On the Design and Manufacture of Wind Turbine Blades

Abstract

Wind turbines become extremely important worldwide along with the need for clear energy sources. The concept of wind turbines is based on using the wind energy to produce lift that turns into toque, which rotates the wind turbine blades and subsequently produces electric power using a proper generator. However, the wide use of wind turbines and their design and manufacturing process are a challenge. Therefore, much research has been conducted to improve and develop new methods for the design and manufacturing of wind turbines. In this chapter, the author discusses some techniques for wind turbine design and manufacturing, including airfoil appropriate selection, design optimization methods, and manufacturing techniques. One of the manufacturing techniques that are found to be superior is the use of chordwise and spanwise stiffeners to increase the stiffness of the skin of carbon fiber wind turbine blades. Those stiffeners are not bonded externally to the skin; otherwise, they are layers of carbon fibers that are buried inside the skin of the wind turbine blades.