Structural Design and Experimental Investigation of A Medium Scale Composite Wind Turbine Blade Considering Fatigue life

The aims of this study is to realize the structural design for development of a medium scale E-glass/epoxy composite wind turbine blade for a 750KW class horizontal axis wind turbine system. In this study, the various load cases specified by the IEC61400-1 international specification and GL Regulations for the wind energy conversion system were considered, and a specific composite structure configuration which can effectively endure various loads such as aerodynamic and centrifugal loads, loads due to accumulation of ice, hygro-thermal and mechanical loads was proposed. In order to evaluate the structure, the structural analysis for the composite wind turbine blade were peformed using tile finite element method(FEM). In the structural design, the acceptable blade structural configuration was determined through the parametric studies, and the most dominant design parameters were confirmed. In the stress analysis using the FEM, it was confirmed that the blade structure was safe and stable in any various load cases Moreover the safety of the blade root joint with insert bolts, newly devised in this study, was checked against the design fond and the fatigue.