Disclosed herein is an electrically conductive adhesive composition, which including milled carbon fibers dispersed in a thermosetting resin and a curative agent. Also, disclosed herein are articles comprising at least two components adhesively bonded by the electrically conductive adhesive composition and methods of making such adhesives and articles.

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.

A method of manufacturing a wind turbine blade with integrated lightning strike protection is provided. The method includes forming a plurality of fiber reinforced plies having carbonized textile-grade PAN fibers. The fiber reinforced plies are then stacked on a surface of a mold, wetted with a resin, and cured to form at least part of a wind turbine blade. Because the textile-grade PAN fibers are electrically conductive, the resultant structure provides both electrical conductivity and structural integrity. Laboratory testing of carbon fiber structures against simulated lightning strikes demonstrated high resilience due to their high electrical conductivity both in-plane and in through-thickness directions, with no significant damages, e.g., fiber breakage, resin evaporation, or delamination. High-temperature epoxy helped to improve the performance of the CFRP against the lightning strikes.

A wind turbine blade shear web comprises an elongate panel (28) having a first side and an opposing second side and a longitudinally extending flange (30a, 30b) arranged along a longitudinal edge of the panel. The flange comprises a plurality of elongate flange sections (46) arranged along the first side of the panel and integrated therewith. Each flange section comprises a plurality of elongate flange elements arranged one on top of another and offset from one another in a longitudinal direction of the flange section (46) such that the offset between the flange elements defines a tapered portion at each of a first and second longitudinal end of the flange section. The tapered portions of longitudinally adjacent flange sections overlap to define at least one scarf joint between said adjacent flange sections.

A wind turbine blade 2 comprises a profiled contour including a leading edge 34 and a trailing edge 33 as well as a pressure side and a suction side. The profiled contour is formed by a first shell part 10 and a second shell part 15 being bonded together in a bonding region between the first and the second shell part by a curable bonding means 40. The first and the second shell part 10; 15 are formed in a fiber-reinforced polymer. The wind turbine blade further comprises resistive heating means 50 being arranged in thermal connection with the bonding means 40 such that the resistive heating means 50 supplies heat for curing of the curable bonding means 40 during assembling of the wind turbine blade.

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.

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 a wind turbine blade, comprising the steps of: arranging (S2, S3) a joining portion (8) comprising a fibre lay-up inside adjacent blade sections, covering (S4) the joining portion (8) and the adjacent blade sections at least partially with a vacuum bag, and applying vacuum to a space (54) covered by the vacuum bag (19, 38), infusing at least the fibre lay-up (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17) with a resin (43) and curing (S5) the resin (43) to obtain a cured joining portion (44) joining the blade sections (20, 24) inside. A light-weight and at the same time strong blade section joint is provided. In particular, the strength of this laminate joint formed by vacuum infusion is comparable to the strength of the pristine laminate. Compared to a connection using an adhesive, the laminate joint formed by vacuum infusion provides a lighter and stronger blade section joint, in particular, a better weight-to-strength performance.

Devices, systems, and methods of manufacturing wind turbine root attachment are provided. In various embodiments, an assembly for wind turbine root attachments includes a bushing, a core, and a filler. The bushing includes a body having cutouts extending from the proximal end to the distal end on either side of the bushing and a core cutout at the distal end. The bushing further includes an ear disposed at the proximal end of the bushing and within the first cutout. The core includes two wedges where the thick end of each wedge abut one another. The thin end of the proximal wedge is disposed within the core cutout and the core includes cutouts extending from the proximal end to the distal end on either side of the core. The filler is disposed within the cutout on the side of the assembly having the ear.

A replacement insert for the repair of a joint connecting a wind turbine blade to a rotor hub of a wind turbine is disclosed. The replacement insert includes a bushing having a first end, a second end, an outer surface, and an internal passageway. The replacement insert further includes a cover around at least a portion of the outer surface of the bushing. The replacement insert may have a non-circular cross-sectional profile. The cover defines an outer surface, and a plurality of protrusions extending from the outer surface of the cover. The protrusions are configured to operate as spacers when the replacement insert is positioned in a bushing cavity in the wind turbine blade to define a gap between the replacement insert and the walls of the bushing cavity.