Passive load alleviation on wind turbine blades from aeroelastically driven selectively compliant morphing

Load alleviation control is highly desirable to reduce penalties associated with the added structural mass required to withstand rare load scenarios. This is particularly true for wind turbine designs incorporating long‐span blades. Implementation of compliance‐based morphing structures to modify the lift distribution passively has the potential to mitigate the impact of rare, but integrally threatening, loads on wind turbine blades while limiting the addition of actuation and sensing systems. We present a novel passive load alleviation concept based on a morphing flap exhibiting selective compliance from an embedded bistable element. A multifidelity, aeroelastic tool is used to study the shape adaptability of a morphing flap indicating that passive changes from high lift generation to load alleviation configurations can be achieved by exploiting the energy of the flow. This mechanism offers a method to reduce catastrophic peak loads potentially, thus offering the possibility to lower the overall structural weight of wind turbine blades.     

Fluid structure interaction of a morphed wind turbine blade

One serious challenge of energy systems design, wind turbines in particular, is the need to match the system operation to the variable load. This is so because system efficiency drops at off‐design load. One strategy to address this challenge for wind turbine blades and obtain a more consistent efficiency over a wide load range, is varying the blade geometry. Predictable morphing of wind turbine blade in reaction to wind load conditions has been introduced recently. The concept, derived from fish locomotion, also has similarities to spoilers and ailerons, known to reduce flow separation and improve performance using passive changes in blade geometry. In this work, we employ a fully coupled technique on CFD and FEM models to introduce continuous morphing to desired and predetermined blade design geometry, the NACA 4412 profile, which is commonly used in wind turbine applications. Then, we assess the aerodynamic behavior of a morphing wind turbine airfoil using a two‐dimensional computation. The work is focused on assessing aerodynamic forces based on trailing edge deflection, wind speed, and material elasticity, that is, Young's modulus. The computational results suggest that the morphing blade has superior part‐load efficiency over the rigid NACA blade. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Active load alleviation potential of adaptive wind turbine blades using shape memory alloy actuators

Upscaling of wind turbine blades calls for implementation of innovative active load control concepts that will facilitate the flawless operation of the machine and reduce the fatigue and ultimate loads that hinder its service life. Based on aeroelastic simulations that prove the enhanced capabilities of combined individual pitch and individual flap control at global wind turbine scale level, a shape adaptive concept that encompasses an articulated mechanism consisting of two subparts is presented. Shape memory alloy (SMA) actuators are investigated and assessed as means to control the shape adaptive mechanism at airfoil section level in order to alleviate the developed structural loads. The concept is embedded in the trailing edge region of the blade of a 10‐MW horizontal axis wind turbine and acts as a flap mechanism. Numerical simulations are performed considering various wind velocities and morphing target shapes and trajectories for both normal and extreme turbulence conditions. The results prove the potential of the concept, since the SMA controlled actuators can accurately follow the target trajectories. Power requirements are estimated at 0.22% of the AEP of the machine, while fatigue and ultimate load reduction of the flap‐wise bending moment at the blade root is 27.6% and 7.4%, respectively.     

A morphing downwind‐aligned rotor concept based on a 13‐MW wind turbine

To alleviate the mass‐scaling issues associated with conventional upwind rotors of extreme‐scale wind turbines (≥10 MW), a morphing downwind‐aligned rotor (MoDaR) concept is proposed herein. The concept employs a downwind rotor with blades whose elements are stiff (no intentional flexibility) but with hub‐joints that can be unlocked to allow for moment‐free downwind alignment. Aligning the combination of gravitational, centrifugal and thrust forces along the blade path reduces downwind cantilever loads, resulting in primarily tensile loading. For control simplicity, the blade curvature can be fixed with a single morphing degree of freedom using a near‐hub joint for coning angle: 22° at rated conditions. The conventional baseline was set as the 13.2‐MW Sandia 100‐m all glass blade in a three‐bladed upwind configuration. To quantify potential mass savings, a downwind load‐aligning, two‐bladed rotor was designed. Because of the reduced number of blades, the MoDaR concept had a favorable 33% mass reduction. The blade reduction and coning led to a reduction in rated power, but morphing increased energy capture at lower speeds such that both the MoDaR and conventional rotors have the same average power: 5.4 MW. A finite element analysis showed that quasi‐steady structural stresses could be reduced, over a range of operating wind speeds and azimuthal angles, despite the increases in loading per blade. However, the concept feasibility requires additional investigation of the mass, cost and complexity of the morphing hinge, the impact of unsteady aeroelastic influence because of turbulence and off‐design conditions, along with system‐level Levelized Cost of Energy analysis. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A parametric study of coupled‐mode flutter for MW‐size wind turbine blades

