Investigation of a cross-section of a composite wind turbine blade

What is it about?

In wind turbines, blades are critical design members because performance depends on blade material, shape, twist angle, etc. The problem of internal, mechanical design and material selection for a prototypical -high power- horizontal axis wind turbine blade under static, flap-wise loading is investigated in this study. At first a materials selection methodology has been proposed. A very detailed computational analysis based on finite element modes is developed representing the load-carrying box girder of the blade with a given airfoil shape, size, and the type and position of the interior load-bearing longitudinal beams/shear-webs.

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Why is it important?

Results concerning displacements and stresses are generated in this paper using both plane and shell elements with linear and non-linear analyses.From our analysis. The main objective of this study is to further advance the use of computer-aided engineering methods and tools (e.g. material-selection methodologies and geometrical modeling of the interior supporting structure) to the field of development of composite wind turbine blades based on advanced materials, at a local level.

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