Patent Application
20170320275
The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a wind turbine blade component in form of an I-shaped shear web (also called a spar beam), as well as a shear web mould system for manufacturing such a shear web.
Wind turbine blades are often manufactured according to one of two constructional designs, namely a design where a thin aerodynamic shell is glued or otherwise bonded onto a spar beam, or a design where spar caps, also called main laminates, are integrated into the aerodynamic shell.
In the first design, the spar beam constitutes the load bearing structure of the blade. The spar beam as well as the aerodynamic shell or shell parts are manufactured separately. The aerodynamic shell is often manufactured as two shell parts, typically as a pressure side shell part and a suction side shell part. The two shell parts are glued or otherwise connected to the spar beam and are further glued to each other along a leading edge and trailing edge of the shell parts. This design has the advantage that the critical load carrying structure may be manufactured separately and therefore is easier to control. Further, this design allows for various different manufacturing methods for producing the beam, such as moulding and filament winding.
In the second design, the spar caps or main laminates are integrated into the shell and are moulded together with the aerodynamic shell. The main laminates typically comprise a high number of fibre layers compared to the remainder of the blade and may form a local thickening of the wind turbine shell, at least with respect to the number of fibre layers. Thus, the main laminate may form a fibre insertion in the blade. In this design, the main laminates constitute the load carrying structure. The blade shells are typically designed with a first main laminate integrated in the pressure side shell part and a second main laminate integrated in the suction side shell part. The first main laminate and the second main laminate are typically connected via one or more shear webs, which for instance may have a C-shaped or I-shaped cross-section. For very long blades, the blade shells may further along at least a part of the longitudinal extent comprise an additional first main laminate in the pressure side shell, and an additional second main laminate in the suction side shell. These additional main laminates may also be connected via one or more shear webs. This design has the advantage that it is easier to control the aerodynamic shape of the blade via the moulding of the blade shell part.
The shear webs act to reinforce the blade structure, and prevent excessive bending or buckling. Some blade designs use shear webs formed from beam members having I- or C-shaped cross-sections, the members having a main body with load-bearing flanges extending therefrom at opposed ends of the main body.
One method of manufacturing such I- or C-webs is through the provision of a sandwich panel body to which layers of fibre material are applied at the opposed ends in the shape of the desired flanges, the fibre material being infused with a resin and subsequently cured to form rigid flanges.
It is well-known to manufacture such shear webs in a suitably shaped mould structure, wherein a C-web can be manufactured using a relatively simple U-shaped mould, where the sandwich panel body extends between opposed walls of the mould structure, with the flanges formed through the layup of fibre material against the said walls.
Similarly, an I-web can be manufactured using a mould having a central support bounded by flexible support members on either side to define an adjustable channel between the flexible support members and the opposed mould walls. In this situation, the sandwich panel body is arranged on the central support, while the adjustable channel is arranged to receive fibre layers to form the flanges on a first side of the panel body, with the flanges on the second side of the panel body formed by the layup of fibre material against the opposed mould walls.
An example of such manufacturing systems can be seen in International Patent Application Publication No. WO 2013/037466 A1 and International Patent Application Publication No. WO 2014/095870 A1. However, these systems have the disadvantage of the necessity of removable inserts in order to be able to remove the I-web from the system. Further, the layup is rather complicated, since the fibre layers have to be folded around the inserts. This may provide wrinkles to the fibre layup.
In addition to the above, shear webs having such resin-infused fibre-based flanges can be an area of interest for the prevention of structural faults and cracks, due to the relatively large forces transferred through said flanges.
It is an object of the invention to provide an alternative system and method for the manufacture of wind turbine blade components in form of shear webs, which provides for increased ease of manufacture combined with a reduced risk of structural failure.
