DK201671011A1

DK201671011A1 - Improvements relating to the manufacture of wind turbine blades

Info

Publication number: DK201671011A1
Application number: DKPA201671011A
Authority: DK
Inventors: Sean Keohan
Original assignee: Vestas Wind Sys As
Priority date: 2016-12-21
Filing date: 2016-12-21
Publication date: 2017-11-20

Abstract

A method of depositing a bead of adhesive accurately onto a surface of a wind turbine blade shell using an adhesive deposition tool is described. The method comprises defining an adhesive deposition path extending in a spanwise direction of the blade shell and attaching a physical guide to the surface of the blade shell adjacent to the adhesive deposition path. The physical guide extends parallel to the adhesive deposition path and is spaced apart from the adhesive deposition path by a predetermined distance in a chordwise direction of the blade shell. The adhesive deposition tool comprises an outlet for dispensing adhesive onto the surface of the blade shell and a contact surface for contacting the physical guide. The predetermined distance between the adhesive deposition path and the physical guide is selected such that the outlet of the tool is aligned with the adhesive deposition path when the contact surface is in contact with the physical guide. The method comprises moving the adhesive deposition tool in the spanwise direction whilst maintaining contact between the contact surface and the physical guide such that a bead of adhesive is dispensed through the outlet onto the adhesive deposition path.

Description

Improvements relating to the manufacture of wind turbine blades

Technical field

The present invention relates generally to the manufacture of wind turbine blades, and more specifically to a method and apparatus for depositing adhesive accurately on a blade shell.

Background

Wind turbine blades are typically formed from first and second half shells that are bonded together along their leading and trailing edges. One or more shear webs are usually arranged inside the blade and bonded between opposed inner surfaces of the half shells. The shear webs are longitudinally-extending structures and comprise upper and lower mounting flanges. The lower mounting flange is bonded to the inner surface of the first half shell and the upper mounting flange is bonded to the inner surface of the second half shell.

The process of bonding the shear webs to the half shells typically involves depositing a bead of adhesive along the inner surface of the first half shell. The shear web is then lifted into the first half shell and its lower mounting flange is arranged on top of the bead of adhesive. A further bead of adhesive may be applied to the upper mounting flange of the shear web. Adhesive is also applied along the leading and trailing edges of the first half shell. The second half shell is then lifted and positioned on top of the first half shell. The weight of the second half shell bears down on the shear web and compresses the adhesive between the mounting flanges and the inner surfaces of the half shells.

Accurate placement of adhesive in the above method is important for creating high-quality bond lines between shear webs and the blade shells. However, it can be challenging to deposit the adhesive with sufficiently high precision in the required location. If the adhesive is misplaced even by a small amount then this may result in parts of the bond line between the blade shell and shear web being sub-optimal.

Against this background, the present invention aims to provide a method and apparatus for depositing adhesive accurately in a required position.

Summary of the invention

According to an aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of depositing a bead of adhesive onto a surface of a wind turbine blade shell. The method comprises: defining an adhesive deposition path extending in a spanwise direction of the blade shell; attaching a physical guide to the surface of the blade shell adjacent to the adhesive deposition path, the physical guide extending parallel to the adhesive deposition path and being spaced apart from the adhesive deposition path by a predetermined distance in a chordwise direction of the blade shell; providing an adhesive deposition tool comprising an outlet for dispensing adhesive onto the surface of the blade shell, the adhesive deposition tool further comprising a contact surface for contacting the physical guide; selecting the predetermined distance between the adhesive deposition path and the physical guide such that the outlet of the tool is aligned with the adhesive deposition path when the contact surface is in contact with the physical guide; supplying adhesive to the adhesive deposition tool; and moving the adhesive deposition tool in the spanwise direction whilst maintaining contact between the contact surface and the physical guide such that a bead of adhesive is dispensed through the outlet onto the adhesive deposition path.

The physical guide serves to guide the adhesive deposition tool accurately along the correct adhesive deposition path. This ensures that adhesive is deposited accurately along the adhesive deposition path, and reduces the possibility of adhesive being misplaced. Consequently, more accurate bond lines with fewer defects can be achieved. The use of a physical guide effectively de-skills the adhesive deposition process, allowing the process to be performed more quickly whilst reducing the possibility of mistakes occurring.

