US 11,780,183 B2
Method for manufacturing a structural component of a blade segment for a rotor blade of a wind turbine
Scott Jacob Huth, Greenville, SC (US); Xu Chen, Simpsonville, SC (US); Louis Rondeau, Greenville, SC (US); Andrew Mitchell Rodwell, Greenville, SC (US); and Scott Iverson Shillig, Greenville, SC (US)
Assigned to General Electric Company, Schenectady, NY (US)
Appl. No. 17/312,778
Filed by General Electric Company, Schenectady, NY (US)
PCT Filed Dec. 11, 2018, PCT No. PCT/US2018/064836
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Jun. 10, 2021,
PCT Pub. No. WO2020/122865, PCT Pub. Date Jun. 18, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2022/0063216 A1, Mar. 3, 2022
Int. Cl. B29C 70/48 (2006.01); B29C 70/44 (2006.01); B29C 70/84 (2006.01); F03D 1/06 (2006.01); B29L 31/08 (2006.01)
CPC B29C 70/48 (2013.01) [B29C 70/446 (2013.01); B29C 70/84 (2013.01); F03D 1/0675 (2013.01); B29L 2031/085 (2013.01); F05B 2230/50 (2013.01); F05B 2240/302 (2013.01); F05B 2280/6013 (2013.01); F05B 2280/6015 (2013.01)] 18 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method for manufacturing a structural component of a blade segment for a segmented rotor blade of a wind turbine, the method comprising:
providing a mold of the structural component, the mold having an outer wall that defines an outer surface of the structural component;
securing at least one tooling pin to the outer wall for defining a pin joint slot in the structural component;
laying up one or more outer fiber layers in the mold so as to at least partially cover the outer wall, the one or more outer fiber layers having at least one hole that receives the at least one tooling pin, the one or more outer fiber layers forming the outer surface of the structural component;
placing one or more structural features atop the one or more outer fiber layers in the mold; and,
infusing the one or more outer fiber layers and the one or more structural features together via a resin material so as to form the structural component,
wherein placing the one or more structural features atop the one or more outer fiber layers in the mold further comprises placing one or more shear webs atop the one or more outer fiber layers, the one or more shear webs comprising a web hole that receives the at least one tooling pin.