This is according to a first aspect obtained by a method of manufacturing a wind turbine blade component in form of an I-shaped shear web, the shear web having a web body and a first web foot flange at a first end of the web body and a second web foot flange at a second end of the web body, wherein the method comprises the steps of:
a) providing an elongated lower web mould part having a moulding surface with a central portion, which is substantially flat, a first downwardly extending moulding surface portion at a first end of the lower web mould part, and a second downwardly extending moulding surface portion at a second end of the lower web mould part, wherein the first and the second moulding surface portions are diverging from the central portion along at least a part of the elongated lower web mould part,
b) arranging a number of first fibre layers on top of the elongated lower web mould part and covering the first downwardly extending moulding surface portion, the central portion, and the second downwardly extending moulding surface portion,
c) arranging a number of second fibre layers on top of the first fibre layers
d) arranging an upper web mould part on top of the second fibre layers, the upper web mould part having a moulding surface with a central portion, which is substantially flat, a first upwardly extending moulding surface portion at a first end of the upper web mould part, and a second upwardly extending moulding surface portion at a second end of the upper web mould part, wherein the first and the second moulding surface portion are converging from the central portion along at least a part of the elongated upper web mould part,
e) wrapping ends of the second fibre layers against the first and the second upwardly extending moulding surface of the upper web mould part,
f) forming a mould cavity via the lower web mould part and upper web mould part,
g) supplying a resin to the mould cavity, and
h) curing or hardening the resin in order to form said wind turbine blade component.
In other words, the lower web mould part has a concave shape with diverging side parts for manufacturing first sides of the I-web foot flanges. The upper mould part also has a concave shape with converging side parts for manufacturing the other sides of the I-web foot flanges. This embodiment has several advantages over the prior art shear web mould, where the lower web mould part has converging side flanges, and where an outer mould part is utilised for forming the web foot flanges.
Due to the design of the lower web mould part, the first fibre layers may simply be draped over the concave moulding surface of the web part and do not need to be folded around side flanges. The first fibre layers will simply comply with the moulding surface of the lower mould. Further, the need for removable silicone inserts at the sides of the moulds is eliminated.
By using an upper web mould part, the need for external side mould flanges is also eliminated. The second fibre layers may be draped to the side flanges of the upper web mould part by first arranging the second fibre layers so that they are draped on top of the first fibre layers (and optional core material parts, later explained). After the upper web mould part has been arranged on top of the second fibre layers, the ends of the second fibre layers may simply be wrapped against the side flanges of the upper web mould part.
It is recognised that the mould system may be sectionised, in particular in the longitudinal or spanwise direction of the mould system. Thus, one section may manufacture a first longitudinal section of the shear web (or spar beam) and another section may manufacture a second longitudinal section of the shear web. The sectionised mould system may preferably be assembled so that the shear web may be manufactured as a unitary structure.
By substantially I-shaped is meant that the shear web has a shear web body and a first web foot flange at a first end of the web body, where a first flange part extends from a first side of the web body and a second flange part extends from a second side of the web body, and further a second web foot flange at a second end of the web body, where a first flange part extends from a first side of the web body and a second flange part extends from a second side of the web body.
According to a preferred embodiment, the method further involves a step between steps b) and c) where a core material of low density, such as balsawood, foamed polymer or the like, is arranged on top of the first fibre layers in the central part of the lower web mould part. Thus, the web body of the shear web may be formed as a sandwich construction having the first fibre layers as a first skin and the second fibre layers as a second skin.
In an advantageous embodiment, the mould cavity is formed by sealing at least a first outer mould part against the lower web mould part and the upper web mould part. The at least first outer mould part may advantageously comprise at least a first vacuum bag. Accordingly, it is seen that the mould cavity is preferably obtained by sealing a vacuum bag against the web mould parts. Where the moulding surfaces of the lower and upper web mould parts are air impermeable, the mould cavity may be formed by use of two vacuum bags, one for sealing the first web foot flange and a second for sealing the second web foot flange.
According to another preferred embodiment, the mould cavity prior to supplying the resin is evacuated by use of a vacuum source. Thus, it is seen that the shear web may be manufactured via a Vacuum Assisted Resin Transfer Moulding (VARTM) process. In principle, it is also possible to use RTM, where resin is injected into the mould cavity by use of an over-pressure.
The resin is preferably injected into the mould cavity, e.g. by drawing the resin in via the vacuum or under-pressure. However, it is in principle also possible to use prepreg material for the first fibre layers and/or the second fibre layers, in which case the resin can be supplied together with the fibre layers, or a combination of both approaches.
The upper web mould part may in a subsequent step be removed from the wind turbine component. Even though the web foot flanges are converging, the upper web mould part may easily be removed, since the web foot flanges are relatively flexible. Thus, they will simply bend away when the upper web mould part is lifted of the moulded wind turbine component. However, it may also be possible to pull the upper web mould part out from the converging web foot flange parts, in particular since a shear web will be tapering in the longitudinal direction in order to accommodate the shape of the wind turbine blade shell.