The physical guide may serve to guide the adhesive deposition tool in a straight line such that a bead of adhesive is dispensed in a straight line. To this end, at least part of the physical guide may extend in a straight line in the spanwise direction of the blade shell. Shear webs are commonly straight structures and require a straight line of adhesive in the bond line. The present invention therefore allows a bead of adhesive to be deposited accurately in a straight line.

In some cases a curved line of adhesive may be required, for example to form the bond line for a curved shear web such as a shear web for a swept blade. In such cases, at least part of the physical guide may be curved, e.g. curved in a chordal plane of the blade shell, in order to guide the adhesive deposition tool along a curved path.

Accordingly, the adhesive deposition path may be a straight path or a curved path.

The adhesive deposition path may be physically marked or otherwise visually indicated on the surface of the blade shell. In preferred embodiments the adhesive deposition path may be projected on the blade surface, e.g. by means of laser projection. Displaying the adhesive deposition path on the blade surface provides a convenient check that the adhesive is deposited accurately. However, the use of the physical guide may avoid the need to display the adhesive deposition path since maintaining contact between the adhesive deposition tool and the physical guide is sufficient to ensure that adhesive is deposited accurately in the required location.

The method may comprise projecting a guide line onto the surface of the blade shell adjacent to the adhesive deposition path. The method may further comprise aligning the physical guide to the projected guide line. Laser projection is a convenient technique that allows the required position for the physical guide to be accurately displayed on the blade. The guide line may be parallel to the adhesive deposition path and spaced apart from the adhesive deposition path by the predetermined distance in the chordwise direction.

The physical guide may be releasably fastened to the surface of the blade shell. For example the physical guide may be attached to the blade surface using double-sided tape. Typically the physical guide may be removed after the adhesive has been deposited. The physical guide may then be re-used.

The method may comprise selecting the predetermined distance such that the physical guide is attached outside of a footprint of a mounting flange of a shear web to be bonded to the blade shell by means of the adhesive. This is advantageous in the scenario where the physical guide remains in place during bonding of the shear web for any reason, since it avoids the possibility of the physical guide interfering with the bonding process.

The contact surface of the adhesive deposition tool may be any suitable surface that is capable of maintaining contact with the physical guide whilst the adhesive deposition tool is moved along the adhesive path. In a preferred embodiment the contact surface is provided at an end of an arm that extends from the adhesive deposition tool.

According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of making a wind turbine blade comprising: providing a blade shell; and depositing a bead of adhesive onto a surface of the shell according to the method described above. The method may additionally comprise bonding a shear web to the surface of the blade shell using the bead of adhesive.

The inventive concept encompasses a wind turbine blade comprising a blade shell and a shear web bonded to an inner surface of the blade shell according to the above method.

According to a further aspect of the present invention there is provided an apparatus for depositing a bead of adhesive onto a surface of a wind turbine blade shell, the apparatus comprising: a physical guide for attaching to the surface of the blade shell adjacent and parallel to an adhesive deposition path along which adhesive is to be deposited; and an adhesive deposition tool configured to move or be moved along a surface of the blade shell, the tool having an outlet for dispensing adhesive onto said surface, and a contact surface arranged to make contact with the physical guide when the outlet is aligned with the adhesive deposition path in use, wherein, in use, the physical guide is arranged to guide the adhesive deposition tool along the adhesive deposition path when the contact surface is maintained in contact with the physical guide.

The invention also provides an adhesive deposition tool for depositing a bead of adhesive onto a surface of a wind turbine blade shell, the adhesive deposition tool being configured to move or be moved along a surface of the blade shell and comprising a contact surface arranged to contact a physical guide when the physical guide is arranged on the surface of the blade shell.

The adhesive deposition tool may be manually operated or automated. In the case of manual operation, the adhesive deposition tool may comprise a handle configured to allow the tool to be pushed along the surface of the blade.

It will be appreciated that optional features described above in relation to any one aspect of the invention are equally applicable to all other aspects and expressions of the invention. Repetition of such features has been avoided purely for reasons of conciseness.

Brief description of the drawings

Figure 1 shows adhesive being deposited on a surface of a wind turbine blade shell;

Figure 2a schematically illustrates adhesive that is misplaced in a bond line between a shear web and a blade shell;

Figure 2b schematically illustrates adhesive that is accurately placed in a bond line between a shear web and a blade shell;

Figure 3 shows adhesive being deposited on a surface of a wind turbine blade shell in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing an adhesive deposition tool and a physical guide arranged on a blade surface according to an embodiment of the present invention; and

Figure 5 is a schematic perspective view of the apparatus shown in Figure 4.

