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Structural design of carbon/epoxy bio‐inspired wind turbine blade using fluid/structure simulation
Author(s) -
CorreaÁlvarez Mariana,
VilladaQuiceno Valentina,
SierraPérez Julián,
GarcíaNavarro Juan Guillermo,
NietoLondoño César
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
international journal of energy research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.808
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1099-114X
pISSN - 0363-907X
DOI - 10.1002/er.3564
Subject(s) - aerodynamics , turbine blade , deflection (physics) , computational fluid dynamics , structural engineering , turbine , finite element method , stacking , materials science , mechanical engineering , fluid–structure interaction , engineering , physics , aerospace engineering , optics , nuclear magnetic resonance
Summary The purpose of this paper is to present the structural design procedure of a low‐speed, horizontal axis, bio‐inspired wind turbine blade made of carbon/epoxy. The methodology initiates with the mechanical characterization of the carbon fiber composite material. An aerodynamic simulation using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) method is performed in order to obtain the pressure distribution profile of the blade. This result is coupled with a Finite Element Analysis (FEA) to carry out an iterative design process through a Fluid‐Structure Interaction (FSI) simulation. Different stacking sequences of laminates are evaluated to find a configuration which allows balance between aerodynamic and dynamic inertial loads, ensuring an almost undeformed geometry during wind turbine's operation. The final structural design of the blade consists in six regions with different laminates. These are balanced and symmetric with distinct thickness characteristics and stacking sequences, which vary in three different orientations: 0 ∘ , ± 45 ∘ and 90 ∘ , achieving a minimum deflection at the tip close to 3.11 cm, and a total weight of 3.6 kg of a 1.8 m radius blade, even with the restrictions imposed by the non‐conventional geometry. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.