• Wind and Structures
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.95-108
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• 2006

Wind turbines are highly complex structures for numerical flow simulation. They normally comprise of a turbine mounted on a tower thus the movement of the turbine blades and the blade/tower interaction must be captured. In addition the ground effect should also be included. There are many more important features of wind turbines and it is difficult to include all of them. A simplified set of features is chosen here for both the turbine and the tower to show how the method can begin to identify the main points connected with wind turbine wake generation and tip vortex tower interaction. An approach to modelling the rotating blades of a turbine is proposed here. The model uses point forces based on blade element theory to model the blades and takes into account their time dependent motion. This means that local instantaneous velocities can be used as a basis for the blade element theory. The model is incorporated into a large eddy simulation code and, although many important features are left out of the model, the velocity/power performance relation is generally of the correct order of magnitude. Suggested improvements to the method are discussed.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2009.11a
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• pp.473-473
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• 2009

There have been many academic researches on the aerodynamic design of wind turbine based on blade element method (BEM) and momentum theory (MT, or actuating disk theory). However, in the real world, the turbine blade design requires many additional constraints more than theoretical analysis. The standard procedure is studied in the present paper to design new blades for the wind turbine system ranged from the small size from 1 to 10 kW. From the experience of full design of a 10 kW blade, the authors tried to set up a standard procedure for the aerodynamic design based on IEC 61400-2. Wind-turbine scale, rotating speed, and geometrical chord/twist distribution at the segmented span positions are calculated with a suitable BEM/MT code, and the geometrical shape of tip and root should be modified after considering various parameters: wing-tip vortex, aerodynamic noise, turbine efficiency, structural safety, convenience of fabrication, and even economic factor likes price, etc. The evaluated data is passed to the next procedure of structural design, but some of them should still be corresponded with each other: the fluid-structure interaction is one of those problems not yet solved, for example. Consequently, the design procedure of small wind-turbine blades is set up for the mass production of commercial products in this research.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.78-87
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• 2021

Background: To understand shade and wind effects on seedling traits of common reed (Phragmites australis), we conducted a mesocosm experiment manipulating day length (10 h daytime a day as open canopy conditions or 6 h daytime a day as partially closed canopy conditions) and wind speed (0 m/s as windless conditions or 4 m/s as windy conditions). Results: Most values of functional traits of leaf blades, culms, and biomass production of P. australis were higher under long day length. In particular, we found sole positive effects of long day length in several functional traits such as internode and leaf blade lengths and the values of above-ground dry weight (DW), rhizome DW, and total DW. Wind-induced effects on functional traits were different depending on functional traits. Wind contributed to relatively low values of chlorophyll contents, angles between leaf blades, mean culm height, and maximum culm height. In contrast, wind contributed to relatively high values of culm density and below-ground DW. Conclusions: Although wind appeared to inhibit the vertical growth of P. australis through physiological and morphological changes in leaf blades, it seemed that P. australis might compensate the inhibited vertical growth with increased horizontal growth such as more numerous culms, indicating a highly adaptive characteristic of P. australis in terms of phenotypic plasticity under windy environments.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.419-444
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• 2014

Within this paper a new approach for early damage detection in rotor blades of wind energy converters is presented, which is shown to have a more sensitive reaction to damage than eigenfrequency-based methods. The new approach is based on the extension of Gasch's proportionality method, according to which maximum oscillation velocity and maximum stress are proportional by a factor, which describes the dynamic behavior of the structure. A change in the proportionality factor can be used as damage indicator. In addition, a novel deflection sensor was developed, which was specifically designed for use in wind turbine rotor blades. This deflection sensor was used during the experimental tests conducted for the measurement of the blade deflection. The method was applied on numerical models for different damage cases and damage extents. Additionally, the method and the sensing concept were applied on a real 50.8 m blade during a fatigue test in the edgewise direction. During the test, a damage of 1.5 m length was induced on the upper trailing edge bondline. Both the initial damage and the increase of its length were successfully detected by the decrease of the proportionality factor. This decrease coincided significantly with the decrease of the factor calculated from the numerical analyses.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.27 no.9
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• pp.26-33
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• 2010

A multi-MW wind turbine is a huge mechanical structure, of which the rotor diameter is more or less than 100 m. Rotor blades experience unsymmetric mechanical loads caused by the interaction of incoming wind with the tower and wind shear effect. These mechanical loads are transferred to the entire structure of the wind turbine and are known as the major reasons for shortening the life span of the wind turbine. Therefore, as the size of wind turbine gets bigger, the mitigation of mechanical loads becomes more important issue in wind turbine control system design. In this paper, a concept of an individual pitch control(IPC), which minimizes the mechanical loads of rotor blades, is introduced, and simulation results using IPC are discussed.

