Mechanics of extendable wind turbine blades
Date
2015
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Abstract
This research aims at understanding the reductions in deflection, stress, and natural frequency of extendable wind turbine blades. For that purpose, a comparative study of these properties for the extendable turbine blade compared with those of a conventional turbine blade was completed. Wind turbine blades have seen extensive growth in application, and extendable turbine blades are a novel advancement over conventional blades. They can be more efficient in extracting energy from wind and are much more practical for transportation purposes. Lengths of the turbine blade have been increasing every year, and the next logical step is to consider making them extendable. In this research, a basic model of the blade was created and then a three-dimensional linear elasticity model was used and studied using the finite element method for analyzing the crucial parameters. In addition to this, two different load cases and six different retracted blade positions were analyzed for in-depth study of the blade behavior. As far as loading is considered, an initial analysis was completed using the wind load alone to give a basic idea of how the model behaves under standard parked conditions. In the second case, both wind and dead load were considered to help understand the blade behavior from a more practical perspective. Overall, the research gives estimates of the reductions in stress, displacement, and natural frequency when the blades are extendable and gives better understanding into the design parameters of these novel structures.
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Subject
retractable turbine blades
extendable turbine blades
variblade