3D Permeability of Thick-Section Glass Fabric Reinforced Polymer Composite by Vacuum-Assisted Resin Infusion Molding

Author(s):  
Ethan R Pedneau ◽  
Su Su Wang

Abstract Determination of permeability of thick-section glass fabric preforms with fabric layers of different architectures is critical for manufacturing large, thick composite structures with complex geometry, such as wind turbine blades. The thick-section reinforcement permeability is inherently three-dimensional and needs to be obtained for accurate composite processing modeling and analysis. Numerical simulation of the liquid stage of vacuum-assisted resin infusion molding (VARIM) is important to advance the composite manufacturing process and reduce processing-induced defects. In this research, the 3D permeability of thick-section E-glass fabric reinforcement preforms is determined and the results are validated by a comparison between flow front progressions from experiments and from numerical simulations using ANSYS Fluent software. The orientation of the principal permeability axes were unknown prior to experiments. The approach used in this research differs from those in literature in that the through-thickness permeability is determined as a function of flow front positions along the principal axes and the in-plane permeabilities and is not dependent on the inlet radius. The approach was tested on reinforcements with fabric architectures which vary through-the-thickness direction, such as those in a spar cap of a wind turbine blade. The computational simulations of the flow-front progression through-the-thickness were consistent with experimental observations.

2013 ◽  
Vol 284-287 ◽  
pp. 518-522
Author(s):  
Hua Wei Chi ◽  
Pey Shey Wu ◽  
Kami Ru Chen ◽  
Yue Hua Jhuo ◽  
Hung Yun Wu

A wind-power generation system uses wind turbine blades to convert the kinetic energy of wind to drive a generator which in turn yields electricity, the aerodynamic performance of the wind turbine blades has decisive effect on the cost benefit of the whole system. The aerodynamic analysis and the optimization of design parameters for the wind turbine blades are key techniques in the early stage of the development of a wind-power generation system. It influences the size selection of connecting mechanisms and the specification of parts in the design steps that follows. A computational procedure and method for aerodynamics optimization was established in this study for three-dimensional blades and the rotor design of a wind turbine. The procedure was applied to improving a previously studied 25kW wind turbine rotor design. Results show that the aerodynamic performance of the new three-dimensional blades has remarkable improvement after optimization.


Author(s):  
Alka Gupta ◽  
Abdulrahman Alsultan ◽  
R. S. Amano ◽  
Sourabh Kumar ◽  
Andrew D. Welsh

Energy is the heart of today’s civilization and the demand seems to be increasing with our growing population. Alternative energy solutions are the future of energy, whereas the fossil-based fuels are finite and deemed to become extinct. The design of the wind turbine blade is the main governing factor that affects power generation from the wind turbine. Different airfoils, angle of twist and blade dimensions are the parameters that control the efficiency of the wind turbine. This study is aimed at investigating the aerodynamic performance of the wind turbine blade. In the present paper, we discuss innovative blade designs using the NACA 4412 airfoil, comparing them with a straight swept blade. The wake region was measured in the lab with a straight blade. All the results with different designs of blades were compared for their performance. A complete three-dimensional computational analysis was carried out to compare the power generation in each case for different wind speeds. It was found from the numerical analysis that the slotted blade yielded the most power generation among the other blade designs.


2001 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jay R. Sayre ◽  
Alfred C. Loos

Abstract Vacuum assisted resin transfer molding (VARTM) has shown potential to significantly reduce the manufacturing cost of high-performance aerospace composite structures. In this investigation, high fiber volume fraction, triaxially braided preforms with through-the-thickness stitching were successfully resin infiltrated by the VARTM process. The preforms, resin infiltrated with three different resin systems, produced cured composites that were fully wet-out and void free. A three-dimensional finite element model was used to simulation resin infusion into the preforms. The predicted flow patterns agreed well with the flow pattern observed during the infiltration process. The total infiltration times calculated using the model compared well with the measured times.


Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. 2649 ◽  
Author(s):  
Artur Bugała ◽  
Olga Roszyk

This paper presents the results of the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation of the airflow for a 300 W horizontal axis wind turbine, using additional structural elements which modify the original shape of the rotor in the form of multi-shaped bowls which change the airflow distribution. A three-dimensional CAD model of the tested wind turbine was presented, with three variants subjected to simulation: a basic wind turbine without the element that modifies the airflow distribution, a turbine with a plano-convex bowl, and a turbine with a centrally convex bowl, with the hyperbolic disappearance of convexity as the radius of the rotor increases. The momentary value of wind speed, recorded at measuring points located in the plane of wind turbine blades, demonstrated an increase when compared to the base model by 35% for the wind turbine with the plano-convex bowl, for the wind speed of 5 m/s, and 31.3% and 49% for the higher approaching wind speed, for the plano-convex bowl and centrally convex bowl, respectively. The centrally convex bowl seems to be more appropriate for higher approaching wind speeds. An increase in wind turbine efficiency, described by the power coefficient, for solutions with aerodynamic bowls was observed.


2013 ◽  
Vol 446-447 ◽  
pp. 452-457 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yong Wang ◽  
De Tian ◽  
Wei He

The hoisting forces on a 38.5m wind turbine blade in multiple positions are computed using the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method. The computation model is constructed with the steady wind conditions, blade mesh model and the blade positions which are determined by the blade pitch angle, azimuth angle and rotor yaw angle. The maximal and minimal hoisting forces in three-dimensional coordinates are found and the corresponding pitch angle, azimuth angle and yaw angle are obtained. The change of the hoisting forces on wind turbine blades is analyzed. Suggestions are given to decrease the hoisting forces of the blade in open wind environment.


2005 ◽  
Vol 127 (2) ◽  
pp. 214-222 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Bertagnolio ◽  
N. N. Sørensen ◽  
F. Rasmussen

The objective of this paper is an improved understanding of the physics of the aeroelastic motion of wind turbine blades in order to improve the numerical models used for their design. Two- and three-dimensional Navier–Stokes calculations of the flow around a wind turbine airfoil using the k−ω SST and Detached Eddy Simulation (DES) turbulence models, as well as an engineering semiempirical dynamic stall model, are conducted. The computational results are compared to the experimental results that are available for both the static airfoil and the pitching airfoil. It is shown that the Navier–Stokes simulations can reproduce the main characteristic features of the flow. The DES model seems to be able to reproduce most of the details of the unsteady aerodynamics. Aerodynamic work computations indicate that a plunging motion of the airfoil can become unstable.


2015 ◽  
Vol 813-814 ◽  
pp. 1070-1074
Author(s):  
T. Micha Premkumar ◽  
T. Mohan ◽  
Sivamani Seralathan ◽  
A. Sudheer Kumar

The capacity of wind power generation has increased across India due to various activities encouraged by government. Moreover, onshore potential in India is in the order of 100GW. However, the plant load factor is often very low in wind power production. In most of the place, low-rated wind speed is available. Effective utilization of the wind to produce small power will reduces the grid load. There is in need to effectively utilize the available potential to meet the energy demand. The low cost vertical axis wind turbine designed for low rated wind regime has the hybrid of simple Savonius and helical Savonius. Various experimental parameters are measured to check the suitability of the vertical axis wind turbine in the low rated wind speed regions. Numerical simulation are carried out for three dimensional steady flow around the combined Savonius and helical Savonius vertical axis wind turbine blades using ANSYS Fluent(C). Numerical investigation are conducted to study the effect of hybrid combination on performance of the rotor in terms of coefficient of torque, coefficient of power, etc. Self-starting behaviour of the vertical axis wind turbine is improved by using this hybrid vertical axis wind turbine.


Author(s):  
Robert Williams ◽  
Joana Rocha ◽  
Edgar Matida ◽  
Fred Nitzsche

Surface-based sources of aerodynamically-generated noise for the 17-m troposkien shape vertical-axis wind turbine are predicted using Farassat’s Formulation 1A of the Ffowcs Williams-Hawkings equation. By discretizing the three-dimensional turbine blades over the height of the turbine into constant-radius sections, the blades were aerodynamically modeled in two-dimensions in the horizontal plane by an unsteady panel method to obtain results for surface pressures and velocities. The acoustic pressure generated by the blades throughout their rotations was determined by the combination of loading and thickness noise sources on the surface of the blade sections in the time-domain. The simulation results were compared to experimental results for the acoustic pressure power spectral density. The sound pressure level around the turbine was found to have a slight dipole radiation pattern, caused primarily by the loading acoustic pressure on the blades.


PAMM ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 432-433 ◽  
Author(s):  
Horia Dumitrescu ◽  
Vladimir Cardos

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