Understanding the Mechanisms of Aero-Structural Optimization of a Wind Turbine Blade

Understanding the Mechanisms of Aero-Structural Optimization of a Wind Turbine Blade

Velez Isaza, A.

Timmer, W.A. (mentor)
Ceyhan, O. (mentor)

Aerospace Engineering

DUWIND

2012-12-12

The process of designing a wind turbine blade involves many disciplines and is of an iterative character, making it cumbersome and sometimes inefficient. In this thesis an increased understanding of the physical and modeling considerations required for a better aero-elastic design of a blade is sought. To this end, an aero-structural model is developed and placed in an optimization procedure, where the mechanisms driving the optimizer can be analyzed. The model consists of a Blade Element Momentum analysis of the flow; and a process that dimensions the internal structure of a blade for a set of aerodynamic loads and design requirements. The optimizations use Genetic Algorithms and are done in a parametric way, increasing the design space and changing the objective function step by step. The studied parameters are the chord and twist distributions and the airfoil thickness of the outboard half of the blade. The optimizations are carried out with the objective of improving the design of the DOWEC reference turbine for power performance, blade mass and a combination of the two. The results of the optimizations show the mechanisms that must be taken into account when doing the preliminary aero-structural design of a wind turbine blade. In particular, one of the results indicates that the mechanisms for an enhanced power performance design and reduced blade mass are not always counteracting and can actually, with a good understanding of the physical phenomena, be used for an improved design in both aspects.

wind turbine blade
Windenergy

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:824b7de5-af42-45cb-b7ad-4bb55f7c49c0

Student theses

master thesis

(c) 2012 Velez Isaza, A.