Manufacturing method and manufacturing mold

Abstract

A method for manufacturing a composite fiber component for a rotor blade of a wind turbine that includes introducing a fiber material into a mold, supplying a flowable matrix material via a longitudinally extending runner of the mold using a vacuum infusion method such that the fiber material is soaked with matrix material from the runner and the matrix material flows transversely to the longitudinal extension of the runner such that a first region of the fiber material is substantially soaked with matrix material from a first section of the runner and a second region of the fiber material is substantially soaked with matrix material from a second region of the runner, and matrix material flow rates are set for the first section and the second section of the runner depending on thicknesses of the fiber material in the first region and the second region of the runner, respectively.

Claims

1. A manufacturing mold for manufacturing a fiber composite component for a rotor blade of a wind turbine, the manufacturing mold comprising: a mold body; a channel formed in the mold body; an inlay received within the channel formed in the mold body; and a runner having a longitudinal extension for supplying flowable matrix material for soaking fiber material introduced into the manufacturing mold such that the flowable matrix material flows from the runner transverse to the longitudinal extension of the runner; wherein at least a first section of the runner is defined by the channel formed in the mold body, wherein the first section has a first cross-sectional area, wherein at least a second section of the runner is defined by the inlay, wherein the inlay has a shape complementary to the channel formed in the mold body, and wherein the second section has a second cross-sectional area that is different than the first cross-sectional area.

2. The manufacturing mold according to claim 1, wherein the runner has a substantially continuously varying cross-sectional area at least in sections along its longitudinal extension.

3. The manufacturing mold according to claim 1, wherein sections of the runner have a variable cross-sectional area.

4. A method for manufacturing a fiber composite component having a longitudinal extension comprising: providing a mold according to claim 1; and manufacturing the fiber composite component in the mold such that the fiber composite component along its longitudinal extension has at least a first region having a first thickness and a second region having a second thickness.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the longitudinal extension of the fiber composite component manufactured in the mold is arranged substantially parallel to the longitudinal extension of the runner in the mold.

6. The method according to claim 4, wherein the first region of the fiber composite component manufactured in the mold is arranged near the first section of the runner, and wherein the second region of the fiber composite component manufactured in the mold is arranged near the second section of the runner.

7. The method according to claim 5, wherein the first region of the fiber composite component manufactured in the mold is arranged near the first section of the runner, and wherein the second region of the fiber composite component manufactured in the mold is arranged near the second section of the runner.

8. A method for manufacturing a fiber composite component for a rotor blade of a wind turbine comprising: introducing a fiber material for the fiber composite component into a manufacturing mold according to claim 1; supplying a flowable matrix material for the fiber composite component via a longitudinally extending runner of the manufacturing mold via vacuum infusion such that the fiber material in the manufacturing mold is soaked with matrix material from the runner, said matrix material flowing transversely to the longitudinal extension of the runner, wherein a first region of the fiber material is substantially soaked with matrix material from a first section of the runner, and a second region of the fiber material is substantially soaked with matrix material from a second region of the runner; and setting a first matrix material flow rate for the first section of the runner depending on a thickness of the fiber material in the first region, and setting a second matrix material flow rate for the second section of the runner depending on a thickness of the fiber material in the second region.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein a smaller matrix material flow rate is set with a smaller thickness of the fiber material, and a greater matrix material flow rate is set with a larger thickness of the fiber material.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first matrix material flow rate through a first cross-sectional area is set at or in the first section of the runner, and/or wherein the second matrix material flow rate through a second cross-sectional area is set at or in the second section of the runner.

11. The method according to claim 9, wherein the first matrix material flow rate through a first cross-sectional area is set at or in the first section of the runner, and/or wherein the second matrix material flow rate through a second cross-sectional area is set at or in the second section of the runner.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The invention is described below, without restricting the general idea of the invention, using exemplary embodiments with reference to the drawings, whereby we expressly refer to the drawings with regard to the disclosure of all details according to the invention that are not explained in greater detail in the text. The figures show in:

(2) FIG. 1 a schematic side representation of a manufacturing mold according to the invention with fiber material for a fiber composite component;

(3) FIG. 2 a schematic top view of the manufacturing mold according to the invention from FIG. 1;

(4) FIG. 3a a schematic sectional representation along the line A-A in FIG. 2;

(5) FIG. 3b a schematic sectional representation along the line B-B in FIG. 2;

(6) FIG. 3c a schematic sectional representation along the line C-C in FIG. 2;

(7) FIG. 4a-c a schematic sectional representation corresponding to the representations in FIG. 3a-c for a further manufacturing mold according to the invention;

(8) FIG. 5 schematically a further embodiment of a manufacturing mold according to the invention.

