Fluid structure interaction of a morphed wind turbine blade

One serious challenge of energy systems design, wind turbines in particular, is the need to match the system operation to the variable load. This is so because system efficiency drops at off‐design load. One strategy to address this challenge for wind turbine blades and obtain a more consistent efficiency over a wide load range, is varying the blade geometry. Predictable morphing of wind turbine blade in reaction to wind load conditions has been introduced recently. The concept, derived from fish locomotion, also has similarities to spoilers and ailerons, known to reduce flow separation and improve performance using passive changes in blade geometry. In this work, we employ a fully coupled technique on CFD and FEM models to introduce continuous morphing to desired and predetermined blade design geometry, the NACA 4412 profile, which is commonly used in wind turbine applications. Then, we assess the aerodynamic behavior of a morphing wind turbine airfoil using a two‐dimensional computation. The work is focused on assessing aerodynamic forces based on trailing edge deflection, wind speed, and material elasticity, that is, Young's modulus. The computational results suggest that the morphing blade has superior part‐load efficiency over the rigid NACA blade. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On the structural topology of wind turbine blades

As wind turbines continue to grow in size, it becomes increasingly important to ensure that they are as structurally efficient as possible to ensure that wind energy can be a cost‐effective source of power generation. A way to achieve this is through weight reductions in the blades of the wind turbine. In this study, topology optimization is used to find alternative structural configurations for a 45 m blade from a 3 MW wind turbine. The result of the topology optimization is a layout that varies along the blade length, transitioning from a structure with trailing edge reinforcement to one with offset spar caps. Sizing optimization was then performed on a section with the trailing edge reinforcement and was shown to offer potential weight savings of 13.8% when compared with a more conventional design. These findings indicate that the conventional structural layout of a wind turbine blade is sub‐optimal under the static load conditions that were applied, suggesting an opportunity to reduce blade weight and cost. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

CFD study of some factors affecting performance of HAWT with swept blades

Most modern high-power wind turbines are horizontal axis type with straight twisted blades. Upgrading power and performance of these turbines is considered a challenge. A recent trend towards improving the horizontal axis wind turbine (HAWT) performance is to use swept blades or sweep twist adaptive blades. In the present work, the effect of blade curvature, sweep starting point and sweep direction on the wind turbine performance was investigated. The CFD simulation method was validated against available experimental data of a 0.9?m diameter HAWT. The wind turbine power and thrust coefficients at different tip speed ratios were calculated. Flow field, pressure distribution and local tangential and streamwise forces were also analysed. The results show that the downstream swept blade has the highest C_p value at design point as compared with the straight blade profile. However, the improvement in power coefficient is accompanied by a thrust increase. Results also show that the best performance is obtained when the starting blade sweeps at 25% of blade radius for different directions of sweep.     

一种水平轴风轮叶片的气动设计方法

发展了两种先进的水平轴风轮叶片气动计算和设计方法－PROPGA和PROPID,PROPGA是基于最优化方法的遗传算法,用于最初的叶片选择和几何设计;PROPID是一种基于反问题的叶片气动设计方法,用于最后的叶片造型和性能预估。给出了两个实例,一个是以基础科学研究为目的实验探索用全新风轮,另一个则是用于商业生产的小型风轮。在实际风轮设计中的成功使用证明,PROPID和PROPGA是一种强有力的设计工具,两者的结合使用可以得到最佳的风力涡轮气动性能。     

Influence of blade rotation on the lightning stroke characteristic of a wind turbine

The blades of a wind turbine rotate during normal operation. To investigate the influence of blade rotation on the lightning‐attracting ability of a wind turbine, a discharge test platform is designed for scaled wind turbines. The 50% impulse voltages and flash probabilities of the scaled wind turbines with gap distances of 1 to 8 m in the static and rotary conditions are determined by using the discharge test and selective discharge test. The discharge test for a single wind turbine with a gap of 1 to 2 m indicates that the breakdown voltages of the gap between the scaled turbine and electrodes increases with an increase in the blade rotation speed. However, the discharge test with a gap distance of 4 to 8 m indicates that the breakdown voltage of the fan decreases with an increase in the blade rotation speed. The test results of the scaled dual wind turbines experiment have the same rules. To explain this phenomenon, the influence of wind speed on the space‐charge distribution and electrical field intensity of corona discharge is simulated in the background of a target thundercloud. The rotation of the fan reduces the space‐charge density near the area of the blade tip, which leads to an increase in the field strength near the blade tip of the wind turbine and a decrease in the field strength away from the blade tip. This influence varies in short and long air gap, resulting in opposite relationships between discharge voltage and distance from the tip of the turbine. The results can provide a reference for the lightning protection of wind turbines.     

