Experimental and Fluid Structure Interaction analysis of a morphing wind turbine rotor

David W. MacPhee and Asfaw Beyene

Energy, 2015, vol. 90, issue P1, 1055-1065

Abstract: Active control of blade pitch for wind turbines is known to increase efficiency, especially for part and over-load operation. An unfortunate consequence of this practice is added upfront and maintenance costs, making these schemes economically viable only in large scale applications. This study investigates a novel concept for wind turbine design, in which the blade is purposefully built of a flexible material which can passively adapt its geometry according to local wind conditions. This design concept therefore acts as a low cost, simplistic passive pitch control mechanism. Using a finite-volume fluid–structure interaction solver, the aeroelastic response of such a turbine is analyzed and compared to experimental data collected from wind tunnel tests as part of this project. The results indicate that the flexible rotor is markedly superior to a geometrically identical rigid one in terms of the size of its operational envelope as well as average and maximal torque production. Using post-processing tools, the performance improvements are attributed to passive deflection of the airfoil, which act to delay blade stall and drastically change surface pressure distribution to improve turbine performance.

Keywords: FSI; Morphing; Wind turbine; Flexible (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (11)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:energy:v:90:y:2015:i:p1:p:1055-1065

DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2015.08.016

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