A chordwise segment connection structure for wind turbine blades includes: a blade body including a pressure side and a suction side; a leading edge shell and a trailing edge shell formed by the skin of the pressure side and the suction side along the chord length of the blade, the pressure side and the suction side being each provided with a spar cap; and a shear web provided in a cavity of the blade body and extending between the pressure side and the suction side to support the spar cap; wherein the spar caps on the pressure side and the suction side are bonded and fixed to a skin structure where the leading edge shell and the trailing edge shell are spliced, so that the leading edge shell and the trailing edge shell are spliced with the spar caps to form the profile of the wind turbine blade.

The present invention relates to a wind turbine blade comprising a lightning protection system with at least one tip end lightning receptor arranged at an outer surface of the blade and a down conductor extending within the blade. The blade comprises carbon fibre reinforced spar caps, wherein electrically conductive meshes are connected between the respective tip end of each spar cap to the tip end lightning conductor.

A wind turbine blade comprising a shell, a carbon fibre-reinforced suction-side spar cap, a carbon fibre-reinforced pressure-side spar cap, at least a first shear web connected to the spar caps, one or more suction-side buckling reinforcement elements each being formed of a material different from the suction-side spar cap and being positioned on the interior surface of the suction-side spar cap and at a distance from the suction-side end of the first shear web, and one or more pressure-side buckling reinforcement elements each being formed of a material different from the pressure-side spar cap and being positioned on the interior surface of the pressure-side spar cap and at a distance from the pressure-side end of the first shear web.

The present invention relates to a pre-impregnated fibre sheet extending in a longitudinal direction and in a transverse direction and comprising a first fibre layer forming part of an upper surface of the pre-impregnated fibre sheet and a second fibre layer forming part of a lower surface of the pre-impregnated fibre sheet, wherein the first fibre layer is pre-impregnated with an adhesion promotor. The present invention further relates to methods of manufacturing a blade shell member or wind turbine blade comprising a pre-manufactured spar cap and a number of pre-impregnated fibre sheets arranged to obtain an improved adherence between the blade shell and pre-manufactured spar cap, particularly when the pre-manufactured spar cap is resin infused with vinyl ester or epoxy resin and the blade mould is resin infused with polyester.

A wind turbine rotor blade spar cap, the spar cap having a length and comprising: a stack comprising a plurality of layers of conductive material and at least one intermediate layer, wherein the layers of conductive material each have a length along the length of the spar cap in a first direction, wherein the intermediate layer is arranged between adjacent layers of the conductive material, wherein the intermediate layer includes a fibre fabric material having: a first edge extending in the first direction, a conductive portion having conductive fibres oriented in the first direction, a first border portion between the first edge and the conductive portion, the first border portion having a plurality of non-conductive fibres oriented in the first direction and no conductive fibres oriented in the first direction, and cross fibres oriented to cross the conductive fibres and the non-conductive fibres, and wherein the intermediate layer is bonded with the adjacent layers of the conductive material and is electrically coupled to the adjacent layers of conductive material so as to equipotentially bond the adjacent layers of the conductive material via the conductive portion of the intermediate layer.

A wind turbine rotor blade spar cap, the spar cap having a length and comprising: a stack comprising a plurality of layers of conductive material and at least one intermediate layer, wherein the layers of conductive material each have a length along the length of the spar cap in a first direction, wherein the intermediate layer is arranged between adjacent layers of the conductive material, wherein the intermediate layer includes a fibre fabric material having: a first edge extending in the first direction, a conductive portion having conductive fibres oriented in the first direction, a first border portion between the first edge and the conductive portion, the first border portion having a plurality of non-conductive fibres oriented in the first direction and no conductive fibres oriented in the first direction, and cross fibres oriented to cross the conductive fibres and the non-conductive fibres, and wherein the intermediate layer is bonded with the adjacent layers of the conductive material and is electrically coupled to the adjacent layers of conductive material so as to equipotentially bond the adjacent layers of the conductive material via the conductive portion of the intermediate layer.

In a first aspect of the invention there is provided a wind turbine blade comprising a blade shell that extends in a spanwise direction from a root end to a tip end, and in a chordwise direction from a leading edge to a trailing edge. The blade shell comprises a spar cap formed from a plurality of substantially planar strips of reinforcing material, the strips being arranged in a plurality of stacks extending longitudinally in the spanwise direction and arranged side-by-side in the chordwise direction. In each stack an uppermost strip defines an upper surface of the stack, a lowermost strip defines a lower surface of the stack, and longitudinal edges of the stacked strips define side surfaces of the stack. The blade further comprises a retaining clip comprising a plurality of side-by-side substantially U-shaped sections. The U-shaped sections each comprise a pair of mutually-spaced side portions defining a stack-receiving region therebetween, and the side portions are joined by a bridging portion. At least some of the stacks are located in the stack-receiving regions of the retaining clip, such that the side portions of the U-shaped sections abut side surfaces of the stacks. Each U-shaped section of the retaining clip is inverted with respect to its neighbouring U-shaped section(s) such that the bridging portions of the respective U-shaped sections extend alternately across the upper and lower surfaces of the stacks in the chordwise direction.

A method of manufacturing a shell of a wind turbine blade is disclosed. The method of manufacturing includes laying one or more layers of fiber on a surface of mould to form the shell. A spar element is positioned at a pre-defined position on the one or more layers of fiber, and a vacuum bag is positioned or covered around the one or more layers of fiber and the spar element. The method further includes step of infusion of resin through the one or more layers of fiber and the spar element. The resin is subsequently allowed to cure to obtain the shell of the wind turbine blade. The spar element is thus adhered to the shell through resin infusion process.

A chordwise segment connection structure for wind turbine blades includes: a blade body including a pressure side and a suction side; a leading edge shell and a trailing edge shell formed by the skin of the pressure side and the suction side along the chord length of the blade, the pressure side and the suction side being each provided with a spar cap; and a shear web provided in a cavity of the blade body and extending between the pressure side and the suction side to support the spar cap; wherein the spar caps on the pressure side and the suction side are bonded and fixed to a skin structure where the leading edge shell and the trailing edge shell are spliced, so that the leading edge shell and the trailing edge shell are spliced with the spar caps to form the profile of the wind turbine blade.

The present disclosure provides a blade for a wind turbine, where the blade extends in a lengthwise direction between a root end and a tip end of the blade. The blade comprises a leeward shell portion and a windward shell portion, each of the shell portions defining respective inner and outer surfaces extending in a chordwise direction between a leading edge of the blade and a trailing edge of the blade. The blade further comprises a first windward reinforcement structure, a first leeward reinforcement structure, a second windward reinforcement structure, and a second leeward reinforcement structure, the reinforcement structures being arranged internally within the blade and extending in the lengthwise direction of the blade. The second windward and second leeward reinforcement structures are arranged closer to the trailing edge than the first windward reinforcement structure and the first leeward reinforcement structure, respectively, and the second windward reinforcement structure is longer than the second leeward reinforcement structure in the lengthwise direction.