Wind Turbine Blade with Customised Chord Length

Abstract

The present invention relates to a wind turbine blade mould comprising a first mould part and a second mould part, where said first mould surface is configured for moulding a pressure side shell of a wind turbine blade, where said second mould surface is configured for moulding a suction side shell of a wind turbine blade, and where the wind turbine blade mould and thus also a wind turbine blade moulded in said mould comprise a first end, a second end, a pressure side shell, a suction side shell, and further comprise a leading edge area and a trailing edge area. The present invention also relates to a wind turbine blade and a manufacturing method for producing a wind turbine blade using a wind turbine mould as mentioned above.

Claims

1. A wind turbine blade mould comprising a first mould part having a first mould surface, a second mould part having a second mould surface, a first end and a second end, where said first mould surface is configured for moulding a pressure side shell part of a wind turbine blade, where said second mould surface is configured for moulding a suction side shell part of said wind turbine blade, where said first end is configured for moulding a first end, e.g. a tip end, of said wind turbine blade, and where the second end is configured for moulding a second end, e.g. a root end, of said wind turbine blade, where the first end is located in the opposite end of the second end, and where the wind turbine blade mould and thus also the wind turbine blade moulded in said wind turbine blade mould comprise a first end, a second end, a pressure side, a suction side, and further comprise a leading edge area and a trailing edge area, wherein at least one of the first and second mould parts comprises at least one set of mould inlays, where said mould inlays are arranged at at least one of the first and second mould surfaces, wherein said mould inlays are positioned between the first end and the second end and at the trailing edge area, where the mould inlays extend along at least a part of the trailing edge area, and wherein the at least one set of mould inlays determine different chord lengths while maintaining the longitudinal length of the wind turbine blade.

2. A wind turbine blade mould according to claim 1, wherein the first mould part for moulding the pressure side shell part comprises at least one mould inlay at the trailing edge area.

3. A wind turbine blade mould according to claim 1, wherein the second mould part for moulding the suction side shell part comprises at least one mould inlay at the trailing edge area.

4. A wind turbine blade mould according to claim 1, wherein the first mould part for moulding the pressure side shell part comprises at least one mould inlay at the trailing edge area, and that the second mould part for moulding the suction side shell part comprises at least one mould inlay at the trailing edge area.

5. A manufacturing method for producing a wind turbine blade using a wind turbine blade mould according to claim 1, where the method comprises the steps of: arranging a first mould part having a first mould surface comprising a leading edge area and a trailing edge area; arranging a first layup of one or more layers of fibrous material, e.g. mats and/or rovings from glass, carbon or other types of fibres, directly or indirectly at the first mould surface, where the one or more layers of fibrous material are impregnated with a resin to form a fibre reinforced plastic laminate defining a first wind turbine shell part; arranging a second mould part having a second mould surface comprising a leading edge area and a trailing edge area; arranging a second layup of one or more layers of fibrous material, e.g. mats and/or rovings from glass, carbon or other types of fibres, directly or indirectly at the second mould surface, where the one or more layers of fibrous material are impregnated with a resin to form a fibre reinforced plastic laminate defining a second wind turbine blade shell part; joining said first and second wind turbine blade shell parts, wherein before impregnating said layup of fibrous material, preferably before laying up said fibrous material, on at least one of the first and second mould surfaces, the following additional step is performed: arranging one or more mould inlays along the trailing edge area of at least one of the first and second mould part, wherein said one or more mould inlays determine the shape of the trailing edge and the chord length of the wind turbine blade.

6. A manufacturing method according to claim 5, wherein the method comprises at least an additional step of arranging one or more mould inlays in both the first and second mould parts.

7. A manufacturing method according to claim 5, wherein at least one of the first and second layups comprising fibrous material is impregnated with resin by using RTM (Resin Transfer Moulding), and preferably by using VARTM (Vacuum Assisted Resin Transfer Moulding), where said impregnation is carried out using one of the following methods: impregnating the first and second wind turbine blade shell in individual operations; impregnating the first and second wind turbine blade in one single operation.

