Design and Finite Element Modal Analysis of 48m Composite Wind Turbine Blade

Abstract

We currently notice a substantial growth in the wind energy sector worldwide. This growth is expected to be even faster in the coming years. This means that a massive number of wind turbine blades will be produced in the forthcoming years. There is a large potential for materials savings in these blades. The analysis of designed blade is done in dynamic loading. Five types of spars cross-section are taken in this work. The blade and spar are of composite material. The Finite element modal analysis of designed blade is done in ABAQUS. The scope of the present work is to investigate the structural modal analysis of full-scale 48m fiberglass composite wind turbine blades for 5MW horizontal axis wind turbine and through this to assess the potential for materials savings and consequent reductions of the rotor weight. The entire wind turbine can benefit from such weight reductions through decreased dynamics loads and thus leave room for further optimization. A numerical work has been used to address the most adequate spar shape and to get an understanding of the complex structural behavior of wind turbine blades. Five different types of structural reinforcements helping to prevent undesired structural elastic mechanisms are presented. Comparisons of the eigenfrequencies observed in the full-scale tests are presented and conclusions are drawn based on the mechanisms found.