The wind turbine component may in a following step be removed from the lower web mould part. This may simply be done by lifting the wind turbine component from the lower web mould part, which can easily be done, since the side parts of the lower mould are diverging from the central part of the mould part. The lower mould part is advantageously coated with a release agent so that the wind turbine component easily may be lifted from the surface of the lower web mould part.
According to an advantageous embodiment, at least a first insert is arranged at the first end of the lower web part, wherein said first insert is adapted to provide a gradual transition from the web body to the first web foot flange. Advantageously also a first additional insert is arranged at the second end of the lower web part in order to provide a gradual transition from the web body to the second web foot flange.
According to another advantageous embodiment, a second insert is arranged at the first end of the lower web part, wherein said first insert is adapted to provide a gradual transition from the web body to another part the first web foot flange. The first insert may for instance be provided at a first side of the core material and the second insert at a second side of the core material.
The first insert and/or the second insert may advantageously be substantially wedge shaped. Thus, the insert may have an overall triangular appearance. In an advantageous embodiment, the inserts have a rounded outer surface, which the first fibre layers and the second fibre layers, respectively, may abut so that a round transition is obtained from the web body to the first web foot flange. In principle, the transition may also be obtained by a single insert.
As previously mentioned, the shear web will preferably have similar inserts at the transition between the web body and the second web foot flange.
The insert(s) may be made of a core material, such as balsawood or foamed polymer. It may also be made of a fibre-reinforced polymer material and may be a pultruded or extruded element.
The first fibre layers and second fibre layers are preferably glass fibres. But it may also be carbon fibres, aramid fibres, hemp fibres or the like.
In one advantageous embodiment, the first fibre layers are cut along lower surfaces of the downwardly extending moulding surface portions. Thus, the first fibre layers may simply be draped over the lower web mould part and then cut to the correct width by using a cutter, such as a sonic knife, along the edges of the lower mould part.
In another advantageous embodiment, the second fibre layers are cut along lower surfaces of the downwardly extending moulding surface portions or along upper surfaces of the upwardly extending moulding surface portions. Accordingly, the ends of the second fibre layers may be cut before the arrangement of the upper web mould part or after wrapping the second fibre layers against the upwardly extending moulding surface portions.
In yet another advantageous embodiment, the ends of the second fibre layers in step e) are retained against the first and the second upwardly extending moulding surface of the upper web mould part by use of retaining means. This prevents the second fibre layers from sliding down the side parts of the upper mould part, which could form wrinkles in the finished composite structure. The retaining means may for instance be magnets, e.g. by arranging one magnet part on the outer side of the upper mould part, and a second magnet part on the inner side of the upper mould part. But the retaining means may also be clamps, a tackifier or the like. The magnets or retaining means may be removed prior to forming the mould cavity.
According to the first aspect, the invention also provides a shear web mould system for manufacturing a wind turbine component in form of an I-shaped shear web having a web body and a first web foot flange at a first end of the web body and a second web foot flange at a second end of the web body, wherein the system comprises:
The upper web mould part is adapted to be arranged on top of the lower web mould part and to at least partially form a mould cavity between the two web mould parts, where fibre material and core material may be arranged, after which a resin may be injected into the mould cavity.
According to an advantageous embodiment, the angle of the first downwardly extending moulding surface portion is substantially equal to the angle of the first upwardly extending surface portion. Thereby, the two web mould parts allow a substantially straight first web foot flange to be formed.
Preferably, the angle of the second downwardly extending moulding surface portion is substantially equal to the angle of the second upwardly extending surface portion, whereby a substantially straight second web foot flange may be formed.
The width of the central part of the upper web mould part preferably corresponds to the width of the central part of the lower web mould part. The width of the upper web mould part may also be slightly less that the width of the lower web mould part in order to accommodate for the converging web foot flanges.
In one advantageous embodiment, the first downwardly extending surface portion has an end portion, which corresponds to an end portion of the first web foot flange, and wherein the second downwardly extending surface portion has an end portion, which corresponds to an end portion of the second web foot flange. Thereby, first fibre layers may simply be draped over the lower web mould part and the ends of the fibre layers may be cut off by cutting along the edges of the lower mould part.
