Structural Analysis of Large-Scale Vertical Axis Wind Turbines Part II: Fatigue and Ultimate Strength Analyses

Jinghua Lin, You-lin Xu and Yong Xia
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Jinghua Lin: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China
You-lin Xu: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China
Yong Xia: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China

Energies, 2019, vol. 12, issue 13, 1-18

Abstract: Vertical axis wind turbines (VAWTs) exhibit many advantages and great application prospect as compared with horizontal ones. However, large-scale VAWTs are rarely reported, and the codes and guidelines for designing large-scale VAWTs are lacking. Designing a large-scale composite blade requires precise finite element (FE) modeling and stress analysis at the lamina level, while precise modeling of an entire VAWT is computationally intensive. This study proposes a comprehensive fatigue and ultimate strength analysis framework for VAWTs. The framework includes load determination, finite element (FE) model establishment, and fatigue and ultimate strength analyses. Wind load determination has been presented in the companion paper. In this study, laminated shell elements are used to model blades, which are separately analyzed by ignoring the influence of the tower and arms. Meanwhile, beam elements are used to model an entire VAWT to conduct a structural analysis of other structural components. A straight-bladed VAWT in Yang Jiang, China, is used as a case study. The critical locations of fatigue and ultimate strength failure of the blade, shaft, arms, and tower are obtained.

Keywords: vertical axis wind turbine; fatigue analysis; ultimate strength analysis; laminated blade (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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