(9) In the drawings, the same or similar types of elements and/or parts are provided with the same reference numbers so that a corresponding re-introduction can be omitted.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(10) FIG. 1 schematically shows a side view of the manufacturing mold 10 according to the invention for a fiber composite component. The mold is an open manufacturing mold 10 having a mold body 12. The mold body 12 on its top side has a mold surface 14 that specifies the shape and surface properties of a side of the fiber composite component to be manufactured.

(11) Fiber material 40, for the fiber composite component to be manufactured is inserted or applied in the manufacturing mold 10, or respectively on the mold surface 14. The fiber material is laid out having different thicknesses corresponding to the desired properties of the fiber composite component to be manufactured. In the schematically represented example, a center region 42 has the largest thickness, to which are connected on each of both sides a region 42 of average thickness, and to each region 42 of average thickness, a region 42 of the smallest thickness. The different thicknesses of different regions 42, 42, 42 are given for example by a different number of layers on the fiber preform and/or fill material.

(12) FIG. 2 shows a top view of the open manufacturing mold 10 from FIG. 1 having the inserted or applied fiber material 40.

(13) The fiber material 40 has a two-dimensional contour with a longitudinal extension and a transverse extension corresponding to the fiber composite component to be manufactured. In the example shown, the longitudinal extension of the longer side and the transverse extension of the shorter side correspond to the rectangular contour of the fiber material 40 shown schematically in FIG. 2.

(14) The fiber material 40, along the longitudinal extension, has the previously represented regions 42, 42, 42 of different thicknesses, whereas transverse to this, i.e. in the direction of the transverse extension, the thickness of the fiber material 40 remains substantially constant.

(15) The fiber material 40 in the manufacturing mold 10, or respectively on the mold surface 14, is soaked with flowable resin for manufacturing the fiber composite component. For this, the manufacturing mold 10 has a runner 20 having a supply connection 26 for resin from a resin store, not shown. The runner 20 has a longitudinal extension which is aligned substantially parallel to the longitudinal extension of the fiber composite component to be manufactured, or respectively to the longitudinal extension of the fiber material 40 in the manufacturing mold 10.

(16) A vacuum infusion method is used for example for soaking the fiber material 40 with the resin. Here, the fiber material 40 in the manufacturing mold 10 is covered with a vacuum film, not shown, which is or will be sealed with respect to the mold body 12 of the manufacturing mold 10. The air is then pumped out of the thusly arising airtight, sealed cavity between vacuum film and manufacturing mold 10, or respectively mold body 12. Due to the thusly arising low-pressure, or vacuum, resin from the resin store arrives via the supply 26 into the runner 20, is distributed along the longitudinal extension of the runner 20, and flows out of the runner 20 into the fiber material 40. Here, a resin flow front forms in the fiber material 40 which progresses substantially transverse to the longitudinal extension of the runner 20.

(17) The runner 20 here has a plurality of sections 22, 22, 22, wherein the resin for a region 42, 42, 42 flows substantially out of one of the sections 22, 22,22 of the runner 20 into the fiber material 40. Resin for the center region 42 of the fiber material is provided correspondingly mainly in the center section 22 of the runner 20, resin for the outer regions 42 of the fiber material is provided mainly via the two outer sections 22 of the runner 20, and resin for the regions 42 of the fiber material 40 lying in between is provided mainly via the sections 22 of the runner 20.

(18) The sections 22, 22, 22 of the runner each have a different channel cross-section 24, 24, 24 as shown in FIGS. 3a, 3b and 3c.

