Wind turbine blade and method for manufacturing a wind turbine blade with vortex generators
원문보기
IPC분류정보
국가/구분
United States(US) Patent
등록
국제특허분류(IPC7판)
B23P-015/04
B41B-011/52
F03D-001/06
출원번호
US-0313609
(2011-12-07)
등록번호
US-9039381
(2015-05-26)
우선권정보
DK-2010 70584 (2010-12-23)
발명자
/ 주소
Grife, Ronald
Westergaard, Carsten Hein
Bryant, Joshua
Chao, David
Mittendorf, Kim
Choi, Jou-Young
Arrington, Abigail
출원인 / 주소
Vestas Wind Systems A/S
대리인 / 주소
Wood, Herron & Evans, LLP
인용정보
피인용 횟수 :
2인용 특허 :
10
초록▼
A wind turbine for generating electrical energy may include a wind turbine blade including a plurality of vortex generators integrally formed in the outer surface of the blade. The vortex generator includes a first component that defines a portion of the outer surface of the blade and a second compo
A wind turbine for generating electrical energy may include a wind turbine blade including a plurality of vortex generators integrally formed in the outer surface of the blade. The vortex generator includes a first component that defines a portion of the outer surface of the blade and a second component defining the shape of the vortex generator and at least partially surrounded by the first component. A method of manufacturing the wind turbine blade includes disposing a first plurality of layers of structural material over a mold main body and a removable insert member with a shaped cavity. A shaped plug is then pressed into the shaped cavity, and a second plurality of layers of structural material is disposed over the plug and the mold main body to complete manufacture of a wind turbine blade with a vortex generator.
대표청구항▼
1. A wind turbine blade, comprising: at least two outer shells defining partial portions of the wind turbine blade, wherein at least one of the outer shells includes an outer surface defined substantially in its entirety by a layer of structural material; anda plurality of vortex generators integral
1. A wind turbine blade, comprising: at least two outer shells defining partial portions of the wind turbine blade, wherein at least one of the outer shells includes an outer surface defined substantially in its entirety by a layer of structural material; anda plurality of vortex generators integrally formed in the at least one of the outer shells along the outer surface, each vortex generator including an outer first component defined by a portion of the layer of structural material and an inner second component defining the shape of the vortex generator and at least partially surrounded by the outer first component. 2. The wind turbine blade of claim 1, wherein the outer first component of each vortex generator is composed of a first material, and the inner second component of each vortex generator is composed of a second material different than the first material. 3. The wind turbine blade of claim 2, wherein the first material includes a fiber-reinforced plastic, and the second material includes a plastic material. 4. The wind turbine blade of claim 1, wherein the inner second component of the plurality of vortex generators defines a triangular prism shape including an upstream surface facing towards a leading edge of the wind turbine blade and a downstream surface facing towards a trailing edge of the wind turbine blade generally angled from the upstream surface. 5. The wind turbine blade of claim 4, wherein the triangular prism shape of each of the plurality of vortex generators defines a triangular cross section transverse to a length of each of the plurality of vortex generators, the length extending between tapered upstream and downstream ends such that the triangular cross section is largest at a center of the triangular prism shape and tapered to be smaller at the upstream and downstream ends. 6. The wind turbine blade of claim 4, wherein the wind turbine blade defines a chord length adjacent each of the plurality of vortex generators, and wherein each of the plurality of vortex generators defines a triangular cross section at a center of the triangular prism shape which defines a height extending above the outer surface of the wind turbine blade that ranges from 0.5% to 1% of the chord length adjacent that vortex generator and which defines a width extending between the upstream and downstream surfaces that ranges from 0.5% to 1% of the chord length adjacent that vortex generator, with the ratio of the height to the width being greater than or equal to 1. 7. A wind turbine comprising: a tower;a nacelle disposed adjacent a top of the tower; anda rotor including a hub and a plurality of wind turbine blades according to claim 1 and extending from the hub. 8. A method of manufacturing a wind turbine blade having at least one vortex generator, the method comprising: inserting a first removable insert member with a first vortex generator cavity into a recessed cavity of a mold main body;disposing a first layer of structural material over the mold main body and the first removable insert member, the first layer of structural material configured to define substantially an entirety of an outer surface of an outer shell which defines a partial portion of the wind turbine blade;pushing a shaped plug into the first vortex generator cavity of the first removable insert member to push the first layer of structural material into the first vortex generator cavity;disposing a second layer of structural material over the mold main body, the first removable insert member, and the shaped plug to form the outer shell of the wind turbine blade with an integral vortex generator, with the vortex generator including an outer first component defined by a portion of the first layer of structural material and an inner second component defined by the shaped plug which defines the shape of the vortex generator while being at least partially surrounded by the outer first component;demolding the outer shell of the wind turbine blade and the integral vortex generator from the mold main body and the first removable insert; andcoupling the outer shell to one or more outer shells to assemble the wind turbine blade. 