Disclosed herein are methods, devices, and systems for manufacturing wind turbine blades which in some instances require using new blade joint designs. The blade joint designs described herein may allow for contact in places where welds will be made, which allows for existing manufacturing tolerances to be used while still enabling the use of thermal welding for wind turbine blades.

Disclosed is a method of resistance welding between composite articles. A conductive element is provided between faying surfaces, having a plurality of lower resistivity electrode portions spaced apart along the length of the contact area between the composite articles. The electrode portions can be used to spot weld across the electrode portions, and along a longitudinal portion of the conductive element between the electrode portions by application of an electrical current. Also disclosed are apparatus for use in the resistance welding methods and composite articles and structures and elements incorporating the conductive element.

A bracket presenter for an ultrasonic welder includes a one-piece first bracket portion and a one-piece second bracket portion mounted relative to one another. First and second tapered features are respectively provided by the first and second bracket portions and are nested relative to one another. The first and second tapered features engage in an extended position and are spaced from one another in a compressed position to provide a clearance enabling the first and second bracket portions to float lateral relative to one another. A spring biases the first and second bracket portions apart.

A plastic component with a substrate including a plastic and at least one first fastening piece that is embodied for a form-fitting engagement with a complementarily formed second fastening piece and has at least one anchoring element embedded and fixed in a position in the substrate; the substrate includes soft foam with a weight per unit volume of 120 kg/m3 to 300 kg/m3 and a Shore A hardness of 5 to 100 and the fastening element includes a thermoplastic plastic.

The present disclosure relates to a composite article that may include a plastic component, and a silicone component bonded the plastic component. The plastic component and the silicone component may be bonded at an intersecting region between a first surface of the plastic component and a first surface of the silicone component. The intersecting region may include at least one of an acetone content of not greater than about 0.2 ppm, an MEK content of not greater than about 0.2 ppm, or a trimethylsilanol content of not greater than about 0.2 ppm.

A composite article including a plurality of layers each comprising bundles of fibers separated by spaces; pins bonded to a side of at least one of bundles and extending or built through the spaces between the layers; and a resin combined with the layers and the pin. The pins form a physical barrier preventing or reducing propagation of cracks in an x-y plane of the composite article.

A multi-material assembly is provided, as well as methods of making a multi-material assembly. The multi-material assembly includes a first coated structural component and a second structural component. The first coated structural component includes a first uncoated portion, and an adhesive is positioned between the second structural component and the first uncoated portion that secures the first coated structural component to the second structural component.

To achieve universal welding of thermoplastic workpiece parts with simple equipment, an infrared light transmission welding method is disclosed in which simple polychromatic, incoherent infrared light is generated by a simple infrared light source and is directed through a first workpiece part to a weld point for the purposes of connection to a second workpiece part. In particular, the infrared light is directed through a transparent bracing element.

The present invention relates to a wind turbine blade and a method for its manufacture. A lower shell part and an upper shell part are provided, each shell part having a leading edge and a trailing edge. A first shear web and a second shear web for connecting an inner surface of the lower shell part with an inner surface of the upper shell part are provided. The first shear web and the second shear web are connected by a first distance member in a chordwise direction. The first distance member is arranged for accommodating a variable chordwise distance between said first shear web and said second shear web. The first shear web and the second shear web are placed in the lower shell part and the upper shell part is mounted.

In an example, a method of sealing a bond cavity is described. The method comprises placing an adhesive around a perimeter of a first structure to be joined to a second structure. The method also comprises positioning the first structure relative to the second structure such that the adhesive is disposed between the first structure and the second structure. The method also comprises merging the first structure and the second structure until the first structure and the second structure are separated by a desired gap for bonding. The method also comprises heating the perimeter to at least partially cure the adhesive to form a leak-proof bond cavity perimeter between the first structure and the second structure.