8. A manufacturing method according to claim 5, wherein at least one of the first and second layups comprising fibrous material is impregnated with resin prior to laying up the fibrous material by using prepreg materials.

9. A wind turbine blade manufactured in a wind turbine blade mould according to claim 1, wherein the wind turbine blade comprises a pressure side shell part and a suction side shell part, where at least one of the wind turbine shell parts comprises a trailing edge area, where the overall shape of the trailing edge area is defined by the shape of one or more mould inlays when said at least one wind turbine shell part is placed in the wind turbine blade mould.

10. A wind turbine blade according to claim 9, wherein the wind turbine blade at at least one of the pressure side and suction side comprises an extended shell section, where said extended shell section comprises the trailing edge of the wind turbine blade and extends from a longitudinal glue line between the pressure side shell and a suction side shell of a wind turbine blade.

11. A wind turbine blade according to claims 9, wherein the trailing edge area comprises a noise reducing profile arranged at the outermost trailing edge.

12. A wind turbine park comprising a plurality of wind turbines, each of said wind turbines comprises at least two wind turbine blades according to claim 9, wherein said at least two wind turbine blades of the wind turbines have the same longitudinal length and different chord lengths.

13. A wind turbine park according to claim 12, wherein the chord length of the at least two wind turbine blades of a first wind turbine differs from the chord length of the at least two wind turbine blades of a second wind turbine by 0 to 20%.

Description

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

[0056] The invention is described by example only and with reference to the drawings, wherein:

[0057] FIG. 1 shows a wind turbine,

[0058] FIG. 2 shows a wind turbine blade with alternative trailing edge design,

[0059] FIG. 3 shows a first cross-sectional profile of a wind turbine blade according to the invention,

[0060] FIG. 4 shows a second cross-sectional profile of a wind turbine blade according to the invention,

[0061] FIG. 5 shows a third cross-sectional profile of a wind turbine blade according to the invention,

[0062] FIG. 6 shows a fourth cross-sectional profile of a wind turbine blade according to the invention,

[0063] FIG. 7 shows a first cross-sectional view of a mould for a wind turbine blade according to the invention,

[0064] FIG. 8 shows a second cross-sectional view of a mould for a wind turbine blade according to the invention.

[0065] In the following text, the figures will be described one by one, and the different parts and positions seen in the figures will be numbered with the same numbers in the different figures. Not all parts and positions indicated in a specific figure will necessarily be discussed together with that figure.

POSITION NUMBER LIST

[0066] 1. Wind turbine [0067] 2. Tower [0068] 3. Foundation [0069] 4. Nacelle [0070] 5. Wind rotor [0071] 6. Rotor hub [0072] 7. Wind turbine blade [0073] 8. First end/tip end [0074] 9. Second end/root end [0075] 10. Leading edge area [0076] 11. Trailing edge area [0077] 12. Trailing edge [0078] 13. Pressure side [0079] 14. Suction side [0080] 15. First chord line [0081] 16. Second chord line [0082] 17. Inlay [0083] 18. Leading edge [0084] 19. Pressure side mould part [0085] 20. Pressure side shell [0086] 21. Suction side mould part [0087] 22. Suction side shell

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0088] FIG. 1 shows a wind turbine 1 comprising a wind turbine tower 2 installed at a foundation 3. A nacelle 4 is mounted at the top of the wind turbine tower 2, e.g. via a yaw system. The wind turbine tower 2 may comprise one or more tower sections mounted on top of each other. The wind turbine also comprises a wind rotor 5 comprising a rotor hub 6, which is rotatably mounted to the nacelle 4 via a rotor shaft (not seen). On this wind turbine three wind turbine blades 7 are mounted to the rotor hub 6 and extend outwards from the centre of the rotor hub 6 and thus form a rotor plane.

