{
  "patent_number": "US 10400744",
  "country": "US",
  "title": "How Tiny Bumps on Wind Turbine Blades Reduce Noise",
  "original_title": "Wind turbine blade with noise reducing micro boundary layer energizers",
  "summary": "This patent describes how small, specially shaped bumps or grooves on a wind turbine blade's underside can reduce noise by controlling airflow and preventing turbulence.",
  "what_it_does": "This patent covers a wind turbine blade assembly that includes small features called \"micro boundary layer energizers\" on its pressure side. These energizers, which can be vanes, grooves, dents, or dimples (Claim 1), are placed in a specific \"outboard area\" of the blade, between 0% and 50% of the blade's length from the tip (Claim 1). Their job is to create small swirls of air, called \"longitudinal vortices,\" that mix the air near the blade's surface (Claim 1, Claim 2). This mixing helps the airflow stick to the blade longer, delaying \"separation of a boundary layer\" at low angles of attack (Claim 1). By doing this, the energizers reduce unwanted noise generated by the blade. For example, a wind turbine blade might have a series of 1-15mm high wedge-shaped bumps (Claim 6, Claim 10) positioned 20-55% of the way back from the leading edge (Claim 1) to smooth the airflow.",
  "what_it_does_not_cover": [
    "It does not cover micro boundary layer energizers placed on the suction side of the rotor blade.",
    "It does not cover energizers positioned in the inboard portion of the blade, only the outboard area between 0%-50% from the blade tip (Claim 1).",
    "It does not cover energizers placed downstream from the start of a \"separation bubble\" (Claim 1).",
    "It does not cover energizers that are not specifically shaped and positioned to delay boundary layer separation at a low angle of attack (Claim 1).",
    "It does not cover energizers with x/c ratios outside the 20-55% range (Claim 1)."
  ],
  "filed": "2016-04-28",
  "granted": "2019-09-03",
  "expires": "2036-04-28",
  "status": "active",
  "holder": "General Electric",
  "holder_url": "https://patentbrief.org/company/general-electric",
  "inventors": [
    {
      "name": "Kevin Kinzie",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/kevin-kinzie"
    },
    {
      "name": "Jonathan Luedke",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/jonathan-luedke"
    },
    {
      "name": "Stefan Herr",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/stefan-herr"
    },
    {
      "name": "Saskia Gerarda HONHOFF",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/saskia-gerarda-honhoff"
    },
    {
      "name": "Andreas HERRIG",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/andreas-herrig"
    }
  ],
  "times_cited": 5,
  "tags": [
    "energy",
    "mechanical",
    "aerospace"
  ],
  "abstract": "A wind turbine blade assembly includes a rotor blade having exterior surfaces defining a pressure side, a suction side, a leading edge and a trailing edge, each extending between a blade tip and a root. The rotor blade additionally defining a span and a chord. The blade assembly further includes a plurality of micro boundary layer energizers positioned on a surface of the pressure side of the rotor blade. The plurality of micro boundary layer energizers extending one of above or below a neutral plane of the rotor blade. The micro boundary layer energizers are shaped and positioned chordwise to delay separation of a boundary layer at a low angle of attack. A wind turbine including the blade assembly is additionally disclosed.",
  "url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/10400744/wind-turbine-blade-with-noise-reducing-micro-boundary-layer-energizers",
  "markdown_url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/10400744/wind-turbine-blade-with-noise-reducing-micro-boundary-layer-energizers/md",
  "google_patents_url": "https://patents.google.com/patent/US10400744",
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}