Layup process for wind turbine blade manufacturing
The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a wind turbine rotor blade part comprising stacking a plurality of plies ( 70, 71, 72 ) to form a stack of plies ( 80 ) such that the stack of plies has at least one stepwise tapering edge ( 84, 85 ). A plurality of plastic fasteners ( 90 ) is used to interconnect the plies ( 70, 71, 72 ) by passing the plurality of plastic fasteners ( 90 ) through the stack of plies to form a stack of interconnected plies ( 82 ). The stacks of interconnected plies ( 82 a, 82 b, 82 c, 82 d ) are arranged within the blade mold, followed by resin infusion into the one or more stacks of interconnected plies within the blade mold, and curing and/or hardening the resin in order to form the blade part.
1 . A method of manufacturing a wind turbine rotor blade part, the method comprising:
stacking a plurality of plies to form a stack of plies such that the stack of plies has at least one stepwise tapering edge;
providing a plurality of plastic fasteners, each plastic fastener of the plurality of plastic fasteners comprising an elongated filament with a first enlargement at a first end of the elongated filament and a second enlargement at an opposing second end of the elongated filament;
interconnecting the plurality of plies of the stack of plies by passing the plurality of plastic fasteners through the stack of plies to form a stack of interconnected plies, wherein each of the plurality of plastic fasteners is passed through the stack of plies twice such that the first enlargement and the second enlargement are located at the same surface of the stack of plies;
providing a blade mold defining an outer shape of at least a portion of the wind turbine rotor blade part;
arranging the stack of interconnected plies within the blade mold;
infusing resin into the stack of interconnected plies within the blade mold; and
curing and/or hardening the resin to form the wind turbine rotor blade part.
2 . The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:
forming a plurality of stacks of interconnected plies, each of the plurality of stacks of interconnected plies having at least one stepwise tapering edge, wherein the stepwise tapering edges of the plurality of stacks of interconnected plies are complementary to each other; and
arranging the plurality of stacks of interconnected plies within the blade mold in mating engagement along their respective complementary tapering edges.
3 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the stack of plies has a longitudinal direction (Ls) and a width direction (Ws), and wherein the at least one tapering edge is provided in the width direction.
4 . The method according to claim 3 , wherein the stack of plies has a first tapering edge in the width direction and a second tapering edge longitudinal direction.
5 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein a height (h) of each ply in the stack of plies corresponds to a thickness of each ply.
6 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of plastic fasteners are I-shaped.
7 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein at least five (5) plastic fasteners up to 20 plastic fasteners of the plurality of plastic fasteners are applied per m 2 of a top surface of the stack of plies.
8 . The method according to claim 2 , wherein the plurality of stacks of interconnected plies successively rolled up onto a bobbin in a predefined order, and wherein the plurality of stacks of interconnected plies are successively unrolled from the bobbin, and arranged within the blade mold in a reverse order as compared to the predefined order.
9 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of plastic fasteners disintegrate after infusing the resin into the stack of interconnected plies.
10 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of plastic fasteners comprise a thermoplastic polymer.
11 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein passing the plurality of plastic fasteners through the stack of plies is carried out using a tagging gun.
12 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the stack of plies comprises from 5 plies to 20 plies, and wherein each of the plurality of plies in the stack of plies is constructed of a fibre material.
13 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of plies of the stack of plies comprises at least one of different lengths and different widths.
14 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein one or more of the plurality of plastic fasteners are spaced from an edge of a topmost ply of the plurality of plies by a distance of not more than 20 millimeters.
15 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of plastic fasteners are arranged along all edges of the stack of plies.
16 . A method of manufacturing a wind turbine rotor blade part, the method comprising:
stacking a plurality of plies to form a stack of plies such that the stack of plies has at least one stepwise tapering edge;
providing a plurality of plastic fasteners, each plastic fastener of the plurality of plastic fasteners comprising an elongated filament with a first enlargement at a first end of the elongated filament and a second enlargement at an opposing second end of the elongated filament;
interconnecting the plurality of plies of the stack of plies by passing the plurality of plastic fasteners through the stack of plies to form a stack of interconnected plies;
providing a blade mold defining an outer shape of at least a portion of the wind turbine rotor blade part;
arranging the stack of interconnected plies within the blade mold;
infusing resin into the stack of interconnected plies within the blade mold, wherein the plurality of plastic fasteners dissolve upon resin infusion into the stack of interconnected plies, and wherein the plurality of plastic fasteners comprise a thermoplastic polymer; and
curing and/or hardening the resin to form the wind turbine rotor blade part.