General Electric Company
Wind turbine rotor blade root insert with integrated flange member

Abstract:

A rotor blade assembly for a wind turbine includes a pressure side and a suction side extending between a leading edge and a trailing edge. A generally cylindrical blade root section has a flush root end configured to attach the rotor blade assembly to a hub. A plurality of span-wise extending root inserts are disposed around and molded into the cylindrical blade root section, with each root insert having an end face and defining an internally threaded bore configured for receipt of a bolt member for attaching the rotor blade assembly to the hub. A metallic flange is disposed at an end of one of the root inserts. The metallic flange is flush with the end faces of adjacent root inserts such that the metallic flange and end faces of the root inserts lie in a common flush plane of the root end.