A container comprising fibre material for a fibre-reinforced composite component
AssigneeBlade Dynamics Limited
InventorPaul TODD
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Abstract
The present invention relates to a container having a cavity, wherein the cavity has a cavity pressure and comprises fibre material suitable for manufacturing one or more fibre-reinforced composite components for a wind turbine blade, and at least a part of the fibre material touches a first part of a wall of the container, at least the first part of the wall consisting of a flexible airtight material, and a ratio of an entire volume of non-cured polymer in the cavity to an entire volume of the fibre material in the cavity is less than 0.3, and the container is adapted to prevent inflow of a polymer into the cavity. A method for preparing such a container is also disclosed. A method for laying fibre material into a mould is also disclosed.
Claims25
A container (100) having a cavity, wherein the cavity has a cavity pressure and comprises fibre material (85) suitable for manufacturing one or more fibre-reinforced composite components for a wind turbine blade and optionally a non-cured polymer, and at least a part of the fibre material (85) touches a first part (65) of a wall (61, 65) of the container, at least the first part (65) of the wall consisting of a flexible airtight material (65), and a ratio of an entire volume of non-cured polymer in the cavity to an entire volume of the fibre material in the cavity is less than 0.3, and the container is adapted to prevent inflow of a polymer into the cavity.
A container in accordance with one of the preceding claims, wherein the ratio of the entire volume of non-cured polymer in the cavity to the entire volume of the fibre material in the cavity is less than 0.2.
A container in accordance with one of the preceding claims, wherein the ratio of the entire volume of non-cured polymer in the cavity to the entire volume of the fibre material in the cavity is less than 0.1.
A container in accordance with one of the preceding claims, wherein the cavity does not contain non-cured polymer.
A container in accordance with one of the preceding claims, wherein the fibre material is arranged on a non-planar preform (62) in the cavity.
A container in accordance with one of the preceding claims, wherein the fibre material comprises glass fibre material and/or carbon fibre material.
A container in accordance with one of the preceding claims, wherein the flexible airtight material is suitable for use as a vacuum bagging material in a vacuum-assisted resin transfer moulding process for manufacturing a fibre-reinforced composite component.
A method for providing a container comprising fibre material suitable for manufacturing one or more fibre-reinforced composite components for a wind turbine blade, the method comprising:
- arranging the fibre material (85) on a layup surface (61, 62) having a layup surface shape, and optionally providing a non-cured polymer,
- forming a cavity by arranging a flexible airtight material (65) in contact with the layup surface, the cavity surrounding the arranged fibre material and the non-cured polymer, a ratio of an entire volume of non-cured polymer in the cavity to an entire volume of fibre material in the cavity being less than 0.3, and
- sealing off the cavity so as to prevent inflow of polymer into the cavity.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.