Wind turbine rotor blade components formed using pultruded rods

A rotor blade assembly for a wind turbine, the rotor blade assembly comprising:

• a rotor blade comprising a suction side, a pressure side, a leading edge, and a trailing edge extending between a blade root and a blade tip;
• and,
• at least one rotor blade component arranged within the rotor blade, the rotor blade component comprising:
• a pultruded enclosed primary outer casing extending in a span-wise direction of the rotor blade from the blade root towards the blade tip, the enclosed primary outer casing comprising at least one hollow interior with closed side walls and open opposing ends;
• and,
• a plurality of pultruded rods arranged in a plurality of rows and received within the at least one hollow interior and secured therein via a first resin material,
• wherein an arrangement of the plurality of pultruded rods within the primary outer casing and a relationship of a maximum dimension of each of the plurality of pultruded rods and a maximum dimension of the enclosed primary outer casing are configured to maximize flexibility of the rotor blade component.

A method of manufacturing a rotor blade component of a wind turbine, the method comprising:

• forming an enclosed outer casing having at least one hollow interior via pultrusion;
• arranging a plurality of pultruded rods within the at least one hollow interior of the enclosed outer casing in a plurality of rows and columns, wherein an arrangement of the plurality of pultruded rods within the primary outer casing and a relationship of a maximum dimension of each of the plurality of pultruded rods and a maximum dimension of the enclosed primary outer casing are configured to maximize flexibility of the rotor blade component;
• sealing the outer casing at open opposing ends thereof;
• and,
• infusing at least one resin material into the outer casing to secure the plurality of pultruded rods therein so as to form the rotor blade component.