Wind turbine blade manufacture
AssigneeVestas Wind Systems A/S
InventorAnton Bech
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method of making a wind turbine blade (10) having a shear web (20, 22) bonded between first and second half shells (16, 18) is described. The method involves providing a web locator (40) on an inner surface of a half shell. The web locator has a fixed portion (42) and a spring portion (44) extending from the fixed portion. The spring portion is moveable relative to the fixed portion between compressed and relaxed states.
Claims14
A method of making a wind turbine blade, the wind turbine blade extending longitudinally in a spanwise direction and extending transversely in a chordwise direction between a leading edge and a trailing edge, the method comprising:
- providing a first half shell and a second half shell to be joined together, each of the first half shell and the second half shell comprising an inner surface having concave curvature in the chordwise direction that defines an inclined portion of the inner surface that is inclined relative to a local chord of the wind turbine blade;
- defining a shear web mounting region on the inclined portion of the inner surface of one of the first half shell or the second half shell;
- providing a web locator having a fixed portion and a spring portion extending from the fixed portion, the spring portion being moveable relative to the fixed portion between a compressed state and a relaxed state, and the spring portion being biased towards the relaxed state;
- attaching the fixed portion of the web locator to the inner surface of the one of the first half shell or the second half shell proximate to the shear web mounting region such that at least part of the spring portion extends in front of the shear web mounting region;
- providing a shear web having a mounting flange for bonding to the shear web mounting region;
- providing adhesive on the mounting flange and/or on the shear web mounting region;
- bringing the first half shell and the second half shell together with the shear web arranged therebetween, such that the mounting flange is guided by a surface of the spring portion of the web locator towards the shear web mounting region and the spring portion compresses;
- and
- compressing and curing the adhesive.
A wind turbine blade comprising:
- a first half shell and a second half shell bonded together;
- a shear web bonded inside the wind turbine blade between respective inner surfaces of the first half shell and the second half shell, the shear web including a web panel and a mounting flange;
- and
- one or more web locators attached to the inner surface of one of the first half shell or the second half shell, each of the one or more web locators comprising:
- a fixed portion for attaching to the inner surface of the one of the first half shell or the second half shell;
- and
- a spring portion for guiding the shear web towards a mounting region on the inner surface of the one of the first half shell or the second half shell, the spring portion being moveable relative to the fixed portion between a compressed state and a relaxed state, and the spring portion being biased towards the relaxed state,
- wherein the spring portion contacts an edge portion of the mounting flange of the shear web or contacts an edge portion of a tab attached to the mounting flange of the shear web.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.