• International Journal of Aeronautical and Space Sciences
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.11-16
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• 2007

This paper describes the cycloidal wind turbine, which is a straight blade vertical axis wind turbine using the cycloidal blade system. Cycloidal blade system consists of several blades rotating about an axis in parallel direction. Each blade changes its pitch angle periodically. Cycloidal wind turbine is different from the previous turbines. The wind turbine operates with optimum rotating forces through active control of the blade to change pitch angle and phase angle according to the changes of wind direction and wind speed. Various numerical experiments were conducted to develop a small vertical axis wind turbine of 1 kW class. For this numerical analysis, the rotor system equips four blades consisting of a symmetric airfoil NACA0018 of 1.0m in span, 0.22m in chord and 1.0m in radius. A general purpose commercial CFD program, STAR-CD, was used for numerical analysis. PCL of MSC/PATRAN was used for efficient parametric auto mesh generation. Variables of wind speed, pitch angle, phase angle and rotating speed were set in the numerical experiments. The generated power was obtained according to the various combinations of these variables. Optimal pitch angle and phase angle of cycloidal blade system were obtained according to the change of the wind direction and the wind speed. Based on data obtained from the above analysis, control device was designed. The wind direction and the wind speed were sensed by a wind indicator and an anemometer. Each blades were actuated to optimal performance values by servo motors.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.263-278
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• 2013

The fatigue load of a turbine blade has become more important because the size of commercial wind turbines has increased dramatically in the past 30 years. The reduction of the fatigue load can result in an increase in operational efficiency. This paper numerically investigates the load reduction of large wind turbine blades using active aerodynamic load control devices, namely trailing edge flaps. The PD and LQG controllers are used to determine the trailing edge flap angle; the difference between the root bending moment and its mean value during turbulent wind conditions is used as the error signal of the controllers. By numerically analyzing the effect of the trailing edge flaps on the wind turbines, a reduction of 30-50% in the standard deviation of the root bending moment was achieved. This result implies a reduction in the fatigue damage on the wind turbines, which allows the turbine blade lengths to be increased without exceeding the designed fatigue damage limit.

• Journal of Advanced Marine Engineering and Technology
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• v.30 no.8
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• pp.877-884
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• 2006

The objective of this study is to investigate the aerodynamic characteristics of a vertical axis wind turbine blade as the basic study of a design of a vertical axis wind turbine. The lift and drag coefficients of the various shape of the vortical axis wind turbine blades are analyzed and compared using the CFD code Fluent. To validate the numerical analysis, the predicted results of the Fluent are compared with those of the Xfoil code and the experimental results. We conclude that the program Fluent can be used to predict the aerodynamics of the wind turbine blade. By comparing the predicted results of the aerodynamic characteristics of the different shape of the blades, an appropriate shape of the blade is suggested to design the vortical axis wind turbine blade.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• summer
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• pp.1522-1524
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• 2004

The wind turbine captures the wind's kinetic energy in a rotor consisting of two or more blades mechanically coupled to an electrical generator. In this paper is proposed models for wind energy power plants using V.A.W.T. and complex concepts using shapes of a half cylinder for blades. A familiar configuration for a drag-type wind machine is shown this paper. In this simple machine, kinetic energy in the wind is converted into mechanical energy in a vertical rotating shaft.

• Journal of Wind Energy
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.61-67
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• 2011

In the present study, numerical unsteady simulations of the NREL Phase VI wind turbine in downwind operation conditions were conducted to investigate rotor-tower interaction. The calculations were performed using an unstructured mesh, incompressible Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes flow solver. To capture the unsteady effects associated with the tower shadow between the rotor blades and the tower, the wind turbine was modelled including the rotor, tower, hub, and nacelle. The present results generally showed good agreements with available experimental data. At the lowest wind speed, the pressure distribution was characterized by a complete collapse of the suction peak on the blade when the blade passes through the tower wake. It was found that unsteady effects play a significant role in the response of the blades.