EP-4735237-A1 - METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING A WIND TURBINE BLADE OR WIND TURBINE BLADE SECTION AND GRINDING APPARATUS

EP4735237A1EP 4735237 A1EP4735237 A1EP 4735237A1EP-4735237-A1

Abstract

A method for manufacturing a wind turbine blade, comprising the steps a) Manufacturing a raw wind turbine blade (1) by lamination of one or multiple layers of fiber material, wherein the raw wind turbine blade (1) comprises at least one groove (2) running at least with a directional component along a spanwise direction (S); b) Filling the at least one groove (2) with a hardenable filler material (3) so that a filled groove (21) is provided; c) Providing a grinding apparatus (4) - comprising a tool head (41) with at least one grinding means (411, 415), - wherein the tool head (41) is moveable at least along the spanwise direction (S), - and wherein a shape of the tool head (41) is adaptable at least with respect to a plane running perpendicular to the spanwise direction (S); d) Placing the grinding means (411,415) of the tool head (41) on a section of the filled groove (21); e) Adapting the shape of the tool head (41) so that it corresponds with a shape of a cross-section of an airfoil geometry of the wind turbine blade at a given spanwise position; f) Moving the tool head (41) in the spanwise direction (S), thereby continuously grinding of filler material (3) with the grinding means (411,415). The method allows for an automation of currently manually executed grinding steps and thus both increases production speed and lowers costs for wind turbine blades.

Inventors

Andersen, Thomas Lund
Dircks, Stefan
HASSERIIS, Simon Rokohl
Hedegaard, Ulrich

Assignees

Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy A/S

Dates

Publication Date: 20260506
Application Date: 20240812

Claims (15)