Correspondingly, the first upwardly extending surface portion may have an end portion, which corresponds to an end portion of the first web foot flange, and wherein the second upwardly extending surface portion has an end portion, which corresponds to an end portion of the second web foot flange.
In principle, the upper and the lower web mould part may be made from any suitable material. The parts may for instance comprise a relatively thin plate that defines the outer surface of the shear web. The plate may for instance be made of a fibre-reinforced polymer or a metal. However, according to an advantageous embodiment, the lower web mould part and/or the upper web mould part are made of a foamed polymer, e.g. PUR, covered by a hard surface coating, which provides the moulding surface. The foamed polymer may also be covered by a non-stick material.
The hard surface coating may advantageously be made from a polyurea material. The cover material may also be PTFE or another Teflon® material.
The upper and lower web mould parts are described as being elongated. However, it is recognised that the parts may be sectionised from smaller web mould parts that combined form an elongated web mould part. It is also recognised that the upper and lower parts may be sectionised in the transverse direction of the mould.
In a first embodiment, the lower web mould part is modular having a central mould part with a raised central part, which comprises a first side wall and a second side wall, wherein
The insert(s) may be arranged such that an upper part of the insert(s) are flush with the raised central part. Preferably, both a first mould insert and a second mould insert are used. The central part may be made of e.g. steel or wood. The inserts may be made of a foam with a coating or a tape on the outer surface. The coating or tape may for instance be polyurea or PTFE.
In a second embodiment, the upper web mould part is modular and comprises a first upper web mould part for forming the first upwardly extending moulding surface portion and a second upper web mould part for forming the second upwardly extending moulding surface portion. It is recognised that the upper mould part does not have to extend along the entire web body but that the upper web mould parts only form the upwardly extending moulding surface portions,
There is further provided a method of manufacturing at least a part of a wind turbine blade comprising manufacturing at least one wind turbine blade component in the form of an I-web as described above, and joining said at least one wind turbine blade component to a second component to form at least a part of a wind turbine blade.
There is further provided a wind turbine blade component in the form of an I-web manufactured according to the above-described method.
There is further provided a wind turbine blade comprising a wind turbine blade component as described above.
There is further provided a wind turbine comprising at least one wind turbine blade as described above.
According to a second aspect, the invention also provides a method of manufacturing a wind turbine blade component in the form of an I-web, the method comprising the steps of:
This method has the advantage that the C-web may be manufactured in a relative simple web mould and that the additional flange may be retrofitted to the C-web in order to form the I-web. This simplifies the manufacturing procedure compared to the state of the art methods and mould systems for manufacturing I-webs.
Preferably, the method further comprises the step of removing said first and second moulding plates from said I-web after said step of attaching.
Preferably, at least one of said steps of arranging first and second additional flanges comprises laying up a fibre material, e.g. glass fibre or carbon fibre sheets, such that said fibre material overlaps at least one of said first and second moulding surfaces and at least a portion of said second side of said web body. Thus, the fibre material will overlap a part of the web body, which may facilitate a large bonding surface to the C-web.
Preferably, said fibre material comprises layers of dry fibre material. In an additional or alternative aspect, said fibre material may comprise pre-pregs. Thus, it is seen that the additional flanges may be manufactured via dry fibre material, which is later wetted in for instance a RTM or VARTM method. This method may also be combined with the use of pre-pregs, or the additional flange may be manufactured by use of pre-pregs only.
In one embodiment, the method comprises the step of providing at least one pre-formed flange member, and attaching said pre-formed flange member to said c-web. This may simplify the method even further, since the additional flange may be premanufactured or pre-formed.
Preferably, said step of attaching said first and second additional flanges comprises infusing a fibre material with a resin, and curing said resin. Thus, it is seen that the additional flanges may be moulded onto or laminated onto for instance the web body of the C-web. Additionally or alternatively, said step of attaching may comprise applying an adhesive bond between at least one of said first and second additional flanges and said web body. Additionally or alternatively, said step of attaching may comprise a mechanical fastening, e.g. bolting, riveting. Accordingly, it is seen that the additional flanges may be attached to the C-web by either an adhesive or mechanical bonding, or by a combination thereof.