[0089] The wind turbine blades 7 comprise a first end/tip end 8 and a second end/root end 9 configured to be mounted to the rotor hub 6. The wind turbine blades 7 comprise an aerodynamic profile along the length of the blade 7, which profile is selected for the specific location, wind conditions and a number of other factors.

[0090] FIG. 2 shows a wind turbine blade 7 having two alternative trailing edge designs. The wind turbine blade extends between a first end 8 and a second end 9 and between a leading edge area 10 and a trailing edge area 11. As can be seen in FIG. 2 the trailing edge area 11 can have different designs, here depicted by two dotted lines 12′, 12″ and a full line 12. The dotted line 12′ indicates a trailing edge moulded without any inlays in the mould, whereas the full line 12 and the dotted line 12″ indicate the result of using two different sets of inlays.

[0091] FIG. 3 shows a first cross-sectional profile of a wind turbine blade 7 having a pressure side 13 and a suction side 14. Further a first chord line 15 is seen indicating the chord for a wind turbine blade 7 made with no inlay in the mould and a second chord line 16 indicating the chord for a wind turbine blade 7 manufactured using an inlay 17. Here it is rather clear that using an inlay 17 may change the twist of the blade 7. The difference in the twist is seen as the angular difference between the first chord line 15 and the second chord line 16. FIG. 3 also shows the leading edge area 10 and the trailing edge area 11 indicated with dotted lines in order to illustrate that neither the leading edge area 10 nor the trailing edge area 11 is a very well defined point or line, but merely an area along the leading edge 18 and the trailing edge 12. The inlay 17 is seen as a dark area indicating of course the inlay but also indicating the profile of the wind turbine blade if the inlay 17 was not inserted. It is clear that the inlay is not a part of the blade 7, and it is only seen in FIGS. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 in order to illustrate how and where an inlay 17 may be used.

[0092] FIG. 4 shows a second cross-sectional profile of a wind turbine blade 7, where an inlay 17 is arranged at the pressure side 13 of the blade 7.

[0093] FIG. 5 shows a third cross-sectional profile of a wind turbine blade 7, where an inlay 17 is arranged at the suction side 14 of the blade 7.

[0094] FIG. 6 shows a fourth cross-sectional profile of a wind turbine blade 7, where an inlay 17 is arranged at both the pressure side 13 and the suction side 14 of the blade 7.

[0095] It is to be understood that the inlay or inlays 17 can be fixed to one or both mould parts, and that such a fixation can be performed using fasteners of any suitable kind, and that the inlays 17 might be arranged on hinges or other fixation means that will allow a precise, quick and easy attachment and also detachment.

[0096] FIG. 7 shows a first cross-sectional view of a mould for a wind turbine blade 7, where the pressure side mould part 19 carry a pressure side shell 20, and where the suction side mould part 21 carries a suction side shell 22. The two shell parts 20, 22 are seen with a small distance in order to illustrate the principle better. In the suction side mould part 21 an inlay 17 is seen at the trailing edge area 11, and this situation is more or less comparable with the cross-section seen in FIG. 3. If the inlay 17 was not installed, the mould parts 19, 21 could be used to produce a wind turbine blade 7 with a longer trailing edge 12′ and thus with a longer chord and another twist.

[0097] FIG. 8 shows a second cross-sectional view of a mould for a wind turbine blade 7, where the pressure side mould part 19 carries a pressure side shell 20, and where the suction side mould part 21 carries a suction side shell 22. The two shell parts 20, 22 are seen with a small distance in order to illustrate the principle better. In the pressure side mould part 19 an inlay 17 is seen at the trailing edge area 11, and this situation is more or less comparable with the cross-section seen in FIG. 4. If the inlay 17 was not installed, the mould parts 19, 21 could be used to produce a wind turbine blade with a longer trailing edge 12′ and thus with a longer chord and another twist.