1. Method for manufacturing a wind turbine blade or wind turbine blade section, comprising the steps a) Manufacturing a raw wind turbine blade (1) or raw wind turbine blade section by lamination of one or multiple layers of fiber material, wherein the raw wind turbine blade (1) or raw wind turbine blade section comprises at least one groove (2) running at least with a directional component along a spanwise direction (S) ; b) Filling the at least one groove (2) with a hardenable filler material (3) that is subsequently hardened so that at least one filled groove (21) is provided; c) Providing a grinding apparatus (4) - comprising a tool head (41) with at least one grinding means (411, 415) , - wherein the tool head (41) is moveable at least along the spanwise direction (S) , - and wherein a shape of the tool head (41) is adaptable at least with respect to a plane running perpendicular to the spanwise direction (S) ; d) Placing the grinding means (411,415) of the tool head (41) on a section of the filled groove (21) ; e) Adapting the shape of the tool head (41) so that it corresponds with a shape of a cross-section of an airfoil geometry of the wind turbine blade or wind turbine blade section at a given spanwise position; f) Moving the tool head (41) in the spanwise direction (S) , thereby continuously grinding the filler material (3) with the grinding means (411,415) .
2. Method according to claim 1, wherein the shape of the tool head (41) of the grinding apparatus (4) is continuously adapted in step f) as the tool head (41) is moved along the spanwise direction (S) to correspond with a local shape of a cross-section of the airfoil geometry of the wind turbine blade or wind turbine blade section.
3. Method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the tool head (41) of the grinding apparatus (4) is moveable in a height direction (H) with respect to an intended state of use of the grinding apparatus (4) and wherein step f) comprises continuously adjusting a height position (H) of the tool head (41) as the tool head (41) is moved along the spanwise direction (S) to correspond with a local height position of the filled groove (21) .
4. Method according to any of the claims 1 to 3, wherein the raw wind turbine blade (1) or raw wind turbine blade section is fixed by a fixture in a predefined height over the ground (G) so that the spanwise direction (S) runs essentially parallel to the ground (G) , wherein in particular a suction side (14) and/or pressure side (13) of the raw wind turbine blade (1) or raw wind turbine blade section are located sidewards .
5. Method according to claim 4, wherein steps d) to f) are executed at a pressure side (13) and/or a suction side (14) of the raw wind turbine blade (1) or raw wind turbine blade section and/or wherein the grinding apparatus (4) is located sideways adjacent to the raw wind turbine blade (1) or raw wind turbine blade section.
6. Method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the tool head (41) of the grinding apparatus (4) is rotatable at least along one axis, wherein the at least one axis in particular runs parallel to the spanwise direction (S) of the raw wind turbine blade (1) or raw wind turbine blade section, and wherein in particular step f) includes continuously adapting a rotational position of the tool head (41) as the tool head (41) is moved along the spanwise direction (S) to ensure the grinding means (411, 415) of the tool head (41) contacts the filled groove (21) at a given spanwise position at a predefined grinding angle.
7. Method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the tool head (41) of the grinding apparatus (4) comprises multiple actuators (413a-g) arranged spaced apart along a circumferential direction of the raw wind turbine blade (1) or raw wind turbine blade section, wherein the actuators (413a-g) are each adapted to locally apply a force on the grinding means (411,415) , and wherein the actuators (413a-g) are used in step d) and/or f) to adapt the shape of the tool head (41) .
8. Method according to claim 7, wherein the grinding apparatus (4) comprises at least one processing means adapted to at least individually control the actuators (413a-g) and/or the height position (H) of the tool head (41) .
9. Method according to claim 8, wherein the grinding apparatus (4) , in particular the tool head (41) of the grinding apparatus (4) , comprises - at least one optical projection means, in particular a dot and/or line projection means, adapted to project a dot or line of light (46) onto an outer surface of the raw wind turbine blade (1) or raw wind turbine blade section in at least one region laterally neighboring the filled groove (21) , - and at least one optical sensor adapted to detect said projected dot or line of light (46) on the surface of the raw wind turbine blade (1) or raw wind turbine blade section, - wherein said optical sensor is operably coupled to the processing means, wherein in step d) and/or f) data from the optical sensor is processed by the processing means to adapt the shape of the tool head (41) by individually controlling the multiple actuators (413a-g) to ensure that substantially only the filled groove (21) is grinded and/or to adjust a height position (H) of the tool head (41) .
10. Method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the grinding apparatus (4) , in particular the tool head (41) of the grinding apparatus (4) , comprises at least one camera and/or at least one distance sensor and/or at least one gloss meter, wherein the at least one camera and/or at least one distance sensor and/or at least one gloss meter are operably coupled to the processing means and wherein in step d) and/or f) data from the at least one camera and/or at least one distance sensor and/or at least one gloss meter is processed by the processing means to adapt the shape of the tool head (41) by individually controlling the multiple actuators (413a-g) to ensure that substantially only the filled groove (21) is grinded and/or to adjust a height position (H) of the tool head (41) .
11. Method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the grinding apparatus (4) comprises a processing means operably coupled with at least one data source, wherein the data source comprises data describing a three-dimensional shape of an outer surface of the wind turbine blade or wind turbine blade section, wherein in step f) the tool head (41) is moved along the spanwise direction (S) under continuous adaption of the height position (H) of the tool head (41) and/or under continuous adaption of the shape of the tool head (41) based on said data.
12. Grinding apparatus (4) for grinding a grinding area of a raw wind turbine blade (1) or raw wind turbine blade section, the grinding area having an extension along a spanwise direction (S) of the raw wind turbine blade (1) or raw wind turbine blade section and a convex or concave curved crosssection, in particular for use in a method according to any of the preceding claims, the grinding apparatus comprising: - a tool head (41) with at least one grinding means (411, 415) , - wherein the tool head (41) is moveable at least along the spanwise direction (S) of the raw wind turbine blade (1) or raw wind turbine blade section, - and wherein a shape of the tool head (41) is adaptable at least with respect to a plane running perpendicular to a spanwise direction (S) of the raw wind turbine blade (1) or raw wind turbine blade section.
13. Grinding apparatus (4) according to claim 12, - wherein the tool head (41) is mounted to an apparatus base (42) that is moveable on the ground (G) , wherein in particular the apparatus base (42) comprises a drive system and wheels (43) that allow movement of the apparatus base (42) in the spanwise direction (S) of the raw wind turbine blade (1) or raw wind turbine blade section or - wherein the tool head (41) is mounted at a crane or gantry system above the raw wind turbine blade (1) or raw wind turbine blade section in an intended state of use of the grinding apparatus (4) , wherein the crane or gantry system allows movement of the tool head (41) in the spanwise direction (S) of the raw wind turbine blade (1) or raw wind turbine blade section .
14. Grinding apparatus (4) according to claim 12 or 13, wherein the grinding means (411, 415) is rotatable around the spanwise direction (S) or chordwise direction (C) of the raw wind turbine blade (1) or raw wind turbine blade section in an intended state of use of the grinding apparatus (4) , wherein in particular the grinding means (411, 415) comprises at least one belt sander (411) or rotatable grinding head (415) .
15. Grinding apparatus (4) according to any of the claims 12 to 14, wherein the tool head (41) comprises at least one suction nozzle (416) connectable to a vacuum source for dust ex- traction from the grinding means (411, 415) .

