A lightning protection system for a wind turbine blade with one or two carbon fiber laminates and one or more down conductors equipotentialized with them by one or more auxiliary cables comprising at least one local lightning current injection area in the carbon fiber laminates associated with one auxiliary cable having secondary cables derived from the auxiliary cable and connected to conductive devices embedded in the carbon fiber laminates which are configured for avoiding overcurrents in the carbon fiber laminates. The invention also provides a lightning protection system for achieving a balanced distribution of currents and voltages between the down conductors and the carbon fiber laminates.

In one aspect, a method for manufacturing a spar cap for a wind turbine rotor blade may generally include stacking a plurality of plates together to form a plate assembly, wherein each of the plates is formed from a fiber-reinforced composite including a plurality of fibers surrounded by a thermoplastic resin material. The method may also include positioning the plate assembly relative to a mold defining a mold surface, wherein the mold surface is shaped so as to correspond to at least one blade parameter of the wind turbine rotor blade. In addition, the method may include applying pressure to the plate assembly via the mold such that at least a portion of the plate assembly conforms to the shape of the mold surface.

A shear web flange (36) for a shear web (32) of a wind turbine blade (18) is described. The flange (36) extends longitudinally and comprises a bonding surface (50) for bonding to an inner surface of a wind turbine blade (18). One or more protruding features (52a, 52b) protrude from the bonding surface (50). A method of making such a shear web flange (36) is also described as are a shear web (32) for a wind turbine blade (18), a wind turbine blade (18) and a method of making a wind turbine blade (18).

A wind turbine blade for a wind turbine is a shell structure of a fibre-reinforced composite and comprises a root region and an airfoil region. The root region has ring-shaped cross section and comprises a plurality of elongated bushings 7 with an inner thread 22 and embedded interspaced in the fibre-reinforced polymer so as to substantially follow the circumference of the root region and allow access from the outside to the inner threads. Each fastening member 7 is provided with a notch 60 in the periphery 11 thereof. A rod-shaped locking element 61 passes through the notch 60 in engagement therewith. The locking element 61 is fixedly and tightly fitting arranged in a through-going circular bore 65 extending through the wall of the root region.

A wind turbine rotor blade spar cap includes a stack of layers of conductive material. An intermediate layer is bonded between adjacent layers of the conductive material. The intermediate layer includes a portion of conductive material which is electrically coupled to the adjacent layers of conductive material so as to equipotentially bond the adjacent layers of the conductive material via the intermediate layer.

A method for manufacturing an outer skin of a rotor blade includes forming an outer skin layer of the outer skin from a first combination of at least one of one or more resins or fiber materials. The method also includes forming an inner skin layer of the outer skin from a second combination of at least one of one or more resins or fiber materials. More specifically, the first and second combinations are different. Further, the method includes arranging the outer and inner skin layers together in a stacked configuration. In addition, the method includes joining the outer and inner skin layers together to form the outer skin.

Provided is a wind turbine blade for a wind turbine, including a web extending along a longitudinal direction of the blade, an electrically conductive beam extending along the longitudinal direction of the blade and being connected to the web, a lightning conductor extending along the longitudinal direction of the blade and being attached to the web, and a ply including carbon fibers, wherein the ply is attached to both the lightning conductor and the beam to electrically connect the lightning conductor to the beam. This has the advantage that an extensive and a continuous electrical connection between the lightning conductor and the beam is provided and that a plurality of cables electrically connecting the lightning conductor with the beam may be substituted.

An interlayer sheet for a spar cap is provided. The interlayer sheet includes a first fibre layer having a first plurality of fibres with a first upper fibre surface and a first lower fibre surface, and a second fibre layer having comprising a second plurality of fibres with a second upper fibre surface and a second lower fibre surface. The first fibre layer is arranged on top of the second fibre layer, such that the first lower fibre surface is in contact with the second upper fibre surface. The first fibre layer is of a different characteristic than the second fibre layer. A number of the interlayer sheets may be arranged between a plurality of pre-cured fibre-reinforced elements to make a spar cap for a wind turbine blade.

A wind turbine blade comprising a plurality of spar components extending along the longitudinal axis and providing the main bending stiffness of the wind turbine blade a major principal axis defining a structural pitch angle of at least 1? with respect to a chord line, and including: one or more suction-side spar caps each having a centre line; one or more pressure-side spar caps each having a centre line; and one or more shear webs distributed around a central shear web line and at least one of which being connected to first spar caps, wherein at least one suction-side spar cap centre lines is arranged with a first chordwise distance to the central shear web line, and at least one pressure-side spar cap centre lines is arranged with a second, different, chordwise distance to the central shear web line.

A rotor blade uses hot-air, for example exhaust from a generator positioned inside a nacelle of a wind turbine, for de-icing and/or anti-icing. The rotor blade has an airfoil section and a cavity enclosed therein. A flow path inside the cavity, for flow of the hot-air, extends from a root section towards a tip section. Exhaust holes, fluidly connected with the flow path, at an outer surface of the airfoil section emit the hot-air from the airfoil section. The rotor blade includes a cover plate positioned at the outer surface of the airfoil section and masking the exhaust holes, thereby creating an external flow space between the exhaust holes and the cover plate's inner surface. The cover plate guides the hot-air over the outer surface of the airfoil section after the hot-air exits, via the exhaust holes, the airfoil section and before the hot-air escapes the rotor blade.