Lightweight composite truss wind turbine blade

Abstract

A lightweight wind turbine blade formed with a truss support structure assembly of composite truss joints including composite spar and cross members attached to and supporting in spaced relation a spine of lightweight rib panels. The rib panels are oriented in parallel spaced relation from one another and individually molded with perimeters defining individual areas of curvature for the finished blade assembly. The truss support structure is covered with a lightweight fiberglass or hardened fabric skin attached to and fitted on respective rib panel edges forming an airfoil structure.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a partially exploded perspective view of a first embodiment of the wind turbine blade illustrating the internal truss support structure;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the truss support structure shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of the circle 3 shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a top view of the truss support structure shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a front view of the truss support structure shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectional view representation of a portion of a second embodiment of the truss support structure shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 6A is an enlarged sectional perspective view of a splice joint shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged sectional perspective view of a joint shown in the truss support structure shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged sectional front view of a joint shown in the truss support structure shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 9 is a sectional perspective view depicting a wind turbine incorporating the present invention;

FIG. 10 is an enlarged sectional front view of the invention shown in FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a block diagram describing a method of fabricating the invention shown in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of an example assembly fixture described in the diagram of FIG. 11.

Claims

1. A wind turbine blade assembly including an internal truss support structure, comprising: a spine comprising a plurality of panel ribs, the plurality of panel ribs including perimeter edges incorporating flanges and bonding fixtures thereon positioned parallel and laterally spaced from one another on their respective perimeter edges including respective adjacent pairs of panels rib defining respective spacings therebetween;a plurality of composite spar members bonded to the bonding fixtures and positioned longitudinally thereon along the length of the spine;a plurality of composite cross members bonded to the bonding fixtures and to the spar members forming respective truss joints therewith, the cross members of adjacent pairs of panel ribs traversing respective spacings and configured to support in spaced relation respective adjacent panel ribs; anda skin assembly fastened to respective panel rib flanges and disposed to cover the spine and truss joints.

2. The wind turbine blade assembly of claim 1, wherein: the cross members include at least one of said members connected between adjacent ribs in a chord-wise direction of the blade and at least one of said members connected between adjacent ribs in a camber direction of the blade.

3. The wind turbine blade assembly of claim 1, wherein: the spar members and cross members are formed pultruded from a composite source.

4. The wind turbine blade assembly of claim 1, wherein: respective rib panels are individually shaped to define areas of varying curvature along the spine.

5. The wind turbine blade assembly of claim 1, wherein: the rib panels include fiberglass sides.

6. The wind turbine blade assembly of claim 1, wherein: the blade assembly includes a root attachment end opposite a tip end for mounting the blade assembly to a mounting hub of a wind turbine structure including a mounting collar incorporating a plurality of hard points wherein the spar member are attached to the hard points; anda mounting ring attached to a base of the collar for mounting the root attachment end to the hub.

7. A wind turbine blade assembly, comprising: a spine comprising a plurality of panel ribs, the plurality of panel ribs including perimeter edges incorporating flanges and attachment fixtures thereon positioned parallel and laterally spaced from one another on their respective perimeter edges including respective adjacent pairs of panels rib defining respective a spacings therebetween;a plurality of composite spar members fastened to the attachment fixtures and positioned longitudinally thereon along the length of the spine;a plurality of composite cross members bonded to the spar members forming respective truss joints therewith, the cross members include at least one vertical member connected vertically between and adjoining adjacent spar members and the cross members further include at least one diagonal member connected diagonally between adjacent vertical members at respective truss joints; anda skin assembly fastened to respective panel rib flanges and disposed to cover the spine and truss joints.

8. The wind turbine blade assembly of claim 7, wherein: the spar members include a U-shaped channel along their length; andthe cross members are fastened to the spar members within the U-shaped channel.

9. The wind turbine blade assembly of claim 8, wherein: the spar, vertical and diagonal members include respective bores aligned on respective member ends; andthe truss joint includes a pin fastener inserted through the aligned bores for fastening of respective spar, vertical and diagonal members to one another.

10. The wind turbine blade assembly of claim 8, wherein: the spar members are formed in segments up to 40 feet long including respective spar segment opposite ends;respective adjacent spar segment opposite ends are abutted and spliced together with splice joints, the splice joints including respective bridging members positioned within the U-shaped channel of respective spar member segments and bridging respective adjacent opposite ends together; and comprisinga set of fasteners fastening respective bridging members to respective opposite ends.

11. The wind turbine blade assembly of claim 7, wherein: the vertical members include a slot on at least one end with clearance for insertion of a connecting diagonal member therethrough.

12. The wind turbine blade assembly of claim 7, wherein: respective rib panels are individually shaped to define areas of varying curvature along the spine.

13. The wind turbine blade assembly of claim 7, wherein: the skin assembly includes individual skin panels shaped to cover the areas of varying curvature.

14. A method of fabricating a wind turbine blade assembly, including: selecting a plurality of rib panels;forming a plurality of composite support members;curing the support members;setting a predetermined number of mounting posts spaced from one another at predetermined distances in a linear formation;mounting the rib panels to respective posts;mounting a predetermined number of support members to the perimeter edges of respective rib panels to form spar members from a root end of the assembly to a tip end of the assembly and defining joint intersections therein;affixing another predetermined number of support members between respective adjacent ribs to form cross members, the cross members further affixed to the spar members and connecting therebetween adjacent spar members at respective adjacent joint intersections; andfastening a skin assembly to the perimeter edges of the rib panels.

15. The method of fabricating a wind turbine blade assembly of claim 14, wherein: the spar members are formed with a U-shaped channel and the cross member ends are vertically disposed and affixed within the U-shaped channel of vertically adjacent spar members.

16. The method of fabricating a wind turbine blade assembly of claim 14, wherein: at least one cross member is affixed diagonally between adjacent joint intersections.

17. The method of fabricating a wind turbine blade assembly of claim 15, wherein: some of the vertically disposed cross members are formed with a slot on one end and at least one cross member is affixed diagonally between adjacent joint intersections within respective vertically disposed cross member slots.

18. The method of fabricating a wind turbine blade assembly of claim 14, wherein: the rib panels are selected shaped individually molded to define areas of varying curvature along the blade assembly.

19. The method of fabricating a wind turbine blade assembly of claim 14, further comprising: forming a skin assembly by covering the rib panels and support members with a fabric;heatshrinking the fabric;coating the fabric with a resin; andallowing the resin to harden.

20. The method of fabricating a wind turbine blade assembly of claim 14, wherein: the step of forming the support members is performed using a pultrusion technique