• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
• /
• v.35 no.1
• /
• pp.25-30
• /
• 2015

A wind turbine blade is an important component in wind-power generation, and is generally exposed to harsh environmental conditions. Ultrasonic inspection is mainly used to inspect such blades, but it has been difficult to quantify defect sizes in complicated composite structures. Recently, active infrared thermography has been widely studied for inspecting composite structures, in which thermal energy is applied to an object, and an infrared camera detects the energy emitted from it. In this paper, a calibration method for active optical lock-in thermography is proposed to quantify the size. Inclusion, debonding and wrinkle defects, created in a wind blade for 100 kW wind power generation, were all successfully detected using this method. In particular, a ${\phi}50.0mm$ debonding defect was sized with 98.0% accuracy.

• Smart Structures and Systems
• /
• v.16 no.4
• /
• pp.593-606
• /
• 2015

This paper presents a novel concept of healing some of the damages in wind turbine blades (WTBs) such as cracks and delamination. This is achieved through an inherent functioning autonomous repairing system. Such wind turbine blades have the benefit of reduced maintenance cost and increased operational period. Previous techniques of developing autonomous healing systems uses hollow glass fibres (HGFs) to deliver repairing fluids to damaged sites. HGFs have been reported with some limitations like, failure to fracture, which undermines their further usage. The self-healing technique described in this paper represents an advancement in the engineering of the delivery mechanism of a self-healing system. It is analogous to the HGF system but without the HGFs, which are replaced by multiple hollow channels created within the composite, inherently in the FRP matrix at fabrication. An in-house fabricated NACA 4412 WTB incorporating this array of network hollow channels was damaged in flexure and then autonomously repaired using the vascular channels. The blade was re-tested under flexure to ascertain the efficiency of the recovered mechanical properties.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
• /
• v.29 no.5
• /
• pp.15-21
• /
• 2014

The aim of this work is conduct the study on light weight and structural performance improvement of the composite wind power blade. GFRP (Glass Fiber Reinforced Plastic) pre-empted by CFRP(Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic), the major material of wind power blade, was identified the superiority of mechanical performance through the tensile and fatigue test. SENT(Single Edge Notched Tension) specimen fracture test was conducted on the specimen that laminated together 2 ply CFRP with 4 ply GFRP through DIC(Digital Image Correlation) analysis. The SENT specimen thickness and $a_0/W$ ratio is 1.45 mm and 0.2, respectively. The fracture test accomplished with displacement control with 0.1 mm/min at the room temperature. The experimental apparatus used for the fracture test consisted of a 50kN universal dynamic tester and CCD camera connected to a personal computer (PC), which was used to record images of the specimen surface. Following data acquisition, the images and load-displacements were transferred to the PC, on which the DIC software was implement. The experiment and DIC analysis results show that CFRP/GFRP laminated composite exhibits improvement of the strength, compared with that of the existing blade material. This study shows the result that the strength of CFRP rotor blade of wind turbine satisfies through the experimental and DIC method.

• New & Renewable Energy
• /
• v.4 no.3
• /
• pp.45-50
• /
• 2008

GFRP based composite rotor blades were developed for 750 kW & 2 MW wind turbines. The blade sectional geometry was designed to have a general shell-spar and shear web structure. For verifying the structural safety under all relevant extreme loads specified in the GL guidelines, the structural analysis of the rotor blades was performed using commercial FEM codes. The static load carrying capacity, blade tip deflections and natural frequencies were evaluated to satisfy the strength and stability requirements. Full-scale proof tests of rotor blades were carried out with optical fiber sensors for real-time condition monitoring. Finally, the prototype of each rotor blade passed all proof tests for GL certification.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
• /
• v.36 no.3
• /
• pp.297-304
• /
• 2012

For the assessment of the performance of a wind-turbine blade, a simulated loading test may be required. In this study, the blade behavior was investigated through numerical analysis using a dual-axis loading test, closely simulating the real operation conditions. The blade structure for the 100-kW-class wind-turbine system was modeled using the finite element (FE) program ANSYS. The failure criteria and buckling analysis under dual-axis loading were examined. The failure analysis, including fiber failure and inter-fiber failure, was performed with Puck's failure criterion. As the dual-axis load ratio increases, the relatively increased stress occurs at the trailing edge and skin surface 3300-3600 mm away from the root. Furthermore, it is revealed that increasing the dual-axis load ratio makes the location that is weakest against buckling move toward the root part. Thus, it is seen that the dual-axis load test may be an essential requirement for the verification of blade performance.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
• /
• v.31 no.3
• /
• pp.23-30
• /
• 2003

