The Determination of Stochastic Loads on Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine Blades

1998 ◽  
Vol 120 (2) ◽  
pp. 115-120
Author(s):  
L. N. Freeman ◽  
R. E. Wilson

The FAST Code which is capable of determining structural loads of a flexible, teetering, horizontal axis wind turbine is described and comparisons of calculated loads with test data are given at two wind speeds for the ESI-80. The FAST Code models a two-bladed HAWT with degrees-of-freedom for blade bending, teeter, drive train flexibility, yaw, and windwise and crosswind tower motion. The code allows blade dimensions, stiffnesses, and weights to differ and the code models tower shadow, wind shear, and turbulence. Additionally, dynamic stall is included as are delta-3 and an underslung rotor. Load comparisons are made with ESI-80 test data in the form of power spectral density, rainflow counting, occurrence histograms, and azimuth averaged bin plots. It is concluded that agreement between the FAST Code and test results is good.

Author(s):  
Ohad Gur ◽  
Aviv Rosen

The optimal aerodynamic design of Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine (HAWT) is investigated. The Blade-element/Momentum model is used for the aerodynamic analysis. In the first part of the paper a simple design method is derived, where the turbine blade is optimized for operation at a specific wind speed. Results of this simple optimization are presented and discussed. Besides being optimized for operation at a specific wind speed, without considering operation at other wind speeds, the simple model is also limited in the choice of design goals (cost functions), design variables and constraints. In the second part of the paper a comprehensive design method that is based on a mixed numerical optimization strategy, is presented. This method can handle almost any combination of: design goal, design variables, and constraints. Results of this method are presented, compared with the results of the simple optimization, and discussed.


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