With the increasing size of offshore wind turbine rotors, the design criteria used for the blades may also evolve. Current offshore technology utilizes three relatively stiff blades in an upwind configuration. With the goal of minimizing the mass, there is an interest in the lightweight rotors that instead utilize two flexible blades oriented downwind. These longer blades are more flexible and thus susceptible to experience flow‐induced instability. Coupled‐mode flutter is one of the destructive aeroelastic instabilities that can occur in flexible structures subjected to aerodynamic loading. Because of variation in one of the system parameters, e.g., flow velocity, structural modes coalesce at a critical flow velocity, and coupled‐flutter occurs. In the present work, a parametric study is conducted in order to study the influence of the natural frequencies in the torsional and flapwise directions on the critical flutter speed for wind turbine blades. Three MW‐size wind turbine blades are studied using a three‐dimensional blade model, which includes coupled flapwise and torsional displacements. The results show that the three blades have very similar behavior as the system parameters vary. It is shown that the first torsional natural frequency and the ratio of the first torsional natural frequency to the first flapwise natural frequency are the most critical parameters affecting the onset of instability. Critical flutter speeds even lower than the blade rated speed can be observed for blades with low torsional natural frequencies. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

风力机叶片气动降载与流动分离控制技术综述

风力机大型化已成为风电技术发展的主要趋势。但随之而来的叶片尺寸增大、气弹特性增强、多尺度流动等问题将导致叶片处于更加复杂严峻的风况及载荷环境。为提高叶片应对复杂风况及载荷的能力,提高叶片气动效率,有必要采用先进有效的流动控制技术以满足叶片气动降载与流动分离控制的需求。针对当前主流的流动控制技术进行了介绍,并对较具发展潜力的尾缘襟翼与自适应襟翼研究现状进行了重点介绍。现阶段流动控制技术并未在风力机叶片中得到广泛应用,一方面在于流动控制技术尚难与叶片现有主体控制技术相结合,以达到相辅相成的控制效果;另一方面在于对于部分控制技术,如自适应襟翼等,其控制特点尤其是其在风力机实际运行中的控制特点尚不明确。后续研究中,对于叶片气动降载,应结合更为先进的控制方法与更可靠的研究手段开展尾缘襟翼控制与叶片主体控制的协同控制研究;对于流动分离控制技术,应侧重于改善被动控制技术在非适用工况下的不良影响,同时开展流动控制技术在整机中的实验与数值研究,加快流动分离控制技术的实际应用。     

Power,structural and noise performance tests on different wind turbine rotor blade designs

Most blades available for commercial-grade wind turbines incorporate a straight, span-wise profile and airfoil-shaped cross-sections. These blades are found to be very efficient at low and medium wind speeds compared with the potential energy that can be extracted. This paper explores the possibility of increasing the efficiency of the blades by modifying the blade design to incorporate a swept edge. The design intends to maintain efficiency at low to medium wind speeds by selecting the appropriate orientation and size of the airfoil cross-sections based on an oncoming wind speed and given constant rotation rate. The torque generated from a blade with straight-edge geometry is compared with that generated from a blade with a swept edge as predicted by CFD simulations. To validate the simulations, the experimental curve of the NTK500/41 turbine using LM19.1 blades is reproduced using the same computational conditions. In addition, structural deformations, stress distributions and structural vibration modes are compared between these two different turbine blade surfaces.     

Load alleviation of wind turbines by yaw misalignment

Vertical wind shear is one of the dominating causes of load variations on the blades of a horizontal axis wind turbine. To alleviate the varying loads, wind turbine control systems have been augmented with sensors and actuators for individual pitch control. However, the loads caused by a vertical wind shear can also be affected through yaw misalignment. Recent studies of yaw control have been focused on improving the yaw alignment to increase the power capture at below rated wind speeds. In this study, the potential of alleviating blade load variations induced by the wind shear through yaw misalignment is assessed. The study is performed through simulations of a reference turbine. The study shows that optimal yaw misalignment angles for minimizing the blade load variations can be identified for both deterministic and turbulent inflows. It is shown that the optimal yaw misalignment angles can be applied without power loss for wind speeds above rated wind speed. In deterministic inflow, it is shown that the range of the steady‐state blade load variations can be reduced by up to 70%. For turbulent inflows, it is shown that the potential blade fatigue load reductions depend on the turbulence level. In inflows with high levels of turbulence, the observed blade fatigue load reductions are small, whereas the blade fatigue loads are reduced by 20% at low turbulence levels. For both deterministic and turbulent inflows, it is seen that the blade load reductions are penalized by increased load variations on the non‐rotating turbine parts. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Parametric dependence of a morphing wind turbine blade on material elasticity

A few recent works have suggested a morphing blade for wind turbine energy conversion. The concept is derived from fin and wing motions that better adapt to varying load conditions. Previous research has provided the fluid mechanic justification of this new concept. This paper establishes a parametric relationship between an asymmetric wind turbine blade and constituent material modulus to predict the geometric response of the morphing blade for a given material characteristic. The airfoil’s trailing edge deflection is associated to a prescribed fluid exit angle via the Moment Area (MA) method. Subsequently, a mathematical model is derived to predict material deformation with respect to imparted aerodynamic forces. Results show that an airfoil, much like a tapered beam, can be modeled as a non-prismatic cantilevered beam using this well established method.     

风力机叶片静力测试与分析

利用风力机叶片动力特性实验台测试了风力机叶片在载荷作用下的形变特性,通过改变加载力的大小和加载位置进行多组实验,计算各个截面的弯矩;通过实验和有限元静力分析找出了风力机叶片主要承力部件,对风力机叶片的设计和制造提供了参考依据,对提高风力机的总体性能和优化设计具有重要意义。