In this study, the various load cases by specified by the IEC61400-1 international specification and GL Regulations for the wind energy conversion system were considered, and a specific composite structure configuration which can effectively endure various loads was proposed. In order to evaluate the structure, the structural analysis for the composite wind turbine blade was performed using the finite element method(FEM). In the structural design, the acceptable configuration of blade structure was determined through the parametric studies, and the most dominant design parameters were confirmed. In the stress analysis using the FEM, it was confirmed that the blade structure was safe and stable for all the considerd load cases. Moreover the safety of the blade root joint with insert bolts, newly devised in this study, was checked against the design loads and also the fatigue loads. The fatigue life for operating more than 20 years was estimated by using the well-known S-N linear damage rule, the load spectrum and Spera's empirical equations. The full-scale static test was performed under the simulated aerodynamic loads. from the experimental results, it was found that the designed blade had the structural integrity. Furthermore the measured results were agreed with the analytical results such as deflections, strains, the mass and the radial center of gravity. The studied blade was successfully certified by an international institute, GL, of Germany.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society For Composite Materials Conference
• /
• 2004.04a
• /
• pp.18-21
• /
• 2004

A GFRP based composite blade was developed for a 750kW wind energy conversion system of type class I. The blade sectional geometry was designed to have a general shell-spar structure. The load cases specified in the IEC61400-1 international specification were considered. For withstanding all relevant extreme loads, the structural analysis for the complete blade was performed using a commercial FEM code. The static load carrying capacity, buckling stability, blade tip deflection and natural frequencies at various rotational speeds were evaluated to satisfy the strength requirements in accordance with the IEC61400-1 and GL Regulations. For designing a lightweight blade, the thickness and the lay-up pattern of the skin-foam sandwich structures were optimized iteratively using the DOT program T-bolts were used for joining the blade root and the hub, which were modeled using a 3D FE volume model. In order to confirm the safety of the root connection, the static stresses of the thick root laminate and the steel. bolts were predicted by taking account of the bolt pretension and the root bending moments. The calculated stresses were compared with the material strengths.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers
• /
• v.4 no.3
• /
• pp.29-37
• /
• 2000

Because the previous design procedure for the composite wind turbine blade structure using trial and error method takes long time, a improved design procedure by using the program based on classical laminate theory was proposed to reduce the inefficient element. According to the improved design procedure, limitation of strains, stresses and displacements specified by international standard specification IEC1400-1 for the composite wind turbine blade were applied to sizing the structural configuration by using the rule of mixture and the principal stress design technique with a simplified turbine blade. Structural safety for strength and buckling stability was confirmed by the developed analysis program based on the laminate theory to minimize the design procedure. After modifying the preliminary design result with additional structural components such as skin, foam sandwich and mounting joints, stresses, strains, displacements, natural frequency, buckling load and fatigue life were analyzed by the finite element method. Finally these results were confirmed by comparing with IEC1400-1 specification.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 2007.11a
• /
• pp.349-352
• /
• 2007

A GFRP based composite blade was developed for a 2MW wind energy conversion system of type class IIA. The blade sectional geometry was designed to have a general shell-spar and shear web structure. The load cases specified in the IEC61400-1 international specification were considered. For withstanding all relevant extreme loads, the structural analysis for the complete blade was performed using a commercial FEM code. The static load carrying capacity, blade tip deflection and natural frequencies were evaluated to satisfy the strength and stability requirements in accordance with the IEC61400-1 and GL Regulations. The prototype blade was passed the structural proof test for GL certification.

• Journal of Aerospace System Engineering
• /
• v.12 no.2
• /
• pp.66-75
• /
• 2018

In this paper, a lightweight design of the spar cap of 2MW wind turbine blade was carried out using the ply reduction ratio (PRR) and CFRP with a trade-off study. The spar cap is one of the most critical factor in determining the mechanical performance of the blade. Tsai-Wu and Puck fracture theory were used to determine the fracture. As a result, the CFRP composite material could be lighter in terms of weight by about 30% than GFRP composite material under the same conditions. Based on the analytical results, we derive the optimal value of the laminate thickness of the composite material and present the structural performance improvement and the lightweight design result.