General Electric Company

Qi Zhu

Scott Roger Finn

Scott Gabell Riddell

Bruce Clark Busbey

Stephen Mark Whiteker

Lee Alan Blanton

Jan Willem Bakhuis

Eric Morgan Jacobsen

Edward Atwood Rainous

Curt Brian Curtis

Juergen Esser

Pradeepa Nagabhushana

Matthew Nathan Crawfoot

Deepali Bhate

A rotor blade assembly for a wind turbine has a rotor blade. A strip-member blade accessory is mounted to one of the rotor blade surfaces that stretches under normal operating conditions of the wind turbine. The blade accessory has a base portion. An attachment layer connects the base portion to the rotor blade surface and has a lower shear modulus than the base portion to allow for shear slippage between the base portion and the underlying rotor blade surface.

Attachment system for a wind turbine rotor blade accessory

A containment case comprises a composite core, with an inner and outer surface, at least one puncture resistant layer bonded to the inner surface of the composite core and at least one energy capture layer bonded to the outer surface of the composite core. The puncture resistant layer having a high through-thickness shear strength and high interlaminar toughness at impact. The energy capture layer having a high in-plane tensile strength and low resistance to delamination and fiber-matrix debonding at impact. A method of fabricating a containment case includes the steps of disposing one or more layers of a puncture resistant material on a layup mandrel, disposing one more layers of a structural composite material on an exterior surface of the puncture resistant material, disposing one or more layers of an energy capture material on an exterior surface of the structural material and curing a resin in the plurality of layers.

Containment case and method of manufacture

A lift system and a method for constructing a wind turbine are disclosed. The lift system includes a rotor blade having exterior surfaces defining a pressure side, a suction side, a leading edge, and a trailing edge extending in a generally span-wise direction between a tip and a root. The lift system further includes a lift device including a sling and a quick release device. The sling is coupled to the rotor blade and includes a first end and a second end spaced apart by an intermediate portion. The second end is releasably joined to the first end by the quick release device. The quick release device is operable to release the second end from the first end to uncouple the sling from the rotor blade.

Lift system and method for constructing a wind turbine

A containment case comprises a composite core, with an inner surface, and at least one ceramic layer integrated with the composite core. The at least one ceramic layer is bonded to the inner surface of the composite core with a resin. In another embodiment, a containment case comprises a composite core, with an inner surface, and a hybrid material comprising at least one ceramic material and at least one non-ceramic material. The hybrid material is disposed on the inner surface of the composite core. The hybrid material is bonded to the inner surface of the composite core with a resin. A method of fabricating a containment case includes the steps of disposing one or more layers of ceramic fabric on an inner surface of a composite core, infusing the composite core and the one or more layers of ceramic fabric with resin, and curing the resin.

Containment cases and method of manufacture

Growing community of inventors

Simpsonville, SC, United States of America

Qi Zhu