Detailed description

Figure 1 illustrates a wind turbine blade half shell 10 supported in a blade mould 12. The half shell 10 may form a windward half or a leeward half of a wind turbine blade. An operator 14 is shown depositing adhesive 16 on an inner surface 18 of the half shell 10 using an adhesive deposition tool 20. The dispensed adhesive 16 is used to bond a shear web 22 (shown in Figure 2a) to the inner surface 18 of the half shell 10.

As seen in Figure 1, the adhesive deposition tool 20 comprises a shoe 24, which is placed on the inner surface 18 of the half shell 10. A handle 26 is pivotally attached to the shoe 24. A continuous supply of adhesive 16 is supplied to the shoe 24 via a hose 28. The shoe 24 comprises a dispensing outlet 30 through which adhesive 16 is dispensed onto the inner surface 18 of the half shell 10.

The operator 14 uses the handle 26 to push the adhesive deposition tool 20 along the surface 18 of the blade shell 10 in a spanwise direction (indicated by arrow S), i.e. along the length of the blade shell 10. As the adhesive deposition tool 20 is moved, a bead of adhesive 16 is dispensed in its wake.

The adhesive deposition tool 20 is moved along a predefined adhesive deposition path or line 34, which is indicated on the surface 18 of the half shell 10. The adhesive deposition path 34 indicates the precise location at which the adhesive 16 should be deposited in accordance with the design specification of the wind turbine blade. In this example, the adhesive deposition path 34 is indicated on the surface of the blade shell by means of laser projection 36. Alternatively, or additionally, the adhesive deposition path 34 may be physically marked on the surface 18 of the blade shell 10, e.g. using a pen or pencil. The adhesive deposition path 34 therefore indicates a predefined path along which the adhesive deposition tool 20 must be moved.

It can be difficult to dispense the adhesive 16 accurately along the adhesive deposition path 34 using the above technique. One reason for this is that the shoe 24 of the adhesive deposition tool 20 tends to obscure the adhesive deposition path 34 at the point at which the adhesive 16 is dispensed. As the operator 14 cannot see the adhesive deposition path 34 clearly, the adhesive 16 may not be dispensed directly on top of the indicated line 34, and may instead be dispensed slightly to one or other side of the line 34 along parts of the blade surface 18. Therefore, the bead of adhesive 16 may follow a slightly wandering path, as shown in Figure 1, instead of coinciding precisely with the correct adhesive deposition path 34.

Misplaced adhesive 16 may result in bond lines that are out of specification, e.g. sub-optimal bond lines between the shear web 22 (see Figure 2a) and the blade shell 10. Figure 2a illustrates, in schematic cross-section, a mounting flange 38 at a lower edge of a shear web 22 being bonded to the inner surface 18 of the half shell 10. In this region of the blade surface 18, the bead of adhesive 16 was misplaced slightly to one side of the laser-projected line 34 (shown in Figure 1). This results in excess adhesive 16 on one side of the mounting flange 38, and insufficient adhesive 16 on the other side. Ideally the bead of adhesive should be central with respect to the mounting flange 38 (as illustrated in Figure 2b) so that it compresses evenly between the mounting flange 38 and the blade surface 18.

The difficulties associated with the above method are overcome by the present invention, as will be discussed below, by way of example only, with reference the remaining figures. For the avoidance of doubt, the embodiment of Figure 1 does not form part of the presently-claimed invention.

Figure 3 illustrates an apparatus and method for dispensing adhesive 16 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. In common with Figure 1, Figure 3 shows a wind turbine blade half shell 10 supported in a blade mould 12. An operator 14 is shown depositing adhesive 16 on an inner surface 18 of the half shell 10 using an adhesive deposition tool 20a according to an example of the present invention.

In common with the previous example shown in Figure 1, in this example the operator 14 moves the adhesive deposition tool 20a in the spanwise direction S of the blade shell 10 to deposit adhesive 16 along an adhesive deposition path 34 defined on the surface 18 of the blade shell 10.

