WIND TURBINE ROTOR BLADE AND AERODYNAMIC ADD-ON ELEMENT

Abstract

The disclosure relates to a wind turbine rotor blade, including an aerodynamic add-on element comprising a baseplate, the baseplate having an upper side and a bottom side, wherein the aerodynamic add-on element is mounted with the bottom side of the baseplate to an outer surface of the wind turbine rotor blade, at least a section of the bottom side is inclined relative to the outer surface of the wind turbine rotor blade along a downstream direction of an operational wind flow, such that a gap is formed between the at least one section and the outer surface in which a distance between the outer surface and the bottom side increases along the downstream direction, and adhesive is provided in the gap to bond the aerodynamic add-on element to the outer surface of the wind turbine rotor blade. The disclosure also relates to an aerodynamic add-on element.

Claims

1. A wind turbine rotor blade comprising: a rotor blade body having an outer surface; an aerodynamic add-on element including a baseplate having an upper side and a bottom side; said aerodynamic add-on element being mounted with said bottom side of said baseplate to said outer surface of said rotor blade body; said bottom side having at least one section inclined relative to said outer surface of the rotor blade body along a downstream direction of an operational wind flow, such that a gap is formed between said at least one section and said outer surface in which a distance between said outer surface and said bottom side increases along the downstream direction; and, an adhesive provided in said gap to bond said aerodynamic add-on element to said outer surface of said rotor blade body.

2. The wind turbine rotor blade of claim 1, wherein said baseplate is tilted relative to said outer surface.

3. The wind turbine rotor blade of claim 1, wherein a height of said gap increases along the downstream direction.

4. The wind turbine rotor blade of claim 1, wherein a height of said gap increases from 0.1 millimeter to 1 millimeter.

5. The wind turbine rotor blade of claim 1, wherein said outer surface and said aerodynamic add-on element define a gradual transition between said outer surface and said aerodynamic add-on element at an up-wind side.

6. The wind turbine rotor blade of claim 1, wherein a distance between said upper side of said aerodynamic add-on element and said rotor blade body at an up-wind side is smaller than at a downwind side of said aerodynamic add-on element.

7. The wind turbine rotor blade of claim 1, wherein a structural relevant thickness of said adhesive in said gap to bond said add-on element to said rotor blade body is reached at a certain distance from an up-wind side of said adhesive in said gap with regard to the downstream direction.

8. The wind turbine rotor blade of claim 1, wherein said at least one section of said bottom side includes one or more spacers, said one or more spacers being in direct contact with said outer surface of the rotor blade body.

9. The wind turbine rotor blade of claim 8, wherein said spacers are formed as line shaped spacers, cylindrical spacers or point spacers.

10. The wind turbine rotor blade of claim 1, wherein said at least one section of said bottom side includes a web running transverse to an operational wind flow; said web is in direct contact with said outer surface of said rotor blade body; and, said web separates said gap into a first gap section and a second gap section such that said adhesive is divided into said first gap section and said second gap section.

11. The wind turbine rotor blade of claim 1, wherein a further section of said bottom side of said add-on element is directly arranged on said outer surface of said rotor blade body.

12. The wind turbine rotor blade of claim 11, wherein said further section of said bottom side is arranged upstream of said at least one section of said bottom side.

13. The wind turbine rotor blade of claim 12, wherein said further section is a front section of said bottom side.

14. The wind turbine rotor blade of claim 11, wherein said further section includes spacers or is formed as a spacer section.

15. The wind turbine rotor blade of claim 11, wherein said further section includes spacers formed as ribs.

16. The wind turbine rotor blade of claim 7, wherein said structural relevant thickness is 0.5 millimeters.

17. The wind turbine rotor blade of claim 1, wherein a height of said gap increases from 0.2 millimeter to 0.7 millimeter.

18. The wind turbine rotor blade of claim 1, wherein a height of said gap increases from 0.2 millimeter to 0.5 millimeter.

19. An aerodynamic add-on element for mounting to an outer surface of a wind turbine rotor blade, the aerodynamic add-on element comprising: a baseplate having an upper side and a bottom side; said aerodynamic add-on element being configured to be mounted with said bottom side of said baseplate to the outer surface of the wind turbine rotor blade; and, the aerodynamic add-on element being configured such that—in in a mounted state—at least one section of said bottom side is inclined relative to the outer surface of the wind turbine rotor blade along a downstream direction of an operational wind flow, such that a gap is formed between said at least one section and the outer surface, the gap defining a distance between the outer surface and said bottom side, wherein the distance increases along the downstream direction, such that adhesive can be provided in the gap to bond the aerodynamic add-on element to the outer surface of the wind turbine rotor blade.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0038] The disclosure will now be described with reference to the drawings wherein:

[0039] FIG. 1 shows a schematic view of a wind turbine;

[0040] FIG. 2 shows a schematic view of a wind turbine rotor blade;

[0041] FIGS. 3 to 5 show schematic views of a wind turbine rotor blade with an aerodynamic add-on element according to embodiments of the disclosure; and,

[0042] FIGS. 6 to 20 show aerodynamic add-on elements according to further embodiments of the disclosure in different views.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0043] FIG. 1 shows a schematic view of a wind turbine 100, which comprises a tower 102. The tower 102 is fixed to the ground via a foundation 104. At one end of the tower 102 opposite to the ground a nacelle 106 is rotatably mounted. The nacelle 106, for example, comprises a generator which is coupled to a rotor 108 via a rotor shaft (not shown). The rotor 108 comprises one or more (wind turbine) rotor blades 110, which are arranged on a rotor hub 112.

