Open AccessTrends in the Design, Manufacture and Evaluation of Wind Turbine Blades
Author(s) -
Veers Paul S.,
Ashwill Thomas D.,
Sutherland Herbert J.,
Laird Daniel L.,
Lobitz Donald W.,
Griffin Dayton A.,
Mandell John F.,
Musial Walter D.,
Jackson Kevin,
Zuteck Michael,
Miravete Antonio,
Tsai Stephen W.,
Richmond James L.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
wind energy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.743
H-Index - 92
eISSN - 1099-1824
pISSN - 1095-4244
DOI - 10.1002/we.90
Subject(s) - blade (archaeology) , turbine blade , engineering , sophistication , turbine , wind power , mechanical engineering , aeroelasticity , structural engineering , manufacturing engineering , marine engineering , construction engineering , aerodynamics , aerospace engineering , social science , electrical engineering , sociology
Wind turbine blades continue to be the target of technological improvements by the use of better designs, materials, manufacturing, analysis and testing. As the size of turbines has grown over the past decade, designers have restrained the associated growth in blade weight to less than would have been possible through simple scaling‐up of past approaches. These past improvements are briefly summarized. Manufacturing trends and design drivers are presented, as are the ways these design drivers have changed. Issues related to blade material choices are described, first for the currently dominant glass fibre technology and then for the potential use of carbon fibres. Some possible directions for future blade design options are presented, namely new planforms, aerofoils and aeroelastic tailoring. The significant improvement in sophistication of stress analysis and full‐scale blade testing are also discussed. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.