In contrast to the previous example, in this embodiment a physical guide 40 is attached to the surface 18 of the blade shell 10 adjacent to the adhesive deposition path 34. The physical guide 40 is arranged parallel to the adhesive deposition path 34 and is spaced apart from the adhesive deposition path 34 by a predetermined distance ‘x’ in a chordwise direction C. The physical guide extends longitudinally in the spanwise direction S along the whole or part of the length of the blade shell 10. As will be described in further detail below, the physical guide 40 serves to guide the path of the adhesive deposition tool 20a along the adhesive deposition path 34.

The adhesive deposition tool 20a in this example substantially corresponds to the adhesive deposition tool 20 described above in relation to Figure 1. However, in this embodiment the adhesive deposition tool 20a further comprises an arm 42 that extends from the shoe 24. In this example, the arm 42 extends from one side of the shoe 24 towards the physical guide 40. The length of the arm 42 and/or the separation ‘x’ between the physical guide 40 and the adhesive deposition line 34 is/are selected such that the dispensing outlet 30 of the shoe 24 is precisely aligned with the adhesive deposition path 34 when the arm 42 is in contact with the physical guide 40.

In order to dispense a bead of adhesive 16 onto the blade surface 18 in the correct position, the operator 14 moves the adhesive deposition tool 20a over the surface 18 of the blade shell 10 whilst maintaining contact between the arm 42 and a side surface 44 of the physical guide 40. Maintaining contact between the arm 42 and the physical guide 40 ensures that the outlet 30 of the adhesive deposition tool 20a is precisely aligned with the adhesive deposition path 34 whilst the dispensing tool 20a is moved.

The physical guide 40 therefore guides the path of the dispensing tool 20a and prevents the tool 20a from wandering off the adhesive deposition path 34. This results in a bead of adhesive 16 that is deposited accurately on the adhesive deposition path 34 as required. Accordingly, when the shear web 22 is arranged in the required position relative to the blade shell 10, the bead of adhesive 16 is located centrally with respect to the shear web mounting flange 38 (as shown in Figure 2b).

Referring still to Figure 3, the location of the physical guide 40 on the blade surface 18 is predefined relative to the required adhesive deposition path 34. In order to facilitate the correct positioning of the physical guide 40, a guide line 46 may be visually indicated on the surface 18 of the blade shell 10. In this example, the guide line 46 is laser-projected on to the surface 18 of the blade shell 10. The guide line 46 is projected parallel to the adhesive deposition path 34 and spaced apart from the adhesive deposition path 34 by the predetermined distance ‘x’. The side surface 44 of the physical guide is aligned with this guide line 46. The physical guide 40 may conveniently be attached to the surface 18 of the blade shell 10 using double-sided tape, for example.

In this example, the adhesive deposition path 34 is also visually indicated (e.g. laser-projected) onto the surface 18 of the blade shell 10. This is advantageous since it allows the operator 14 to check that the adhesive 40 is being deposited in the correct position. However, when using the physical guide 40 it is not essential to indicate the adhesive deposition path 34 visually on the blade surface 18 since maintaining the adhesive deposition tool 20a in contact with the accurately positioned physical guide 40 is sufficient to ensure that the adhesive 16 is deposited in the correct location. Accordingly, the adhesive deposition path 34 may be notionally defined on the surface 18 of the blade 10, without necessarily being visually indicated.

In the example illustrated in Figure 3, the physical guide 40 extends in a straight line. Accordingly, a straight bead of adhesive 16 is deposited accurately in the required position on the blade surface 18. In other embodiments, the adhesive deposition path 34 may be curved, for example in the case of swept blades which may require a curved shear web. In such cases, a curved physical guide may be used. The terms ‘straight’ and ‘curved’ refer to the physical guide when the blade surface 18 is viewed from above (plan view). It will be appreciated that wind turbine blades typically taper in thickness moving from root to tip, and as such it will be appreciated that even a straight adhesive deposition path may be curved in a thickness direction of the blade.

Further details of the apparatus and method will now be described with reference to Figure 4, which is a schematic cross-sectional view of the blade surface 10, adhesive deposition tool 20a and physical guide 40 described above with reference to Figure 3.

