Reducing Wear in Wind Turbine Blades Through Design Optimization

A blade made of layered composite material is better resistant to delamination and detachment failures when exposed to fluid flows, especially fluctuating loads. The blade has skins with overlapping layers that extend from body portions between the skins towards the trailing edge. The internal layers have body portions and skin portions that form the skin. This integral layer arrangement prevents delamination by providing overlapping connections between the skins. The idea is that adjacent layers of the composite material overlap rather than join at the spar, skins, or leading/trailing edges. This keeps the layers connected along the blade instead of having detached sections.

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Wind turbine blades with a protective cover that is more resistant against wear in the transition area between the protective cover and the blade surface. The protective cover is made of a polymer material, like polyurethane, and is attached along at least a part of a longitudinal edge of the blade. The cover has a U-shaped cross-section with a thicker central section and thinner peripheral sections. A layer of adhesive and an oblique joint between the cover and blade surface provides a smooth transition.

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A wind turbine blade tip assembly that protects the blade from lightning strikes. The assembly has a conductive blade tip that attracts lightning away from the blade and a coupler to connect it to a down conductor. An insulating layer encases the coupler to prevent lightning from striking internal blade components.

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A method of making wind turbine blades with integrated load-bearing reinforcing strips that address the challenges of handling long, heavy pultruded strips. The method involves using a specialized feed apparatus to dispense the coiled pultruded strips into the blade mold. The feed apparatus confines the coil to prevent uncoiling. This allows feeding the strip into the mold while it uncoils in place. By fixing the coil and feeding from the free end, the potential energy is released safely.

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Wind turbine blades with an improved lightning protection system that reduces erosion and wear at the blade tip. The blade has a replaceable conductive blade tip module that fits over and protects the tip of the main blade. The module overlaps the blade tip to shield the junction from weathering and electrical heating during lightning strikes. This reduces erosion and damage at the critical junction between the blade and the lightning receptor. The module can be replaced if worn or damaged, extending the life of the blade.

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Rotor for a wind turbine where the rotor blade has a longitudinal recess and transverse recess that share a common passage. This allows a longitudinal bolt to be inserted through a sleeve in the longitudinal recess and through the transverse recess to connect the blade to the hub. The sleeve helps align the bolt and prevents contact with the blade material.

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A pressure relief system for wind turbine blades to prevent cracking and faults in bulkhead seals. The system involves adding conduits through the blade near the bulkhead that equalize pressure on both sides. This prevents pressure differences from causing cracks and failures in the bulkhead seals. The conduits can have traps or filters to prevent the passage of liquids or debris.

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Temporary maintenance enclosures for wind turbine blades to enable efficient maintenance and repair. The enclosures have a platform that partially surrounds the blade, walls, and a roof that extends towards the blade. The enclosure seals onto the blade to create a protected volume for maintenance. The enclosures collapse for transport and then inflate on site.

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Automated inspection of surfaces like wind turbine blades using unmanned aircraft. The inspection involves using a camera-equipped drone that autonomously flies near the surface, like a rotor blade, while recording images. Continuous position sensing allows stitching the images into an overall surface view. This is then automatically inspected for defects. The drone can stay a fixed distance from the surface by measuring its position so that stitched images create a full view.

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Wind turbine blade design to prevent lightning damage to carbon fiber blades. The design provides potential equalization between the lightning protection system and carbon fiber layers. It uses a dissipating element with transverse connectors that penetrate through multiple fiber layers. This dissipates lightning strike energy evenly throughout the blade instead of concentrating it at the interface.

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Transport frames for wind turbine blades that are stackable, secure, and adjustable enough to allow longitudinal movement of the blade tip while preventing longitudinal movement of the root. The frames have a saddle to support the blade tip and a hinged clamp to secure the blade root. The clamp engages with studs protruding from the root face.

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Detecting blade deflection to assess wind turbine structural integrity without expensive instrumentation like strain gauges. A method using cameras mounted at the root of the turbine blades pointed towards the tips. The cameras capture video of the blades in operation. Analyzing the video frame by frame allows determining the tip deflection relative to the root. Changes in deflection over time can indicate structural damage.

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Surface mounted lightning receptor for wind turbine blades that reduces damage and improves lightning protection. The receptor uses current carriers around the mounting bolts that contact the blade. The carriers allow the majority of lightning current to pass through them rather than the bolts. The carriers are insulated from the bolts and have plugs to cover the bolt heads. This protects the bolts, prevents damage, and allows easier replacement.

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Method for detecting changes in a wind turbine blade, such as ice formation, using existing equipment. The method involves exciting blade oscillations using the turbine's own drive system, then monitoring the oscillation patterns for changes that indicate ice buildup or blade damage. The turbine's control system can be programmed to periodically excite blade oscillations and analyze the response to detect any changes over time. This allows low-cost sensors to be used, since the excitations generate large enough oscillations for detection.

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Ice-resistant paint for wind turbine blades that prevents ice formation while maintaining durability. It contains hydrophobic functional nanoparticles dispersed in a high-solid polyurethane paint. The nanoparticles are functionalized silica that resist ice buildup. The paint is made by mixing the nanoparticles with the paint components. Applying this ice-resistant paint to wind turbine blades helps prevent ice formation during cold weather without sacrificing the protective properties of the paint.

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A receptor assembly for a lightning protection system for a wind turbine blade that reduces the risk of damage to the receptor during lightning strikes. The assembly has conducting current carriers that surround the mounting bolts without electrical contact. This ensures the majority of the lightning current passes through the carriers instead of the bolts. The carriers have contact surfaces for electrical connection to the receptor bases. The bolts are concealed within cylinder-shaped carriers with plugs covering the bolt heads. This protects the bolts from lightning strikes while allowing easy replacement if damaged.

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