9. The method of claim 8, wherein demolding the wind turbine blade and the integral vortex generator further includes demolding the wind turbine blade and the integral vortex generator simultaneously. 10. The method of claim 8, wherein demolding the wind turbine blade and the integral vortex generator further includes: demolding the wind turbine blade from the mold main body while the first removable insert member remains coupled to the integral vortex generator; anddemolding the integral vortex generator from the first removable insert member after the wind turbine blade has been demolded from the mold main body. 11. The method of claim 10, wherein demolding the integral vortex generator from the first removable insert member includes manually peeling the first removable insert member gradually from the integral vortex generator. 12. The method of claim 8, wherein demolding the wind turbine blade and the integral vortex generator further includes: demolding the integral vortex generator from the first removable insert member while the wind turbine blade remains coupled to the mold main body; anddemolding the wind turbine blade from the mold main body after the integral vortex generator has been demolded from the first removable insert member. 13. The method of claim 8, further comprising: replacing the first removable insert member in the recessed cavity of the mold main body with a second removable insert member with a second vortex generator cavity having a different shape than the first vortex generator cavity such that the second removable insert member forms a second vortex generator on the wind turbine blade having a different shape. 14. The method of claim 8, further comprising: replacing the first removable insert member in the recessed cavity of the mold main body with a third removable insert member having no vortex generator cavity such that the mold main body and the third removable insert member form a wind turbine blade including no integral vortex generators. 15. The method of claim 8, further comprising: applying a coat of binder to the first vortex generator cavity of the first removable insert prior to disposing the first layer of structural material over the mold main body and the first removable insert member. 16. A wind turbine including a plurality of wind turbine blades including at least one integral vortex generator, wherein each of the wind turbine blades is formed by the process comprising: inserting a first removable insert member with a first vortex generator cavity into a recessed cavity of a mold main body;disposing a first layer of structural material over the mold main body and the first removable insert member, the first layer of structural material configured to define substantially an entirety of an outer surface of an outer shell which defines a partial portion of the wind turbine blade;pushing a shaped plug into the first vortex generator cavity of the first removable insert member to push the first layer of structural material into the first vortex generator cavity;disposing a second layer of structural material over the mold main body, the first removable insert member, and the shaped plug to form the outer shell of the wind turbine blade with an integral vortex generator, with the vortex generator including an outer first component defined by a portion of the first layer of structural material and an inner second component defined by the shaped plug which defines the shape of the vortex generator while being at least partially surrounded by the outer first component;demolding the outer shell of the wind turbine blade and the integral vortex generator from the mold main body and the first removable insert; andcoupling the outer shell to one or more outer shells to assemble the wind turbine blade. 17. The wind turbine of claim 16, wherein each of the wind turbine blades includes a first plurality of integral vortex generators disposed in a first spanwise row and a second plurality of integral vortex generators disposed in a second spanwise row. 18. The wind turbine of claim 17, wherein the first plurality of integral vortex generators include pairs of vortex generators spaced from one another and angled to define a V-shaped vortex generator formation with an apex of the V-shaped vortex generator V shape directed in an upstream direction. 19. The wind turbine of claim 18, wherein each of the first plurality of integral vortex generators defines a triangular prism shape including an upstream surface facing towards a leading edge of the wind turbine blade and a downstream surface facing towards a trailing edge of the wind turbine blade and generally angled from the upstream surface. 20. The wind turbine of claim 19, wherein the triangular prism shape of each of the first plurality of integral vortex generators defines a triangular cross section transverse to a length of each of the first plurality of integral vortex generators, the length extending between tapered upstream and downstream ends such that the triangular cross section is largest at a center of the triangular prism shape and tapered to be smaller at the upstream and downstream ends. 21. The wind turbine of claim 19, wherein the wind turbine blade defines a chord length adjacent each of the first plurality of integral vortex generators, and wherein each of the first plurality of integral vortex generators defines a triangular cross section at a center of the triangular prism shape which defines a height extending above the outer surface of the wind turbine blade that ranges from 0.5% to 1% of the chord length adjacent that integral vortex generator and which defines a width extending between the upstream and downstream surfaces that ranges from 0.5% to 1% of the chord length adjacent that integral vortex generator, with the ratio of the height to the width being greater than or equal to 1.
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