Description

Description Method for manufacturing a wind turbine blade or wind turbine blade section and grinding apparatus The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a wind turbine blade or wind turbine blade section and to a grinding apparatus for grinding a grinding area of a raw wind turbine blade or raw wind turbine blade section , the grinding area having an extension along a spanwise direction of the raw wind turbine blade or raw wind turbine blade section and a convex or concave curved cros s-section . Wind turbine blade s , e specially for off shore use , with the evolvement of technology continuously increase in size . Regarding the main dimensions current blade s can reach a root diameter of approximately 4m, a blade length of well over 100m while typical chord lengths can reach up to 7m or even more . Although the dimensions are literally tremendous the production of wind turbine blades still includes many steps that require manual labor . A maj or portion of the manual labor is represented by grinding work at the outer surface of the blade . Typically, wind turbine blades are manufactured by lamination of multiple layers of fiber material in a mold having the shape of a negative impres sion of the outer blade geometry . One approach including a transversal fiber material layup i s the IntegralBlade® technology that i s des cribed in detail in EP 1 310 351 Al which plays an important role as it avoids glue j oints at the leading edge and/or trailing edge of the blade that are both di sadvantageous from an aerodynamic perspective and a mechanical stiffnes s perspective . Rather , the entire blade is produced a s a s ingle piece with continuous fiber plies at the leading and the trailing edge . A typical fiber material layup in a mold includes one or multiple air extraction means that are adapted to extract excess air from the mold before and/or during resin infusion of the fiber material layup. The air extraction means do not become part of the final blade structure but are an auxiliary production tool. Typical air extraction means include semi- permeable membranes, i.e. membranes that allow gases, in particular air, to pass and block the passage of liquids, in particular resin. The permeable membranes are connected to a vacuum source located externally of the mold so that excess air from the mold can be extracted therefrom. Sometimes such air extraction means are also referred to as "filters". The air extraction means are typically placed in the mold with an extension along a spanwise or longitudinal direction so that the raw wind turbine blade after removing it from the mold has grooves at its outer surface running along the spanwise or longitudinal direction at the positions where the air extraction means have been placed in the mold. These grooves have to be filled with a hardenable filler material to restore the intended airfoil geometry of the final wind turbine blade. After application and hardening of the filler material excess filler material, e.g. residual filler material protruding beyond the intended airfoil geometry and/or laterally outwardly from the groove, has to be ground off. This is currently done by manual labor which, depending on the concrete dimensions of the blade, may take over 60 man-hours which is unproductive and expensive. But manual grinding steps are not only disadvantageous from a productivity perspective. As the grinding is mainly done in an overhead position the execution of these manual labor steps means an enormous physical strain for the workers. Additionally, the particles generated by grinding mean a health risk. As most jurisdictions impose various limitations with regards to labor safety (e.g. ergonomics specifications, lifting weights for overhead work, air quality) on employers the retention of the manual labor steps implies a barrier for both the dimensions of the blades that can be produced and for any potential productivity gains . Additionally, as said grooves are typically located in either convex or concave curved cros s- sections of the blade , it is not easy for workers doing the manual grinding to maintain the intended airfoil geometry of the blade without compromi sing it . However , a near target shape of the airfoil geometry is of utmost importance as deviations therefrom can lead to performance los ses of the blade , e . g . in the form of increa sed drag and/or reduced lift . Therefore it is one obj ect of the present invention to provide a method for manufacturing a wind turbine blade or wind turbine blade section that eliminate s above technical disadvantages and allows for a further automation of the production and thus both increases production speed and lowers cost s . It i s a further obj ect of the present invention to provide a grinding apparatus for grinding a grinding area of a raw wind turbine blade or raw wind turbine blade section that allows for an automation of grinding steps that are currently executed as manual labo