(19) In the center of the runner 20, i.e. in section 22, the channel cross-section 24 is at its largest relative to the channel cross-sections 24, 24 in the other sections 22, 22. Thereby, resin from the center section 22 of the runner 20 arrives unhindered in the center region 42 of the fiber material, however there it flows only relatively slowly due to the greater thickness of the fiber material 40 in comparison to the other regions 42, 42.

(20) The resin in the regions 42 would in contrast flow more quickly because in particular the thickness of the fiber material 40 in the regions 42 is smaller than in region 42. In order to avoid different speeds of the progressing resin flow front in the region 42 and the adjacent regions 42, the runner 20 in the sections 22 has a smaller channel cross-section 24 than the channel cross-section 24 in section 22. Correspondingly, the channel cross-section 24 of the outer sections 22 of the runner 20, via which resin for the region 42 of the fiber material 40 is also provided with smaller thickness, is reduced in comparison to the channel cross-section 24 of the section 22.

(21) Using the invention achieves that the resin flowing out of the sections 22, 22, 22 of the runner 20 into the regions 42, 42, 42 of the fiber material is quantitatively limited such that in particular independent of the thickness of the fiber material 40 in the different regions 42, 42, 42, a resin flow front is formed that proceeds with uniform flow speed over the entire longitudinal extension of the fiber material 40.

(22) FIGS. 4a, 4b and 4c show an alternative design to the runner 20 according to the FIGS. 3a, 3b and 3c with the sections 22, 22, 22 which each have a different channel cross-section 24, 24,24.

(23) Here, it is initially provided that the mold body has a channel 16 that has a substantially constant cross-section along its longitudinal extension. In section 22, shown in FIG. 4a, the runner 20 is formed by a corresponding section of the channel 16 having the channel cross-section 24.

(24) In the sections 22, shown in FIG. 4b, in each case there is an inlay 30 in the channel 16 which is formed on the bottom side, having a shape complementary to the cross-section of the channel 16, and partially closing the channel 16. A channel cross-section 24 for a section 22 of the runner 20 is formed on the top side of the inlay 30.

(25) A corresponding inlay for the runner 20 with the channel cross-section 24 is located in the sections 22.

(26) It is also conceivable that a single inlay 30 is provided in the runner 20 with all necessary sections 22, 22, 22.

(27) The advantage of a runner 20 formed having inlays 30 lying therein, is that the channel cross-sections 24, 24, 24 in the different sections 22, 22, 22 of the runner can be changed quickly, easily and cost-effectively. A flexible modification and optimization with the manufacturing of fiber composite components is thereby possible. The described inlays 30 also allow retrofitting with existing manufacturing molds 10 having a channel 16.

(28) Regardless of the example shown, the invention is not limited to rectangular, planar fiber composite components with significantly stepped thicknesses. Fiber composite components with curved shapes and complex contours can also be readily manufactured with the method according to the invention or using a correspondingly modified manufacturing mold 10 according to the invention.

(29) FIG. 5 shows a further manufacturing mold 10 according to the invention. This embodiment of the invention also provides a mold body 12 having a mold surface 14 and a runner 20.

(30) The runner 20 has a plurality of resins supplies, or respectively supply connections 26, 26, 26, which each provide a section 22, 22, 22 of the runner 20 with resin from a resin store, not shown. The modification according to the invention of the quantity of resin provided in the individual section 22, 22, 22 of the runner 20 is also possible using suitable measures, such as adapted supply cross-sections or valves.

(31) All named characteristics, including those taken from the drawings alone, and individual characteristics, which are disclosed in combination with other characteristics, are considered individually and in combination as essential to the invention. Embodiments according to the invention can be realized through individual characteristics or a combination of several characteristics. In the scope of the invention, characteristics, which are designated with in particular or preferably are facultative features.

(32) The following reference numbers are used to denote the corresponding elements appearing in the accompanying drawing figures:

(33) TABLE-US-00001 10 manufacturing mold 12 mold body 14 mold surface 16 channel 20 Runner 22, 22, 22 Section 24, 24, 24 channel cross-section 26, 26, 26 supply connection 30 inlay 40 fiber layers 42 42, 42 region