Preferably, said steps of arranging said first and second moulding plates comprise releasably attaching at least one moulding plate to at least one end of said c-web, preferably to at least one of said first and second flanges.
Preferably, said step of releasably attaching comprises clamping said at least one moulding plate to said at least one flange.
Preferably, at least one of said steps of arranging first and second moulding plates comprises orientating said at least one first and second moulding plate to provide for a desired angle of said at least one first and second moulding surface relative to said web body. The plates are preferably designed so that they are relatively stiff in the transverse direction and provides a flat surface for the web flange, but relatively flexible in the longitudinal direction so that the angle of the web flange may be varied along the span of the wind turbine blade.
Preferably, said step of providing a C-web comprises forming a C-web using a C-web mould, removing said C-web from said mould, and supporting C-web on said first side of said C-web.
There is further provided a method of manufacture of at least a part of a wind turbine blade comprising manufacturing at least one wind turbine blade component in the form of an I-web as described above, and joining said at least one wind turbine blade component to a second component to form at least a part of a wind turbine blade.
There is further provided a wind turbine blade component in the form of an I-web manufactured according to the above-described method.
There is further provided a wind turbine blade comprising a wind turbine blade component as described above.
There is further provided a wind turbine comprising at least one wind turbine blade as described above.
According to yet another aspect, the invention provides a wind turbine blade component in form of an I-shaped shear web, the shear web having a web body and a first web foot flange at a first end of the web body and a second web foot flange at a second end of the web body, characterised in that the first web foot flange and the second web foot flange have a corrugated attachment surface.
The corrugated attachment surface may for instance have indentations near a first side part and a second side part of the web body. The indentations may be substantially triangular shaped or have a more rounded or wavy shape. It is contemplated that this design provides a more flexible solution that may more easily be adhered to the inner surface of a shell part of the wind turbine blade.
The corrugated design may be made via a particular layup procedure and/or by providing an outer mould plate that shapes the corrugated surface.
The invention is explained in detail below with reference to an embodiment shown in the drawings, in which
The airfoil region 34 (also called the profiled region) has an ideal or almost ideal blade shape with respect to generating lift, whereas the root region 30 due to structural considerations has a substantially circular or elliptical cross-section, which for instance makes it easier and safer to mount the blade 10 to the hub. The diameter (or the chord) of the root region 30 may be constant along the entire root area 30. The transition region 32 has a transitional profile gradually changing from the circular or elliptical shape of the root region 30 to the airfoil profile of the airfoil region 34. The chord length of the transition region 32 typically increases with increasing distance r from the hub. The airfoil region 34 has an airfoil profile with a chord extending between the leading edge 18 and the trailing edge 20 of the blade 10. The width of the chord decreases with increasing distance r from the hub.
A shoulder 40 of the blade 10 is defined as the position, where the blade 10 has its largest chord length. The shoulder 40 is typically provided at the boundary between the transition region 32 and the airfoil region 34.
It should be noted that the chords of different sections of the blade normally do not lie in a common plane, since the blade may be twisted and/or curved (i.e. pre-bent), thus providing the chord plane with a correspondingly twisted and/or curved course, this being most often the case in order to compensate for the local velocity of the blade being dependent on the radius from the hub.
The blade is typically made from a pressure side shell part 36 and a suction side shell part 38 that are glued to each other along bond lines at the leading edge 18 and the trailing edge of the blade 20.
The spar cap 41 of the pressure side shell part 36 and the spar cap 45 of the suction side shell part 38 are connected via a first shear web 50 and a second shear web 55. The shear webs 50, 55 are in the shown embodiment shaped as substantially I-shaped webs. The first shear web 50 comprises a shear web body and two web foot flanges. The shear web body comprises a sandwich core material 51, such as balsawood or foamed polymer, covered by a number of skin layers 52 made of a number of fibre layers. The second shear web 55 has a similar design with a shear web body and two web foot flanges, the shear web body comprising a sandwich core material 56 covered by a number of skin layers 57 made of a number of fibre layers. The sandwich core material 51, 56 of the two shear webs 50, 55 may be chamfered near the flanges in order to transfer loads from the webs 50, 55 to the main laminates 41, 45 without the risk of failure and fractures in the joints between the shear web body and web foot flange. However, such a design will normally lead to resin rich areas in the joint areas between the legs and the flanges. Further, such resin rich area may comprise burned resin due to high exothermic peeks during the curing process of the resin, which in turn may lead to mechanical weak points.
