Methods of making wind turbine rotor blades

Patent · Tue Apr 01 00:00:00 EDT 2008

OSTI ID:1014548

Livingston, Jamie T ^[1]; Burke, Arthur H. E. ^[2]; Bakhuis, Jan Willem ^[3]; Van Breugel, Sjef ^[4]; Billen, Andrew ^[5]

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1. Pensacola, FL
2. Gulf Breeze, FL
3. Nijverdal, NL
4. Enschede, NL
5. Daarlerveen, NL

A method of manufacturing a root portion of a wind turbine blade includes, in an exemplary embodiment, providing an outer layer of reinforcing fibers including at least two woven mats of reinforcing fibers, providing an inner layer of reinforcing fibers including at least two woven mats of reinforcing fibers, and positioning at least two bands of reinforcing fibers between the inner and outer layers, with each band of reinforcing fibers including at least two woven mats of reinforcing fibers. The method further includes positioning a mat of randomly arranged reinforcing fibers between each pair of adjacent bands of reinforcing fibers, introducing a polymeric resin into the root potion of the wind turbine blade, infusing the resin through the outer layer, the inner layer, each band of reinforcing fibers, and each mat of random reinforcing fibers, and curing the resin to form the root portion of the wind turbine blade.

• Research Organization: General Electric Co., Schenectady, NY (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: AC36-99GO10337
• Assignee: General Electric Company (Schenectady, NY)
• Patent Number(s): 7,351,040
• Application Number: 11/328,625
• OSTI ID: 1014548
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English