[0044] During operation, the rotor 108 is set in rotation by an air flow, for example wind. This rotational movement is transmitted to the generator via the rotor shaft and, if necessary, a gearbox. The generator converts the mechanical energy of the rotor 108 into electrical energy.

[0045] FIG. 2 shows a rotor blade 110. The rotor blade 110 has the shape of a conventional rotor blade and has a rotor blade root area 114 facing the rotor hub 112. The rotor blade root area 114 typically has an essentially circular cross-section. The rotor blade root area 114 is followed by a transition area 116 and a profile area 118 of the rotor blade 110. The rotor blade 110 has a pressure side 122 and an opposite suction side 124 with respect to a longitudinal extension direction 120 (also main extension direction). The rotor blade 110 is essentially hollow inside.

[0046] In the rotor blade root area 114 a rotor blade root end 126 with a flange connection 128 is provided, via which the rotor blade 110 can be mechanically connected to a pitch bearing or an extender.

[0047] FIG. 3 shows a schematic view of a rotor blade 110 according to an embodiment of the disclosure. The rotor blade 110 comprises an outer surface 130. The rotor blade 110 comprises an aerodynamic add-on element 132 (short: add-on element), which is a vortex generator. The aerodynamic add-on element 132 has a baseplate 134, which has an upper side 136 and a bottom side 138 opposing the upper side 136. The upper side 136, which not necessarily needs to be flat, comprises one or more turbulence generating features 140 such as vortex generators. With the bottom side 138, the aerodynamic add-on element 132 is mounted to the outer surface 130 of the rotor blade 110 in a mounting region 142 thereof.

[0048] Particularly, the add-on element 132, in particular its baseplate 134, is tilted with regard to the outer surface 130. The bottom side 138 is inclined with respect to the outer surface 130 (in the schematic view the whole bottom side is inclined, but also only portions or sections of the bottom side 138 can be inclined), such that a gap 144 is formed between the bottom side 138 and the outer surface 130. A distance 146 between the bottom side 138 and the outer surface 130, that is, a gap height, increases continuously along a downstream direction 148 of an operational wind flow (wind flow during operation of wind turbine 100 with such rotor blade 110). The gap 144 is filled with adhesive 150, wherein an adhesive thickness 152 correspondingly increases continuously along the direction 148. The adhesive 150 firmly bonds the add-on element 132 to the rotor blade 110.

[0049] The rotor blade 110 as described above enables the above mentioned functions and advantages. In particular, only a small step 154 is provided at an up-wind side 156 (or up-wind edge) of the add-on element 132. In other words, a distance between the upper side 136 of the add-on element 132 and the outer surface 130 of the rotor blade 110 is smaller at the up-wind side 156 than at the down-wind side 158 (or down-wind edge) of the add-on element 132. For example, the height of the gap 146/adhesive thickness 152 increases from 0.2 mm to 0.7 mm.

[0050] A structural relevant thickness 162 of the adhesive 150 is reached at a certain distance 160 from the up-wind side 156. Such structural relevant thickness 162 is for example 0.5 mm.

[0051] In other embodiments a gradual transition between the outer surface 130 of the rotor blade 110 and the add-on element 132 at the up-wind side 156 is provided, that is, there is essentially no step 154.

[0052] According to the embodiment of FIG. 3, the adhesive 150 has a triangular shape. In other words, the gap 144 is triangularly formed.

[0053] FIGS. 4 and 5 show rotor blades 110 according to further embodiments of the disclosure, which are similar to the embodiment shown in FIG. 3. Thus, we refer to the above description of features with regard to the reference signs (which are not repeatedly shown in FIG. 4).

[0054] According to FIG. 4, the only difference to the embodiment of FIG. 3 is the configuration of the gap 140 and thus the adhesive 150 applied therein, wherein a trapezoidal shape is provided.

[0055] According to FIG. 5, the baseplate 134 differs from the above embodiments in that the bottom side 138 (or baseplate 134) comprises a first section 164 and a second section 166 along the downstream direction 148. The first section 164 is inclined similar to the above described embodiments, such that the adhesive 150 has an increasing thickness 152 corresponding to the gap 144. The second section 166 is arranged upstream of the first section 164 and is in direct contact with the outer surface 130 of the rotor blade 110.

[0056] The bottom side 138 of the above embodiments, including the first and second sections 164, 166, may comprise spacers or the like, being in direct contact with the outer surface 130, which will be described in the following with regard to further embodiments shown in the FIGS. 6 to 20.