In order to compensate for this, a number of filler ropes 60 comprising glass fibres are normally arranged at these joint areas. Further, such ropes 60 will also facilitate transferring loads from the skin layers of the shear web body to the flanges. However, according to the invention, alternative constructional designs are possible.
The blade shells 36, 38 may comprise further fibre-reinforcement at the leading edge and the trailing edge. Typically, the shell parts 36, 38 are bonded to each other via glue flanges in which additional filler ropes may be used (not shown). Additionally, very long blades may comprise sectional parts with additional spar caps, which are connected via one or more additional shear webs.
First an elongated lower web mould part 100 is provided as shown in
In a next step, a number of first fibre layers 110 are arranged on top of the elongated lower web mould part 100 and cover the first downwardly extending moulding surface portion 104, the central portion 102, and the second downwardly extending moulding surface portion 106. The first fibre layers 110 form part of an outer skin of the finished shear web. Due to the design of the lower web mould part 100, the first fibre layers 110 may simply be draped over the concave moulding surface of the web part and do not need to be folded around side flanges. The first fibre layers 110 will simply comply with the moulding surface of the lower mould. Further, the need for removable inserts as disclosed in WO 2013/037466 A1 and WO 2014/095870 at the sides of the moulds is eliminated.
In a subsequent step, ends of the first fibre layers 110 are cut by use of a cutter, which is moved along the lower edges of the side parts, which is illustrated in
In following steps, shown in
Then a number of second fibre layers 130 are arranged on top of the core material 115 so that sides of the second fibre layers 130 are draped against the ends of the first fibre layers 110.
In a next step, shown in
The central portion 162 of the upper shear web part 160 preferably has a width equal to or slightly less than the width of the central portion 102 of the lower shear web part 100. Further, the two shear web parts 100, 160 are preferably arranged so that the downwardly extending moulding surface portions 104, 106 are aligned with the upwardly extending moulding surface portions 164, 166, respectively.
In a subsequent step, shown in
Further, a first additional insert 124 may be arranged at the first side end of the lower web part 100 and at a second side of the core material 115. The first additional insert 124 may have a shape so as to provide a gradual transition from the web body to a first web foot flange. Similarly, a second additional insert 126 may be arranged at the second side end of the lower web part 100 and at the second side of the core material 115. The second additional insert 126 may have a shape so as to provide a gradual transition from the web body to a second web foot flange.
Additionally, a number of additional first fibre layers 132 may be provided for the first web foot flange, and a number of additional second fibre layers 134 may be provided for the second web foot flange.
In a following step, shown in
In a next step, not shown, a vacuum source is connected to the mould cavity, and the mould cavity is evacuated by use of the vacuum source. The mould cavity is further connected to a resin source, and liquid resin is injected into the mould cavity so as to wet the fibre material and the core material. Thus, it is seen that the shear web is preferably manufactured via a Vacuum Assisted Resin Transfer Moulding (VARTM) process. The resin is preferably injected into the mould cavity, e.g. by drawing the resin in via the vacuum or under-pressure. However, it is in principle also possible to use prepreg material for the first fibre layers and/or the second fibre layers, in which case the resin can be supplied together with the fibre layers, it is also possible to apply a combination of the two approaches, i.e. the use of prepreg material and additional resin injected into the mould cavity.
In a following step, shown in
In a final step, shown in
Similarly, the upper web mould part may also be made as a solid part. One embodiment, utilising such solid parts is shown in
It is not shown in
It is also recognised that the inserts arranged at the ends of the shear web body may be designed in a number of ways.
In
In a first step shown in
In a second step, shown in
In a third step, shown in
In a fourth step, shown in
In a fifth step, shown in
Then, in a sixth step, shown in
In a seventh step, shown in
In an eighth step, shown in
In a later step, not shown, a vacuum bag may be arranged on top of the mould parts 700, 760 and the material making up the shear web in order to form a mould cavity, into which a resin is injected and finally hardened or cured in order to form the final shear web.
