Parametric study on the effect of material properties, tool geometry, and tolerances on preform quality in wind turbine blade manufacturing

Increasing throughput in wind turbine blade production can be achieved by separately manufacturing pre-shaped binder-stabilised dry preforms, and subsequently placing them in the blade mould. To avoid manufacturing defects, a trade-off between the formability and the handleability of the preform is necessary. In this paper, an experimentally validated preform model is used to study how variations in material properties, tool geometry, and placement tolerances influence defect generation. The results from three studies are presented. In the first study, a preform is formed over a ramp transition with variations in geometry. The results from this study indicate that a short ramp promotes transverse shearing of the preform. In the second study, the material properties of the preform are varied. The results indicate that a high mode I cohesive law of the binder and a high bending stiffness of the fabric promote transverse shearing and remove wrinkles. In the last study, placement tolerances for a pre-shaped preform are studied. The results show that if the preform can shear between the preform edge and the tool edge, it can conform to the mould even with large placement offsets. Process engineers and blade designers can readily use these results to help reduce forming-induced wrinkles.