Granted Patent B2

US 12,571,367 · App. 18/714,014 · Granted Mar 10, 2026

Inventors: Soeren Randrup Daugaard Henrichsen (Vodskov, DK); Jens Grandjean Joergensen (Aalborg, DK)

F03D1/0679F03D1/0675F03D1/0677F05B2240/302F05B2240/40F05B2250/292

Abstract

Claims (41)

1 . A wind turbine blade, comprising two planks joined with each other in a longitudinal direction of the two planks at joining surfaces by a butt joint, wherein:

each plank comprises a main portion with a wedge-shaped recess and a wedge-shaped portion filling the wedge-shaped recess;

each wedge-shaped portion has a respective one of the joining surfaces and is tapered from its joining surface in a direction away from its joining surface; and

a stiffness of a material of the wedge-shaped portions is smaller than a stiffness of a material of the main portion;

wherein the wedge-shaped portions are joined together with each other at the joining surfaces;

wherein the two planks are joined with each other by resin infusion.

2 . The wind turbine blade according to claim 1 , wherein each wedge-shaped portion has, as seen in cross section along the longitudinal direction, a shape of an isosceles triangle with its joining surface being a base of the isosceles triangle.

3 . The wind turbine blade according to claim 1 , wherein each wedge-shaped portion has, as seen in cross section along the longitudinal direction, a shape of a right-angled triangle with its joining surface being a cathetus of the right-angled triangle.

4 . The wind turbine blade according to claim 3 , wherein the wedge-shaped portion of a first one of the two planks and the wedge-shaped portion of a second one of the two planks are arranged symmetrically with respect to a symmetry axis being parallel to the joining surfaces.

5 . The wind turbine blade according to claim 3 , wherein the wedge-shaped portion of a first one of the two planks and the wedge-shaped portion of a second one of the two planks are arranged asymmetrically with respect to an axis being parallel to the joining surfaces.

6 . The wind turbine blade according to claim 1 ,

wherein the main portions of the planks comprise carbon fibers and/or glass fibers.

7 . The wind turbine blade according to claim 1 ,

wherein the wedge-shaped portions of the planks comprise a foam material or wood.

8 . The wind turbine blade according to claim 7 ,

wherein the foam material is selected from the group consisting of: a closed cell foam material, a polymeric foam, PET foam, PVC foam, and PUR foam, and the wood is balsa wood.

9 . The wind turbine blade according to claim 1 ,

wherein each wedge-shaped portion is tapered from its joining surface in a direction away from its joining surface with a ratio of 1:3 or smaller, 1:4 or smaller, 1:10 or smaller, or 1:100 or smaller.

10 . The wind turbine blade according to claim 1 , wherein:

the two joined planks comprise a first plank and a second plank, and

the wind turbine blade comprises a first spar section that includes multiples of the first plank arranged in a stack and a second spar section that includes multiples of the second plank arranged in a stack, the second spar section being joined to the first spar section by multiple butt joints between the multiple first planks and the multiple second planks.

11 . The wind turbine blade according to claim 10 , wherein the multiple butt joints of the multiple first and multiple second planks are arranged at staggered positions with respect to the longitudinal direction of the planks.

12 . A method for manufacturing a wind turbine blade, comprising:

providing two planks each comprising a main portion with a wedge-shaped recess and a wedge-shaped portion filling wedge-shaped recess, wherein each wedge-shaped portion has a joining surface and is tapered from its joining surface in a direction away from its joining surface, and a stiffness of a material of the wedge-shaped portions is smaller than a stiffness of a material of the main portions, and

joining the two planks with each other in a longitudinal direction of the planks at the joining surfaces by a butt joint, wherein the two planks comprise a fiber lay-up in a joining region and are joined with each other by infusing the fiber lay-up with resin and curing the resin.

13 . The method according to claim 12 , wherein the main portions of the planks comprise a fiber lay-up, and the main portion and the wedge-shaped portion of a respective plank are joined with each other by infusing the fiber lay-up with resin and curing the resin.

14 . The method according to claim 12 , wherein the two planks comprise a first plank and a second plank, and the method comprises

providing a first spar section that includes multiples of the first plank arranged in a stack,

providing a second spar section that includes multiples of the second plank arranged in a stack, and

joining the first spar section with the second spar section by joining the multiple first and multiple second planks with each other by the multiple butt joints.

15 . The method according to claim 14 , wherein in a single resin infusion and curing process:

the main portion and the wedge-shaped portion of a first one of the two planks or of each of the multiple first planks are joined with each other,

the main portion and the wedge-shaped portion of a second one of the two planks or of each of the multiple second planks are joined with each other, and/or

the first one and the second one of the two planks are joined with each other or the multiple first planks are joined with the multiple second planks.

16 . A wind turbine blade, comprising two planks joined with each other in a longitudinal direction of the two planks at joining surfaces by a butt joint, wherein:

each plank comprises a main portion with a wedge-shaped recess and a wedge-shaped portion filling the wedge-shaped recess;

each wedge-shaped portion has a respective one of the joining surfaces and is tapered from its joining surface in a direction away from its joining surface; and

a stiffness of a material of the wedge-shaped portions is smaller than a stiffness of a material of the main portion;

wherein:

each wedge-shaped portion has, as seen in cross section along the longitudinal direction, a shape of an isosceles triangle with its joining surface being a base of the isosceles triangle, or

each wedge-shaped portion has, as seen in cross section along the longitudinal direction, a shape of a right-angled triangle with its joining surface being a cathetus of the right-angled triangle.

Assignments (1)

Priority Claims (1)

Continuity (1)

References Cited (27)