In an alternative embodiment, the fibre material making up the web foot flange may be supplied as a single fibre reinforcement package as shown in
As shown in
Further, as shown in
According to a second aspect, the invention also provides a method of forming an I-shaped shear web (or I-web) from a C-shaped shear web (or C-web). Such a method is illustrated in
In a first step, a C-web 640 is formed by providing a mould having a flat central part for forming a web body 650 of the C-web and diverging side parts for forming a first flange 616 and a second flange 617 of the C-web 640, respectively. A number of first fibre layers 642 forming a first outer skin, a core material 644 forming part of the web body 650, and a number of second fibre layers 646 forming a second outer skin are arranged in the mould. The C-web 640 may for instance be formed by arranging a vacuum bag (not shown) on top of the fibre material and core material and sealing the vacuum bag against the mould in order to form a mould cavity. The mould cavity may be evacuated by a vacuum pump after which resin may be injected into the mould cavity. Finally, the resin is hardened or cured in order to form the C-web 640. As seen from the figure, the first flange 616 extends from a first end of the web body 650 of a first side of the web body 650, and the second flange 617 extends from a second end of the web body 650 of the first side of the web body 650. The first flange 616 and the second flange may further be reinforced by a first stiffener 626 and a second stiffener 627, respectively, the stiffeners 626, 627 extending between parts of the flanges 616, 617 and a part of the web body 640.
After, the C-web 640 has hardened or cured, the C-web is removed from the mould.
In a subsequent step shown in
The first moulding plate 660 may be arranged by clamping the first moulding plate by use of a clamp 680 to the first flange 616 of the C-web 640. Similarly, the second moulding plate 662 may be arranged by clamping the second moulding plate 662 by use of a clamp 685 to the second flange 617 of the C-web 640.
The first additional flange 670 and the second additional flange 675 may now be attached to the web body 650 of the C-web 640 in a number of ways. The additional flanges 670, 675 may for instance be glued or otherwise adhered to the second side of the web body 650. The additional flanges 670, 675 may also be mechanically fastened, e.g. by bolting or riveting, to the web body 650 of the C-web. Yet again, the additional flanges may be attached to the C-web by forming one or two mould cavities by sealing a vacuum bag against e.g. the first moulding plate 660 and the second moulding plate 662 after which reinforcement material may be wetted by resin and cured in order to form the finished I-web.
Similarly to the previously described embodiments, a number of inserts may be arranged at the ends of the web body in order to more easily obtain a gradual transition from the web body to the flange.
A number of first fibre layers 1010 are arranged on the lower web mould part, and a core material 1015, such as balsawood or foamed polymer, is arranged on top of the first fibre layers 1010. Then a number of second fibre layers 1030 are arranged on top of the core material 1015.
The upper web mould part may also be modular and comprises a first upper web mould part 1060′ for forming the first upwardly extending moulding surface portion. It is recognised that the upper mould part does not have to extend along the entire web body but that the upper web mould parts only form the upwardly extending moulding surface portions. The second fibre layers 1030 are wrapped up against the upwardly extending moulding surface portion.
A number of additional first fibre layers 1032 may be provided for the first web foot flange in order to provide an outer attachment surface. As shown in
A peel ply 1094 may be arranged on top of the fibre material and a vacuum outlet 1090, e.g. a vacuum spiral, may be arranged on top of the peel ply 1094 and below a vacuum bag 1080, which may be sealed against the lower web mould part 1000 via tacky tape 1092 or similar.
It is recognised that a second upper web mould part may be used for forming the second upwardly extending moulding surface portion.
Overall, the various mould inserts and parts may be formed by a foamed polymer, and the inserts and parts may be cut to a particular shape, whereby the mould system may easily be changed for different shear web types and blade types. It is recognised that the inserts or parts may also be made of other suitable materials.
As shown in
In a first embodiment shown in
In a second embodiment shown in
The corrugated surface may as shown in
The reinforcement fibre material described for the various embodiments is preferably glass fibres. However, it could also be other suitable fibre reinforcement material, such as carbon fibres.
While the various embodiments have been shown for shear webs having a rounded transition from the web body to the web foot flange, it is also recognized that an angled configuration between the two parts may be utilised instead.
The invention has been described with reference to advantageous embodiments. However, the scope of the invention is not limited to the illustrated embodiments, and alterations and modifications can be carried out without deviating from the scope of the invention, which is defined by the claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 14191152.9 | Oct 2014 | EP | regional |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/EP2015/075288 | 10/30/2015 | WO | 00 |
