• Wind and Structures
• /
• v.35 no.5
• /
• pp.353-368
• /
• 2022

Wind turbine blades are adjusted in real-time according to the wind conditions and blade deformations to improve power generation efficiency. It is necessary to predict and reduce the aeroelastic deformations of wind turbine blades. In this paper, the equivalent model of the blade is established by the finite element method (FEM), and the aerodynamic load of the blade is evaluated based on the blade element momentum (BEM) theory. The aeroelastic coupling model is established, in which the bending-torsion coupling effect of the blade is taken into account. The steady and dynamic aeroelastic deformations are calculated. The influences of the blade section's shear centre position and the blade's sweepback design on the deformations are analyzed. The novel approaches of reducing the twist angle of the blade by changing the shear centre position and sweepback of the blade are presented and proven to be feasible.

• International Journal of Aeronautical and Space Sciences
• /
• v.17 no.2
• /
• pp.157-166
• /
• 2016

Aerodynamic loads for a horizontal axis wind turbine of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) Phase VI rotor in yawed condition were predicted by using the blade element momentum theorem. The classical blade element momentum theorem was complemented by several aerodynamic corrections and models including the Pitt and Peters' yaw correction, Buhl's wake correction, Prandtl's tip loss model, Du and Selig's three-dimensional (3-D) stall delay model, etc. Changes of the aerodynamic loads according to the azimuth angle acting on the span-wise location of the NREL Phase VI blade were compared with the experimental data with various yaw angles and inflow speeds. The computational flow chart for the classical blade element momentum theorem was adequately modified to accurately calculate the combined functions of additional corrections and models stated above. A successive under-relaxation technique was developed and applied to prevent possible failure during the iteration process. Changes of the angle of attack according to the azimuth angle at the specified radial location of the blade were also obtained. The proposed numerical procedure was verified, and the predicted data of aerodynamic loads for the NREL Phase VI rotor bears an extremely close resemblance to those of the experimental data.

• International Journal of Aeronautical and Space Sciences
• /
• v.10 no.2
• /
• pp.125-133
• /
• 2009

To numerically simulate aerodynamics of rotor-airframe interaction in a rigorous manner, we need to solve the Navier-Stokes system for a rotor-airframe combination as a whole. This often imposes a serious computational burden since rotating blades and a stationary body have to be simultaneously dealt with. An efficient alternative is to adopt a momentum source method in which the action of rotor is approximated as momentum source over a rotor disc plane in a stationary computational domain. This makes the simulation much simpler. For unsteady simulation, the instantaneous momentum sources are assigned only to a portion of disk plane corresponding to blade passage. The momentum source is obtained by using blade element theory with dynamic inflow model. Computations are carried out for the simple rotor-airframe model (the Georgia Tech model) and the results of the simulation are compared with those of the full Navier-Stokes simulation with moving mesh system for rotor and with experimental data. It is shown that the present simulation yields results as good as those of the full Navier-Stokes simulation.

• Wind and Structures
• /
• v.17 no.6
• /
• pp.589-608
• /
• 2013

A model is proposed to analyse the along-wind dynamic response of upwind turbines with horizontal axis under service wind conditions. The model takes into account the dynamic coupling effect between rotor blades and supporting tower. The wind speed field is decomposed into a mean component, accounting for the well-known wind shear effect, and a fluctuating component, treated through a spectral approach. Accordingly, the so-called rotationally sampled spectra are introduced for the blades to account for the effect of their rotating motion. Wind forces acting on the rotor blades are calculated according to the blade element momentum model. The tower shadow effect is also included in the present model. Two examples of a large and medium size wind turbines are modelled, and their dynamic response is analysed and compared with the results of a conventional static analysis.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 2007.06a
• /
• pp.374-377
• /
• 2007

This paper deals with a pitch control for reducing load of the wind turbine system. To make a model of the wind turbine system, the Momentum Theory and Blade Element Theory are used. Considering wind shear, wind model was also built. Due to a difference of the wind speed between upper parts and lower parts of the sweep area, overturning moment of the wind turbine is generated. So, in this paper through analyzing of the system model of the wind turbine, a control algorithm which was able to achieve both maintaining power and reducing overturning moment was proposed. Using matlab simulink, controller performance was verified.