Analysis of throw distances of detached objects from horizontal‐axis wind turbines

This paper aims at predicting trajectories of the detached fragments from wind turbines, in order to better quantify consequences of wind turbine failures. The trajectories of thrown objects are attained using the solution to equations of motion and rotation, with the external loads and moments obtained using blade element approach. We have extended an earlier work by taking into account dynamic stall and wind variations due to shear, and investigated different scenarios of throw including throw of the entire or a part of blade, as well as throw of accumulated ice on the blade. Trajectories are simulated for modern wind turbines ranging in size from 2 to 20 MW using upscaling laws. Extensive parametric analyses are performed against initial release angle, tip speed ratio, detachment geometry, and blade pitch setting. It is found that, while at tip speeds of about 70 m/s (normal operating conditions), pieces of blade (with weights in the range of approximately 7‐16 ton) would be thrown out less than 700 m for the entire range of wind turbines, and turbines operating at the extreme tip speed of 150 m/s may be subject to blade throw of up to 2 km from the turbine. For the ice throw cases, maximum distances of approximately 100 and 600 m are obtained for standstill and normal operating conditions of the wind turbine, respectively, with the ice pieces weighting from 0.4 to 6.5 kg. The simulations can be useful for revision of wind turbine setback standards, especially when combined with risk assessment studies. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Combined analytical/FEA-based coupled aero structure simulation of a wind turbine with bend–twist adaptive blades

The simulation of wind turbines with bend–twist adaptive blades is a coupled aero-structure (CAS) procedure. The blade twist due to elastic coupling is a required parameter for wind turbine performance evaluation and can be predicted through a finite element (FE) structural analyser. FEA-based codes are far too slow to be useful in the aerodynamic design/optimisation of a blade. This paper presents a combined analytical/FEA-based method for CAS simulation of wind turbines utilising bend–twist adaptive blades. This method of simulation employs the induced twist distribution and the flap bending at the hub of the blade predicted through a FEA-based CAS simulation at a reference wind turbine run condition to determine the wind turbine performance at other wind turbine run conditions. This reduces the computational time significantly and makes the aerodynamic design/optimisation of bend–twist adaptive blades practical. Comparison of the results of a case study which applies both combined analytical/FEA-based and FEA-based CAS simulation shows that when using the combined method the required computational time for generating a power curve reduces to less than 5%, while the relative difference between the predicted powers by two methods is only about 1%.     

Increase in the annual energy production due to a retrofit of vortex generators on blades

The aim of the current work was to analyze the effect of retrofitting vortex generators (VGs) on the blades of a constant RPM, pitch‐regulated, megawatt‐sized turbine suffering from surface roughness. Engineering modelling and experimental work were utilized, indicating that the degradation of energy production may be mitigated by the VGs. The modelling results indicated that the optimal configuration of VGs to maximize the annual energy production (AEP) depends on the degree of severity of surface roughness. Depending on blade surface condition and turbine characteristics, installation of VGs on an incorrect blade span or installation of too large VGs too far out on the blade may cause loss in the AEP. Therefore, engineering modelling is necessary before VGs may be retrofitted on a specific turbine. The modelling results indicated that the worse blade surface, the more gain may be obtained from the VGs. The work included a full‐scale experimental validation of the present engineering model, lasting 27 months and comprising six turbines where VGs were mounted on three, each with a neighboring turbine as a reference. The turbines were analyzed in pairs, and the influence of the VGs was judged upon the relative difference in energy production before and after the installation. The reason was to limit measurement uncertainty. The results showed that all three turbines increased their energy production after the installation. Results from the three pairs showed an average increase in the energy production of 3.3%, being satisfactorily close to the average 2.8% predicted by the present engineering tool.     

Wells turbine blade profile optimization for better wave energy capture

Despite the fact that wave energy is available at no cost, it is always desired to harvest the maximum possible amount of this energy. The axial flow air turbines are commonly used with oscillating water column devices as a power take‐off system. The present work introduces a blade profile optimization technique that improves the air turbine performance while considering the complex 3D flow phenomena. This technique produces non‐standard blade profiles from the coordinates of the standard ones. It implements a multi‐objective optimization algorithm in order to define the optimum blade profile. The proposed optimization technique was successfully applied to a biplane Wells turbine in the present work. It produced an optimum blade profile that improves the turbine torque by up to 9.3%, reduces the turbine damping coefficient by 10%, and increases the turbine operating range by 5%. The optimized profile increases the annual average turbine power by up to 3.6% under typical sea conditions. Moreover, new blade profiles were produced from the wind turbine airfoil data and investigated for use with the biplane Wells turbine. The present work showed that two of these profiles could be used with low wave energy seas. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