Referring to Figure 4, it can be seen that the arm 42 in this example is L-shaped in cross-section. The arm 42 may be bonded or otherwise attached to the shoe 24. The arm 42 provides a relatively simple modification to the adhesive deposition tool 20a shown in Figure 1. The arm 42 extends from the shoe 24 by a distance ‘d’, which is selected such that a contact surface 48 at a distal end 50 of the arm 42 touches the side surface 44 of the physical guide 40 when the dispensing outlet 30 of the shoe 24 is aligned with the adhesive deposition path 34.

The predetermined distance ‘x’ between the adhesive deposition path 34 and the physical guide 40 may be selected such that the physical guide 40 is mounted outside of a footprint of the mounting flange 38 of the shear web 22 (shown in Figures 2a and 2b). This advantageously allows the shear web 22 to be bonded to the blade shell 10 whilst the physical guide 40 is still in place. However, typically the physical guide 40 may be removed prior to bonding the shear web 22 to the blade shell 10. Once removed, the physical guide 40 may be re-used.

The arm 42 may extend longitudinally parallel to the physical guide 40, as illustrated schematically in the perspective view of Figure 5. The longitudinal extent T of the arm 42 is preferably greater than the distance ‘d’ by which the arm 42 extends from the shoe 24. This is advantageous since it maximises the stability of the arm 42 against the physical guide 40 and makes it easier to maintain contact between the two when moving (e.g. pushing) the adhesive deposition tool 20a. The arm 42 illustrated in Figure 5 is particularly suitable when a straight line of adhesive is required as it forms stable contact against straight sections of the physical guide 40.

If required, the distal end 50 of the arm 42 may include features such as rollers or wheels to improve mobility along the physical guide 40. In such cases, the wheels or rollers would define the contact surface of the adhesive deposition tool 20a. To avoid the possibility of the arm 42 losing contact with the physical guide 40, the physical guide 40 may include a longitudinally-extending channel or slot in its side surface in which the distal end 50 of the arm may be received.

It has been found that simply maintaining contact between the contact surface 48 of the arm 42 and the physical guide 40 is sufficient to achieve highly accurate placement of adhesive 16 (see Figure 3) along the blade shell 10. This solution is therefore relatively simple to implement and low cost.

Whilst the arm 42 in the above example is L-shaped in cross-section, in other examples the arm 42 may have a different shape. Further, whilst the arm 42 extends longitudinally, in other examples the arm may be configured differently. For example, an arm may be provided that makes contact with the physical guide at a single point (i.e. point contact), for example the arm may be in the form of a rod. In such cases, it may be advantageous to provide multiple arms to enhance the stability of the tool against the physical guide 40.

It should be appreciated that an arm is not essential. In other embodiments, a side surface of the adhesive deposition tool 20a, e.g. a side surface of the shoe 24 may be held in contact with the physical guide 40.

In other examples, a second physical guide may be used on the other side of the adhesive deposition path 34. A second arm may be provided on the other side of the adhesive deposition tool 20a for contacting the second guide, or the other side surface of the shoe 24 may contact the second physical guide. This arrangement may substantially eliminate the possibility of the adhesive deposition tool 20a diverting from the required path 34 thus allowing the operator to move the adhesive deposition tool 20a more quickly.

The physical guide 40 may take any suitable form, and may comprise lengths of wood, metal, plastic or composite material, for example. The physical guide may have any suitable cross-sectional shape, for example square, rectangular, L-shaped etc.

In the embodiment shown in Figures 3 to 5, the physical guide 40 is an extruded plastics component, formed from PVC or other suitable material, and has a rectangular cross-section. Specifically, the physical guide 40 is formed from several sections of standard electrical conduit, which is commonly used in buildings for routing electrical cables. The various sections of conduit are arranged end-to-end in a straight line extending in the spanwise direction S of the blade 10, as shown in Figure 3. The use of electrical conduit is advantageous since it is a readily available and low-cost component. The electrical conduit is particularly suitable for guiding the adhesive deposition tool 20a in a straight line in cases where a straight line of adhesive is required.

Once the bead of adhesive 16 (see e.g. Figure 3) has been deposited accurately along the adhesive deposition path 34, the shear web 22 (see e.g. Figure 2b) is lifted into the mould 12 (Figure 3) and arranged on top of the adhesive bead 16. Further adhesive may be applied to an upper flange of the shear web 22. Additional adhesive may be applied to the leading and trailing edges of the blade half shell. The other half shell may then be positioned on top of the first half shell. The weight of the second half shell bears down on the shear web and the first half shell serving to compress the adhesive 16 and bond the various parts of the blade together to form the completed blade. The blade may comprise multiple shear webs, in which case multiple adhesive beads may be deposited on the blade shell according to the process described above.

