulating a wind turbine blade and method of blade handling An apparatus for manipulating a wind turbine blade having fixed lifting points () on the blade has a blade turner base (), a frame like support structure () carried on the base and connecting structures such as brackets () which engage in the lifting points () on the blade extending into openings in the blade, the support structure () having a part-circular portion or periphery at which it connects to the base, being movably supported on the base so as to rotate relative thereto about a substantially horizontal axis in order to vary the orientation of a blade supported thereon.

Apparatus for manipulating a wind turbine blade and method of blade handling

A strip of fiber-reinforced polymeric material for a longitudinal reinforcing structure of a wind turbine blade, the strip having substantially flat upper and lower surfaces and extending longitudinally between first and second transverse edges, wherein an end region of the strip tapers in thickness towards the first transverse edge, and wherein one or more slots are defined in the tapered end region, the or each slot extending longitudinally from the first transverse edge of the strip into the tapered end region.

Reinforcing strip for a wind turbine blade

The invention provides a sectional blade for a wind turbine. The blade comprises at least a first blade portion and a second blade portion extending in opposite directions from a joint. Further each blade portion comprises a spar section forming a structural member of the blade and running lengthways. The first blade portion and the second blade portion are structurally connected by at least one spar bridge extending into both blade portions to facilitate joining of said blade portions and the spar bridge joins the spar sections.

Sectional blade

A wind turbine bladeis formed with structures allowing its lifting by a lifting apparatus, the blade comprising upper and lower blade shells and an internal load-bearing structure comprising an internal sparor internal webs, a plurality of lifting pointsarranged about the blade center of gravity, comprising openings for receiving lifting membersof a lifting apparatus insertable therein into structuressecured to the load-bearing structure, and with a locking connection being established between the lifting membersand the load-bearing structure

Wind turbine blade structures, lifting assemblies and methods of blade handling

The invention relates to a wind turbine blade bearing removal apparatus and method for facilitating the change-over of the blade root bearing assembly () of a wind turbine blade (). A plurality of support shoulders or yokes () are located on the hub () of the wind turbine rotor and provide attachment points for respective actuators (). Corresponding attachment points () are provided in the wind turbine blade () via a blade support (section), which is constructed in the blade between the blade root bearing assembly () and the tip. The actuators () are mounted between the hub () and the blade root bearing assembly () and therefore support the blade () in a suspended position when the bearing is to be retained. The actuators () allow the blade to be easily reattached to the hub () when the blade root bearing replacement is completed.

Wind turbine blade bearing removal apparatus and method

Growing community of inventors

Southampton, United Kingdom

Mark Hancock