大粗糙度弦向分布对风力机气动性能影响

针对5 mm大尺度蚊虫尸体在叶片上的附积问题,采用带转捩的k-ω SST湍流模型,以NERL Phase VI风力机为研究对象,从不同弦向覆盖位置入手,对大粗糙度下风力机气动性能进行数值模拟。研究结果表明,粗糙度对风力机整体做功具有较大影响,粗糙度越大效率降低越显著;粗糙度使在叶片靠近叶尖位置的吸力面促成小型低压涡,转捩提前;该效应在大尺度粗糙条件下表现明显,附着涡强度也更大;在叶片压力面添加75%c粗糙度会使翼型产生的气动损失最大。     

Study of ageing of laminates and its effects on wind turbine blade deflection

Some wind turbines have exceeded their nominal design service life and are continuing their operation with periodic inspections and maintenance. In the case of rotor blades, the reliability of the inspection is very limited because of the blade structure that comprises laminates and sandwich structures, which are very difficult to monitor. For this reason, wind farm owners are searching for technologies or approaches that will guarantee a safe operation of their wind turbines after the design life has elapsed. The main objective of this paper was to investigate whether detection of ageing of wind turbine blades using deflection as key parameter is feasible using commercial equipment. The paper is divided in three phases. In phase 1, the effect of ageing on a new UD‐0° glass fibre with high moduli was obtained. Using these results and bibliography data, a theoretical study was performed in phase 2 to determine the magnitude of blade deflection along its lifetime due to material ageing. Finally, in phase 3, in‐field deflection measurements where performed on a wind turbine blade to evaluate the utility and limitations of commercial equipment for the detection of blade ageing. It was concluded that material ageing could result in an increase in blade deflection under self‐weight that can be detected using commercial measurement equipment. These results can be used by wind farm owners in their O&M strategies to monitor blades over time and decide whether they should be repaired or replaced.     

风力发电发展简史及各类型风力机比较概述

当今对风能的利用,主要是用来发电,通过对风能发电历史的回顾和对水平轴和垂直轴风力发电机的比较,使人们对垂直轴风力发电机有了更加广泛的认识。     

Experimental verifications of numerical predictions for the hydrodynamic performance of horizontal axis marine current turbines

The conversion of the kinetic energy presented by ocean or marine currents offers an exciting proposition as it can provide regular and predictable energy resource. The majority of the proposed designs for converting this type of kinetic energy are based on the concept of the horizontal axis turbines, which has common characteristics to those being used in wind energy. Although a lot can be learnt and transferred from wind turbine technology, there are significant differences. These include the effects of the free surface and the occurrence of cavitation. Consequently, any developed numerical methods need to be verified. This study reports on the development and verification of simulation tools based on blade element momentum theory—a commercial code (GH-Tidal Bladed) and an academic in-house code (SERG-Tidal). Validation is derived from experimental measurements conducted on a model 800 mm diameter turbine in a cavitation tunnel and a towing tank. The experimental data includes measurements of shaft power and thrust generated by the turbine for a series of blade pitch settings and speeds. The results derived from the two codes are compared. These indicate that the two developed codes demonstrate similar trends in the results and provide a satisfactory representation of the experimental turbine performance. Such results give the necessary confidence in the developed codes resulting in appropriate tools that can to be utilised by developers of marine current turbines.     

Evaluation of hydrogen production from harvesting wind energy at high altitudes in Iran by three extrapolating Weibull methods

One of the most appropriate ways for energy storage is producing hydrogen from renewable resources. Wind energy is recognized as one of the widely used renewable energy resources. This paper investigates the use of wind energy for producing hydrogen in Iran. To achieve this, the country is divided into five major regions: center, north, south, east and west. The performance of three large-scale commercial wind turbines, ranging from 1500 kW to 3000 kW at hub height of 80 m and four large-scale wind turbine ranging from 2000 kW to 4500 kW at hub height of 120 m are evaluated for producing hydrogen in 150 wind stations in Iran. All wind data were recorded based on 10-min time intervals for more than one year at different wind mast heights. For estimating Weibull parameters, the Standard Deviation Method (SDM), Empirical Method of Lysen (EML) and Power Density Method (PDM) are used. An extrapolation method is used to determine the shape and the scale parameters of the Weibull distribution at the high attitudes of 80 m and 120 m. Then, power law and surface roughness exponents, capacity factor, annual energy production and annual hydrogen production for the wind sites are determined. The results indicate that rated power is not the only determinative parameter and the highest hydrogen production is from the GW-109/2500 wind turbine at the hub height of 80 m and from E112/4500 at the hub height of 120 m. For better assessment, the amount of hydrogen production is depicted in Geographic Information Science (GIS) maps using power production of the seven wind turbine models. Next by analyzing these GIS maps, it is found that there are significant potentials in north, north-west, east and south of Iran for producing hydrogen from wind energy.     