The present invention provides a relatively low cost and simple means for depositing adhesive accurately onto a blade shell. It reduces defects in the bond lines between the shear webs and the blade shells and enables high-quality bond lines to be created consistently and easily.

Whilst the adhesive deposition tool 20a is manually operated in these examples, it could be an automated robot, in which case the handle 26 may be dispensed with.

Many other modifications may be made to the specific examples described above without departing from the scope of the present invention as defined in the following claims.

Claims

1. A method of depositing a bead of adhesive onto a surface of a wind turbine blade shell, the method comprising: defining an adhesive deposition path extending in a spanwise direction of the blade shell; attaching a physical guide to the surface of the blade shell adjacent to the adhesive deposition path, the physical guide extending parallel to the adhesive deposition path and being spaced apart from the adhesive deposition path by a predetermined distance in a chordwise direction of the blade shell; providing an adhesive deposition tool comprising an outlet for dispensing adhesive onto the surface of the blade shell, the adhesive deposition tool further comprising a contact surface for contacting the physical guide; selecting the predetermined distance between the adhesive deposition path and the physical guide such that the outlet of the tool is aligned with the adhesive deposition path when the contact surface is in contact with the physical guide; supplying adhesive to the adhesive deposition tool; and moving the adhesive deposition tool in the spanwise direction whilst maintaining contact between the contact surface and the physical guide such that a bead of adhesive is dispensed through the outlet onto the adhesive deposition path.

2. The method of Claim 1, wherein at least part of the physical guide extends in a straight line in the spanwise direction of the blade shell such that a bead of adhesive is dispensed in a straight line.

3. The method of Claim 1 or Claim 2, further comprising visually indicating the adhesive deposition path on the surface of the blade shell, such as by marking or projecting the path onto the surface of the blade shell.

4. The method of any preceding claim, further comprising projecting a guide line onto the surface of the blade shell adjacent to the adhesive deposition path and aligning the physical guide to the projected guide line.

5. The method of Claim 4, wherein the guide line is parallel to the adhesive deposition path and spaced apart from the adhesive deposition path by the predetermined distance in the chordwise direction.

6. The method of any preceding claim, further comprising selecting the predetermined distance such that the physical guide is attached outside of a footprint of a mounting flange of a shear web to be bonded to the blade shell by means of the adhesive.

7. The method of any preceding claim, wherein the contact surface is provided at an end of an arm that extends from the adhesive deposition tool.

8. The method of any preceding claim, further comprising attaching the physical guide to the surface of the blade shell by means of double-sided adhesive tape.

9. The method of any preceding claim, further comprising detaching the physical guide from the surface of the blade shell after depositing the adhesive.

10. A method of making a wind turbine blade comprising: providing a blade shell; and depositing a bead of adhesive onto a surface of the shell according to the method of any preceding claim.

11. The method of Claim 10, further comprising bonding a shear web to the surface of the blade shell using the bead of adhesive.

12. A wind turbine blade comprising a blade shell and a shear web bonded to an inner surface of the blade shell according to the method of Claim 11.

13. Apparatus for depositing a bead of adhesive onto a surface of a wind turbine blade shell, the apparatus comprising: a physical guide for attaching to the surface of the blade shell adjacent and parallel to an adhesive deposition path along which adhesive is to be deposited; and an adhesive deposition tool configured to move or be moved along a surface of the blade shell, the tool having an outlet for dispensing adhesive onto said surface, and a contact surface arranged to make contact with the physical guide when the outlet is aligned with the adhesive deposition path in use, wherein, in use, the physical guide is arranged to guide the adhesive deposition tool along the adhesive deposition path when the contact surface is maintained in contact with the physical guide.

14. An adhesive deposition tool for depositing a bead of adhesive onto a surface of a wind turbine blade shell, the adhesive deposition tool being configured to move or be moved along a surface of the blade shell and comprising a contact surface arranged to contact a physical guide when the physical guide is arranged on the surface of the blade shell.

15. The apparatus of Claim 13, or the adhesive deposition tool of Claim 14, wherein the adhesive deposition tool comprises a handle configured to allow the tool to be pushed along the surface of the blade.