US 11,680,555 B2
Jointed wind turbine rotor blade having varying material combinations along its span for pin reinforcement
Thomas Merzhaeuser, Munich (DE); Aaron A. Yarbrough, Greenville, SC (US); Andrew Mitchell Rodwell, Greenville, SC (US); and Rishikesh Kumar, Bengaluru (IN)
Assigned to General Electric Company, Schenectady, NY (US)
Appl. No. 17/290,308
Filed by General Electric Company, Schenectady, NY (US)
PCT Filed Oct. 30, 2019, PCT No. PCT/US2019/058692
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Apr. 30, 2021,
PCT Pub. No. WO2020/092458, PCT Pub. Date May 7, 2020.
Claims priority of application No. 201841041237 (IN), filed on Oct. 31, 2018.
Prior Publication US 2021/0372366 A1, Dec. 2, 2021
Int. Cl. F03D 1/06 (2006.01)
CPC F03D 1/0675 (2013.01) [F05B 2230/604 (2013.01); F05B 2240/302 (2013.01); F05B 2260/30 (2013.01); F05B 2280/6003 (2013.01)] 15 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A rotor blade for a wind turbine, comprising:
a first blade segment and a second blade segment extending in opposite directions from a chord-wise joint, each of the first and second blade segments comprising at least one shell member defining an airfoil surface and an internal support structure, the internal support structure of the first blade segment comprising a beam structure extending lengthwise that structurally connects with the internal support structure of the second blade segment via a receiving section; and
one or more pin joints positioned on at least one of internal support structures of the first blade segment or the second blade segment,
wherein at least one of internal support structures of the first blade segment or the second blade segment comprises varying material combinations along a span of the rotor blade at locations of the one or more pin joints so as to reinforce the one or more pin joints,
wherein the varying material combinations further comprise one or more reinforcement members at the locations of the one or more pin joints, and wherein the one or more reinforcement members comprise a core material that is different than a core material from remaining portions of the internal support structures.