Damping element for a wind turbine rotor blade

1. A rotor blade comprising:

a pressure side;

a suction side;

a first shear web connecting the pressure side to the suction side; and

at least one damping element comprising a laminate material comprising:

at least one viscoelastic layer attached to the first shear web and in direct contact with the pressure side and the suction side; and

a stiff layer disposed on the at least one viscoelastic layer,

wherein there are a first gap between the stiff layer and the pressure side, and a second gap between the stiff layer and the suction side, and the at least one viscoelastic layer does not occupy the first gap and the second gap.

2. The rotor blade of claim 1 , wherein the first shear web comprises two surfaces which are opposite to each other, the at least one damping element comprising two damping elements attached to the two surfaces of the first shear web, respectively.

3. The rotor blade of claim 1 , further comprising a second shear web spaced apart from the first shear web and connecting the pressure side to the suction side, the at least one damping element comprising four damping elements, two of the four damping elements being attached to opposite surfaces of the first shear web, respectively, the remaining two of the four damping elements being attached to opposite surfaces of the second shear web, respectively.

4. The rotor blade of claim 1 , wherein the first shear web has a cavity defined in part by two surfaces facing each other, the at least one damping element comprising only one damping element disposed in the first cavity, the at least one viscoelastic layer comprising two viscoelastic layers sandwiching the stiff layer and attached to the two surfaces, respectively.

5. The rotor blade of claim 1 , further comprising a second shear web spaced apart from the first shear web and connecting the pressure side to the suction side, each of the first shear web and the second shear web having a cavity defined in part by two surfaces facing each other, the at least one damping elements comprising two damping elements disposed in the first cavity and the second cavity, respectively, the at least one viscoelastic layer of each of the two damping elements comprising two viscoelastic layers sandwiching the respective stiff layer and attached to the two surfaces, respectively.

6. The rotor blade of claim 1 , wherein the stiff layer comprises at least one of a metal and a carbon fiber reinforced plastic.

7. The rotor blade of claim 1 , further comprising a glue layer disposed between the at least one viscoelastic layer and the first shear web, the at least one viscoelastic layer having a first shear stiffness, the glue layer having a second shear stiffness higher than the first shear stiffness.

8. The rotor blade of claim 1 , wherein the at least one viscoelastic layer has a first shear stiffness which is at least one order of magnitude smaller than a shear stiffness of the first shear web.

9. The rotor blade of claim 8 , wherein the stiff layer having a shear stiffness which is of the same order as the shear stiffness of the first shear web.

10. A wind turbine comprising at least one rotor blade of claim 1 .