Wind blades with mechanical elements for pretensioning in tension fabrics

A method of tensioning a fabric skin of a wind blade, the method comprising:

• assembling a fabric skin having a plurality of fabric strips over a self-supporting structural framework having a plurality of chord-wise members and one or more span-wise members, wherein each of the plurality of the chord-wise members and the one or more span-wise members have an aerodynamic contour;
• and
• providing a tensioning mechanism for pretensioning the fabric skin,
• wherein the tensionsing mechanism is configured to couple a plurality of mechanical force elements with the fabric skin for providing a predetermined force for maintaining an aerodynamic surface of the fabric skin during operation of the wind blade.

A wind turbine comprising:

• a plurality of wind blades, wherein each of the blade comprises:
• a self-supporting structural framework, having a plurality of chord-wise members and one or more span-wise members, wherein each of the plurality of the chord-wise members and the one or more span-wise members have an aerodynamic contour;
• a fabric skin located over the self-supporting structural framework;
• a tensioning mechanism configured for providing pretensioning in the fabric skin, wherein the tensionsing mechanism comprises a plurality of mechanical force elements coupled with the fabric skin for providing a predetermined force for maintaining an aerodynamic surface of the fabric skin during operation of the wind blade.