• Journal of Advanced Marine Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.39 no.8
• /
• pp.856-862
• /
• 2015

Tidal current energy is an important alternative energy resource among the various ocean energy resources available. The tidal currents in the South-Western sea of Korea can be utilized for the development of tidal current power generation. Tidal power generation can be beneficial for many fishing nurseries and nearby islands in the southwest region of Korea. Moreover, tidal power generation is necessary for promoting energy self-sufficient islands. As tidal currents are always available, power generation is predictable; thus, tidal power is a reliable renewable energy resource. The selection of an appropriate hydrofoil is important for designing a tidal current turbine. This study concentrates on the selection and numerical analysis of four different hydrofoils (MNU26, NACA63421, DU91_W2_250, and DU93_W_210LM). Blade element momentum theory is used for configuring the design of a 50 W class turbine rotor blade. The optimized blade geometry is used for computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis with hexahedral numerical grids. Among the four blades, NACA63421 blade showed the maximum power coefficient of 0.45 at a tip speed ratio of 6. CFD analysis is used to investigate the power coefficient, pressure coefficient, and streamline distribution of a 50 W class horizontal axis tidal current turbine for different hydrofoils.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
• /
• v.39 no.8
• /
• pp.661-668
• /
• 2015

We present a design methodology for horizontal-axis tidal turbine blades based on blade element momentum theory, which has been used for aerodynamic design and power-performance analysis in the wind-energy industry. We design a 2-blade-type 1 MW HATT blade, which consists of a single airfoil (S814), and we present the detailed design parameters in this paper. Tidal turbine blades can experience cavitation problems at the blade-tip region, and this should be seriously considered during the early design stage. We perform computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations considering the cavitation model to predict the power performance and to investigate the flow characteristics of the blade. The maximum power coefficient is shown to be about 47 under the condition where TSR = 7, and we observed cavitation on the suction and pressure sides of the blade.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
• /
• v.28 no.7
• /
• pp.1222-1230
• /
• 2022

The rotor blade is an important component of a tidal stream turbine and is affected by a large thrust force and load due to the high density of seawater. Therefore, the performance must be secured through the geometrical and structural design of the blade and the blade structural safety to which the composite material is applied. In this study, a 1 MW class large turbine blade was designed using the blade element momentum (BEM) theory. GFRP is a fiber-reinforced plastic used for turbine blade materials. A sandwich structure was applied with CFRP to lay-up the blade cross-section. In addition, to evaluate structural safety according to flow variations, static load analysis within the linear elasticity range was performed using the fluid-structure interactive (FSI) method. Structural safety was evaluated by analyzing tip deflection, strain, and failure index of the blade due to bending moment. As a result, Model-B was able to reduce blade tip deflection and weight. In addition, safety could be secured by indicating that the failure index, inverse reserve factor (IRF), was 1 or less in all load ranges excluding 3.0*Vr of Model-A. In the future, structural safety will be evaluated by applying various failure theories and redesigning the laminated pattern as well as the change of blade material.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.56 no.6
• /
• pp.1021-1040
• /
• 2015

An effective method to calculate aerodynamic loads and aeroelastic responses of large wind turbine tower-blade coupled structures in yaw condition is proposed. By a case study on a 5 MW large wind turbine, the finite element model of the wind turbine tower-blade coupled structure is established to obtain the modal information. The harmonic superposition method and modified blade-element momentum theory are used to calculate aerodynamic loads in yaw condition, in which the wind shear, tower shadow, tower-blade modal and aerodynamic interactions, and rotational effects are fully taken into account. The mode superposition method is used to calculate kinetic equation of wind turbine tower-blade coupled structure in time domain. The induced velocity and dynamic loads are updated through iterative loop, and the aeroelastic responses of large wind turbine tower-blade coupled system are then obtained. For completeness, the yaw effect and aeroelastic effect on aerodynamic loads and wind-induced responses are discussed in detail based on the calculating results.

• Smart Structures and Systems
• /
• v.26 no.6
• /
• pp.703-720
• /
• 2020

This paper investigates the safety of the wind turbine blade against excessive deformation. For this purpose, the performance of the blade in the along-wind direction is improved by longitudinal stiffener made of shape memory alloy. The rationale behind the selection of this smart material is due to its ability to offer excellent thermo-mechanical behaviour at low strain. Here, Liang-Roger model is adopted for vibration control, and the super-elastic effects are utilised for blade stiffening. Turbulent wind fields are generated at the hub height using TurbSim and the corresponding loads are evaluated using blade element momentum theory. An efficient switching algorithm is developed along with performance curves that enable the designer to select an optimal mode of heating depending upon the operational scenario. Numerical results presented in this paper clearly demonstrate the performance envelope of the proposed stiffener and its influence on the reliability of the blade.