Load mitigation of wind turbine blade by aeroelastic tailoring via unbalanced laminates composites

Abstract The parametric study of unbalanced tri-axial non-crimp fabrics laminates, typically used in the blade skin layup, showed that the highest bend-twist coupling up to 0.56 was achieved when all three kinds of unbalances (i.e. ply-angle, ply-material and ply-thickness unbalances) were simultaneously present in the laminates. Based on aeroelastic tailoring via unbalanced laminates, the bend-twist coupling towards feather of various degrees was implanted to the skin layup of a variable-speed collective-pitch controlled 5 MW wind turbine rotor blades and fully-coupled aero-servo-elastic analyses were performed. The results showed that when the ply-thickness unbalance is added in the skin layup, in addition to already existing ply-angle and ply-material unbalances, an average increase in the coupling magnitude by approximately 51% along the blade length and a reduction in fatigue load and collective-pitch demand by approximately 1.6–2.9% and 5.5–19.9% across the range of applied stochastic winds ranging from 7 m/s to 23 m/s.

[1]  Paul S. Veers,et al.  Performance of twist-coupled blades on variable speed rotors , 2000 .

[2]  Jose R. Zayas,et al.  CX-100 and TX-100 blade field tests. , 2005 .

[3]  C. Chung,et al.  Fluid–structure interaction of FRP wind turbine blades under aerodynamic effect , 2012 .

[4]  M. J. L. van Tooren,et al.  Implementation of bending-torsion coupling in the design of a wind-turbine rotor-blade , 1999 .

[5]  Jason Jonkman,et al.  Dynamics Modeling and Loads Analysis of an Offshore Floating Wind Turbine , 2007 .

[6]  Carlo L. Bottasso,et al.  Optimization‐based study of bend–twist coupled rotor blades for passive and integrated passive/active load alleviation , 2012 .

[7]  Alberto Zasso,et al.  Aero-Servo-Elastic Design of Wind Turbines: Numerical and Wind Tunnel Modeling Contribution , 2011 .

[8]  J. Jonkman,et al.  Definition of a 5-MW Reference Wind Turbine for Offshore System Development , 2009 .

[9]  Gunjit Bir,et al.  The Use of Twist-Coupled Blades to Enhance the Performance of Horizontal Axis Wind Turbines , 2001 .

[10]  Gary Kanaby,et al.  Development of the Sweep-Twist Adaptive Rotor (STAR) Blade , 2010 .

[11]  Cheng-Huat Ong,et al.  Design, Manufacture and Testing of A Bend-Twist D-Spar , 1999 .

[12]  J. Schaarup.  Guidelines for design of wind turbines , 2001 .

[13]  James F. Manwell,et al.  Book Review: Wind Energy Explained: Theory, Design and Application , 2006 .

[14]  Scott M. Larwood,et al.  Swept Wind Turbine Blade Aeroelastic Modeling for Loads and Dynamic Behavior , 2006 .

[15]  Don W. Lobitz,et al.  Load mitigation with twist-coupled HAWT blades , 1999 .

[16]  P. G. Migliore,et al.  ENHANCED PERFORMANCE OF HAWTS USING ADAPTIVE BLADES , 1996 .

[17]  Paul S. Veers,et al.  Aeroelastic tailoring in wind-turbine blade applications , 1998 .

[18]  Kyle K. Wetzel.  Utility scale twist-flap coupled blade design , 2005 .

[19]  James E. Locke,et al.  Design Studies for Twist-Coupled Wind Turbine Blades , 2003 .

[20]  Sandia Report,et al.  Design of 9-Meter Carbon-Fiberglass Prototype Blades: CX-100 and TX-100 , 2007 .

[21]  Dayton A. Griffin.  Evaluation of Design Concepts for Adaptive Wind Turbine Blades , 2002 .

[22]  S. Report,et al.  The Sandia 100-meter All-glass Baseline Wind Turbine Blade: SNL100-00 , 2011 .

[23]  Lei Xu,et al.  Effect of shallow-angled skins on the structural performance of the large-scale wind turbine blade , 2014 .

[24]  Bradley S. Liebst.  Wind turbine gust load alleviation utilizing curved blades , 1986 .

[25]  G.A.M. Van Kuik,et al.  Aeroelastic Modelling and Comparison of Advanced Active Flap Control Concepts for Load Reduction on the Upwind 5MW Wind Turbine , 2009 .

[26]  Walter Musial,et al.  Trends in the Design, Manufacture and Evaluation of Wind Turbine Blades , 2003 .