Local wind-energy potential for the city of Guelph,Ontario (Canada)

Municipalities around the world are using community energy plans (CEPs) to drive progress towards a more sustainable energy future. Many recognize the supply of local and renewable energy as a crucial component of a resilient future including the potential use of wind power generation. The city of Guelph (Ontario, Canada) included wind energy as a component of its CEP. The goal of this work was to estimate the potential for wind power generation within the municipal boundaries of this city. This paper summarizes the methodology used and results obtained with site and meteorological data, wind maps, and turbine power curves. The methodology relies on the use of a geographically uniform array of turbines, spread throughout the community. An array of utility-scale turbines could potentially generate 29% of Guelph’s 2005 total electricity demand, whereas one consisting of small-scale turbines could achieve 10% of that demand.     

Integral analysis of rotors of a wind generator

The world's population needs new sources of energy, especially those that are clean and renewable. This paper provides a brief introduction to wind energy and the types of existing turbines, which are classified using the orientation of the rotation axis. Subsequently, an integral analysis is performed for vertical axis turbines. The known variables are the wind speed, the type of blade, the radius of the rotor and the angular velocity. The fluid velocity and the angle of attack on the blade are subsequently determined. From these two results, the lift and drag forces acting on the blades for each position of the rotor are calculated. The resultant torque and power generated are also calculated to evaluate the turbine power coefficient. Due to the rotation and the robustness of this type of turbine, a distortion in the flow direction occurs in its vicinity. The flow is modeled on a control volume, which is defined based on the variation in the wind direction.     

Influence of a wind turbine service life on the mechanical properties of the material and the blade

This paper presents results out of investigations of the DEBRA‐25 wind turbine blades. Almost unique in the history of modern wind energy, these blades were in operation for 18 years next to a weather station and were investigated afterward. Therefore, the loads experienced in the operational life could be post‐processed accurately with the measured data of the weather station and the turbine. The blades are made of materials that are similar with today's wind turbines. Furthermore, intensive laboratory tests and free field tests have been carried out, and all load assumptions and data and results are still available today. The results include experimental investigations on the moisture content of the load‐carrying material, static and fatigue behavior of the material, the relaxation of the coupling joints, the natural frequencies of the blade and a full scale static blade test. It is shown that the structural performance of the DEBRA‐25 service blades is comparable with modern wind turbine blades. Although some damage was found by visual inspection, the service blade of the DEBRA‐25 showed excellent mechanical behavior in the full scale blade test. Only small changes of the edgewise eigenfrequencies were detected. The pre‐tensioning forces of the IKEA bolts, where the two blade parts are connected, were measured and were still adequate. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

双层翼水平轴风力机气动性能研究

以NREL Phase VI风力机叶片为参照对象,设计一种双层翼叶片.在不同来流风速下,对该新型水平轴风力机叶片气动性能进行数值模拟,对比原始NREL Phase VI风力机在相同来流风速相同叶片高度处的流线图,发现双层翼叶片可较有效抑制流动分离.进一步将双层翼风力机叶片的扭矩值、弯矩值分别与相同条件下NREL Pha...     

风力机翼型尾缘厚度对粗糙敏感性影响的研究

综合应用涡面元和RANS方法,研究DU93-W-210、DU91-W2-250及DU97-W-300这3种常用翼型经尾缘修型后尾缘厚度对粗糙敏感性的影响.在涡面元方法中采用设置固定转捩和在RANS方法中采用设置锯齿形边界条件的方式来模拟翼型前缘污染,研究发现前缘污染造成翼型吸力峰降低,引起翼型气动性能下降,然而随着尾缘...     

A review of materials degradation in utility scale wind turbines

Abstract

This paper presents a comprehensive review of the state of knowledge of materials used in the major wind turbine components of both land based and offshore wind turbines. The paper is divided into the following seven major sections: utility scale wind turbine design overview; current state of wind turbine technology; review of degradation of materials used in wind turbines; a summary of materials degradation service experience; condition monitoring overview; review of materials based research and development for wind turbines; a summary of missing knowledge and future materials challenges. The review points out that the most important degradation mechanism is fatigue which limits the life, reliability and performance of current wind turbines. As even larger machines are built in the future, with pressures to cut weight and cost, continued materials research and development, as summarised in this paper, is warranted. This critical assessment and review of materials based degradation should be of interest to a wide range of technical energy specialists including those from manufacturers, research and development centres, end users (i.e. electric power generation companies) and financiers and insurers.