Experimental System and Damage Identification of Small-Scale Wind Turbine Blades

Author(s):  
J. M. Gutierrez ◽  
R. Astroza ◽  
J. Abell ◽  
C. Soto ◽  
F. Jaramillo ◽  
...  
Processes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 622
Author(s):  
Yasser Elhenawy ◽  
Yasser Fouad ◽  
Haykel Marouani ◽  
Mohamed Bassyouni

This study aims to evaluate the effect of functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) on the performance of glass fiber (GF)-reinforced polypropylene (PP) for wind turbine blades. Support for theoretical blade movement of horizontal axis wind turbines (HAWTs), simulation, and analysis were performed with the Ansys computer package to gain insight into the durability of polypropylene-chopped E-glass for application in turbine blades under aerodynamic, gravitational, and centrifugal loads. Typically, polymer nanocomposites are used for small-scale wind turbine systems, such as for residential applications. Mechanical and physical properties of material composites including tensile and melt flow indices were determined. Surface morphology of polypropylene-chopped E-glass fiber and functionalized MWCNTs nanocomposites showed good distribution of dispersed phase. The effect of fiber loading on the mechanical properties of the PP nanocomposites was investigated in order to obtain the optimum composite composition and processing conditions for manufacturing wind turbine blades. The results show that adding MWCNTs to glass fiber-reinforced PP composites has a substantial influence on deflection reduction and adding them to chopped-polypropylene E-glass has a significant effect on reducing the bias estimated by finite element analysis.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michal Kulak ◽  
Michal Lipian ◽  
Karol Zawadzki

Purpose This paper aims to discuss the results of the performance study of wind turbine blades equipped with winglets. An investigation focusses on small wind turbines (SWTs), where the winglets are recalled as one of the most promising concepts in terms of turbine efficiency increase. Design/methodology/approach To investigate a contribution of winglets to SWT aerodynamic efficiency, a wind tunnel experiment was performed at Lodz University of Technology. In parallel, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations campaign was conducted with the ANSYS CFX software to investigate appearing flow structures in greater detail. Findings The research indicates the potential behind the application of winglets in low Reynolds flow conditions, while the CFD study enables the identification of crucial regions influencing the flow structure in the most significant degree. Research limitations/implications As the global effect on a whole rotor is a result of a small-scale geometrical feature, it is important to localise unveiled phenomena and the mechanisms behind their generation. Practical implications Even the slightest efficiency improvement in a distributed generation installation can promote such a solution amongst energy prosumers and increase their independence from limited natural resources. Originality/value The winglet-equipped blades of SWTs provide an opportunity to increase the device performance with relatively low cost and ease of implementation.


2013 ◽  
Vol 569-570 ◽  
pp. 628-635 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonas Falk Skov ◽  
Martin Dalgaard Ulriksen ◽  
Kristoffer Ahrens Dickow ◽  
Poul Henning Kirkegaard ◽  
Lars Damkilde

The aim of the present paper is to provide a state-of-the-art outline of structural health monitoring (SHM) techniques, utilizing temperature, noise and vibration, for wind turbine blades, and subsequently perform a typology on the basis of the typical 4 damage identification levels in SHM. Before presenting the state-of-the-art outline, descriptions of structural damages typically occurring in wind turbine blades are provided along with a brief description of the 4 damage identification levels.


2021 ◽  
Vol 263 (6) ◽  
pp. 71-82
Author(s):  
Braj Bhushan Prasad ◽  
Fabian Duvigneau ◽  
Daniel Juhre ◽  
Elmar Woschke

Sound emission from an onshore wind turbine is one of the significant hurdles to use wind energy to its full potential. The vibration caused by the generator is transmitted to the blades, which radiates the sound to the surrounding. The purpose of this experimental study is to present a passive vibration reduction concept, which is based on the high damping properties of granular materials. The efficiency of this concept will be investigated using a laser scanning vibrometer device. For the experimental purpose in the laboratory, small-scale replicas inspired by the original configurations are used as reference geometries for the wind turbine generator and the blades. Vibrations of the prototype, with and without granular material filling, will be determined and compared with each other. The influence of the amount of granular material inside the structure is also investigated. Apart from this, different types of granular filling are examined with respect to their efficiency in reducing the amplitude of vibration of the structure while being as light as possible in order to design a lightweight solution, which increases the overall mass of the wind turbine marginally.


Author(s):  
Abdulrahman Alsultan ◽  
Andrew Ryan Block ◽  
Trevor James Burg ◽  
Joshua Neal Vriesman ◽  
R. S. Amano

The renewable energy is a promising field, which shows a lot of potential for future energy solutions. The design of the blade shows a lot effects on the efficiency of the wind turbine, and the design parameters governs the performance characteristics. This paper addresses a number of innovative blade designs that was developed by alterations made to the existing conventional straight blade. These blades were extensively studied using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software, and showed promising results, which was the motive behind this study. We are designing an experiment to study small scale wind turbines, which will enable us to gather data that will explain some differences in power and torque output. These steps will help us to come to a better understanding of some aerodynamic aspects that will impact the performance of each individual blade design. The comparing criteria for this study was the torque generation at the axes of rotation, which can be translated to several parameters, such as energy output, using some theoretical basis equations.


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