[0057] FIGS. 6 to 8 refer to an add-on element 132 according to an embodiment of the disclosure. FIG. 6 shows a perspective top view of the add-on element 132, FIG. 7 shows a perspective bottom view of the add-on element 132 and FIG. 8 shows a side view of the add-on element 132. The add-on element 132 comprises a baseplate 134 with an upper side 136 and a bottom side 138. On the upper side 136, several turbulence generating features 140 are provided.

[0058] To ensure the inclination of the bottom side 138 as described above, the bottom side 138 comprises spacers 168. As can be seen in FIG. 7, the spacers 168 are formed cylindrically. The spacers 168 are in direct contact with the outer surface 130 of the rotor blade 110 and comprise different sizes in order that the baseplate 134, in particular the bottom side 138, is inclined with respect to the outer surface 130 of the rotor blade 110. Similar to the above description, a suitable gap 144 is formed, in which the adhesive 150 can be provided. FIG. 8 shows a respective inclination angle α.

[0059] FIGS. 9 to 11 show a similar embodiment, with the only difference to the embodiment of FIGS. 6 to 8, that the spacers 168 are line-shape, running in the downstream direction 148. We refer to the above description of further details.

[0060] FIGS. 12 to 14 show a similar embodiment. The embodiment differs from the above embodiments according to FIGS. 6 to 11, that the bottom side 138 comprises a first section 164 and a second section 166, for example, as described with regard to FIG. 5. In the first section, spacers 168 are provided, which are line-shaped and running in the downstream direction 148. The second section 166 is form such that a direct contact to the outer surface 130 of the blade 110 is established. The second section 166 is made of full material and can also be seen as front spacer region. This configuration allows the structural adhesive to exhibit a structurally sufficient thickness from the start and reduces the risk of crack initiation. We refer to the above description of further details.

[0061] FIGS. 15 to 17 show another embodiment. In difference to the embodiment of the FIGS. 12 to 14, the second section 166 comprises spacers 168 formed as ribs, whereas the first section 164 does not comprise any spacers. The spacers 168 of the second section 166 (front section) serve for constant material thickness in the whole add-on element 132, which is important for high pressure injection molding.

[0062] FIGS. 18 to 20 show a further embodiment, similar to the above embodiments. As difference, at the bottom side 138, the baseplate 134 comprises webs 170, running transverse to the downstream direction 148. The webs 170 act as spacers functioning as described above. The spacers 168 are again in direct contact with the outer surface 130 of the blade 110 and define the gap 144 to be filled with adhesive for bonding the add-on element 132 to the blade 110. Along the downstream direction 148, in the present shown example, the gap 144 has a first height h1 of 0.2 mm at the up-wind side 156, a second height h2 of 0.5 mm in approximately the middle of the add-on element 132, and a third height h3 of 0.7 mm at the down-wind side 158. In the first gap section 172 a rather small gap for adhesive 150 to be applied is provided, in order to achieve good aerodynamic properties resulting from the wind flow in downstream direction. The first gap section 172 for example is not especially provided for structural means. The second gap section 174 is configured for structural bonding, wherein a sufficient height of the gap is provided for adhesive to be applied.

[0063] The middle web 170 of the three webs 170 separates the gap 144 into a first gap section 172 and a second gap section 174, such that adhesive 150, which is provided in the gap sections 172, 174, is divided into the first and second gap sections 172, 174, wherein the adhesive in the first gap section 172 has no contact to the adhesive in the second gap section 174. Thus, the middle web 170 serves as a crack stopper, as explained above.

[0064] Features of the different embodiments can be mixed, if necessary, for example, the embodiment according to the FIGS. 9 to 11 can additionally be provided with a rib in the middle of the bottom side 138 running transverse to the downstream direction 148.

[0065] It is understood that the foregoing description is that of the preferred embodiments of the invention and that various changes and modifications may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

REFERENCE SIGNS

[0066] 100 wind turbine [0067] 102 tower [0068] 104 foundation [0069] 106 nacelle [0070] 108 rotor [0071] 110 rotor blade [0072] 112 rotor hub [0073] 114 rotor blade root area [0074] 116 transition area [0075] 118 profile area [0076] 120 longitudinal extension direction [0077] 122 pressure side [0078] 124 suction side [0079] 126 rotor blade root end [0080] 128 flange connection [0081] 130 outer surface [0082] 132 aerodynamic add-on element [0083] 134 baseplate [0084] 136 upper side [0085] 138 bottom side [0086] 140 turbulence generating feature [0087] 142 mounting region [0088] 144 gap [0089] 146 distance [0090] 148 downstream direction [0091] 150 adhesive [0092] 152 adhesive thickness [0093] 154 step [0094] 156 up-wind side [0095] 158 down-wind side [0096] 160 distance [0097] 162 structural relevant thickness [0098] 164 first section [0099] 166 second section [0100] 168 spacers [0101] 170 web [0102] 172 first gap section [0103] 174 second gap section [0104] h1 first height [0105] h2 second height [0106] h3 third height [0107] α inclination angle