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Table 4. A selection of turbine size and weight configurations. Table 5. A Typical modern 2MW wind turbine specification.

Table 4 A selection of turbine size and weight configurations. Table 5. A Typical modern 2MW wind turbine specification.

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The two configurations have instantly distinguishable rotor designs, each with its own favourable characteristics [1]. The discontinued mainstream development of the VAWT can be attributed to a low tip speed ratio and difficulty in controlling rotor speed. Difficulties in the starting of vertical turbines have also hampered development, believed until recently to be incapable of self-starting [2]. However, the VAWT requires no additional mechanism to face the wind and heavy generator equipment can be mounted on the ground, thus reducing tower loads. Therefore, the VAWT is not completely disregarded for future development. A novel V-shaped VAWT rotor design is currently under investigation which exploits these favourable attributes [3]. This design is currently unproven on a megawatt scale, requiring several years of development before it can be considered competitive. In addition to the problems associated with alternative designs, the popularity of the HAWT can be attributed to increased rotor control through pitch and yaw control. The HAWT has therefore emerged as the dominant design configuration, capitalised by all of today’s leading large scale turbine manufacturers. Figure 1. Alternative configurations for shaft and rotor orientation.
The two configurations have instantly distinguishable rotor designs, each with its own favourable characteristics [1]. The discontinued mainstream development of the VAWT can be attributed to a low tip speed ratio and difficulty in controlling rotor speed. Difficulties in the starting of vertical turbines have also hampered development, believed until recently to be incapable of self-starting [2]. However, the VAWT requires no additional mechanism to face the wind and heavy generator equipment can be mounted on the ground, thus reducing tower loads. Therefore, the VAWT is not completely disregarded for future development. A novel V-shaped VAWT rotor design is currently under investigation which exploits these favourable attributes [3]. This design is currently unproven on a megawatt scale, requiring several years of development before it can be considered competitive. In addition to the problems associated with alternative designs, the popularity of the HAWT can be attributed to increased rotor control through pitch and yaw control. The HAWT has therefore emerged as the dominant design configuration, capitalised by all of today’s leading large scale turbine manufacturers. Figure 1. Alternative configurations for shaft and rotor orientation.
Table 1. The two mechanisms of propulsion compared.
Table 1. The two mechanisms of propulsion compared.
Table 2. Modern and historical rotor designs.
Table 2. Modern and historical rotor designs.
Table 3. Tip speed ratio design considerations. A higher tip speed demands reduced chord widths leading to narrow blade profiles. This can lead tc educed material usage and lower production costs. Although an increase in centrifugal anc erodynamic forces is associated with higher tip speeds. The increased forces signify that difficulties xist with maintaining structural integrity and preventing blade failure. As the ip speed increases the erodynamics of the blade design become increasingly critical. A blade which is designed for higt elative wind speeds develops minimal torque at lower speeds. This resul s in a higher cut ir peed [10] and difficulty self-starting. A noise increase is also associated with increasing tip speeds as |oise increases approximately proportionately to the sixth power [4,11]. Modern HAWT generally Aspects such as efficiency, torque, mechanical stress, aerodynamics and noise should be considered in selecting the appropriate tip speed (Table 3). The efficiency of a turbine can be increased with higher tip speeds [4], although the increase is not significant when considering some penalties such as increased noise, aerodynamic and centrifugal stress (Table 3).
Table 3. Tip speed ratio design considerations. A higher tip speed demands reduced chord widths leading to narrow blade profiles. This can lead tc educed material usage and lower production costs. Although an increase in centrifugal anc erodynamic forces is associated with higher tip speeds. The increased forces signify that difficulties xist with maintaining structural integrity and preventing blade failure. As the ip speed increases the erodynamics of the blade design become increasingly critical. A blade which is designed for higt elative wind speeds develops minimal torque at lower speeds. This resul s in a higher cut ir peed [10] and difficulty self-starting. A noise increase is also associated with increasing tip speeds as |oise increases approximately proportionately to the sixth power [4,11]. Modern HAWT generally Aspects such as efficiency, torque, mechanical stress, aerodynamics and noise should be considered in selecting the appropriate tip speed (Table 3). The efficiency of a turbine can be increased with higher tip speeds [4], although the increase is not significant when considering some penalties such as increased noise, aerodynamic and centrifugal stress (Table 3).
Figure 2. A typical blade plan and region classification. Assuming that a reasonable lift coefficient is maintained, utilising a blade optimisation method produces blade plans principally dependant on design tip speed ratio and number of blades (Figure 3). Low tip speed ratios produce a rotor with a high ratio of solidity, which is the ratio of blade area to the area of the swept rotor. It is useful to reduce the area of solidity as it leads to a decrease in material usage and therefore production costs. However, problems are associated with high tip speeds (Section 5.1).
Figure 2. A typical blade plan and region classification. Assuming that a reasonable lift coefficient is maintained, utilising a blade optimisation method produces blade plans principally dependant on design tip speed ratio and number of blades (Figure 3). Low tip speed ratios produce a rotor with a high ratio of solidity, which is the ratio of blade area to the area of the swept rotor. It is useful to reduce the area of solidity as it leads to a decrease in material usage and therefore production costs. However, problems are associated with high tip speeds (Section 5.1).
For optimum chord dimensioning (Equation 3) the quantity of blades is considered negligible 11 rms of efficiency. However, in practice when blade losses are considered a 3% loss is incurred fo wo bladed designs [1] and a 7%—13% loss for one bladed design [6] when compared to three blades . four bladed design offers marginal efficiency increases which do not justify the manufacturing cost o n extra blade. Tower loading must also be considered when choosing the appropriate blade quantity [6] ‘our, three, two and one bladed designs lead to increased dynamic loads, respectively [16]. Figure 4. Efficiency losses as a result of simplification to ideal chord length [15].
For optimum chord dimensioning (Equation 3) the quantity of blades is considered negligible 11 rms of efficiency. However, in practice when blade losses are considered a 3% loss is incurred fo wo bladed designs [1] and a 7%—13% loss for one bladed design [6] when compared to three blades . four bladed design offers marginal efficiency increases which do not justify the manufacturing cost o n extra blade. Tower loading must also be considered when choosing the appropriate blade quantity [6] ‘our, three, two and one bladed designs lead to increased dynamic loads, respectively [16]. Figure 4. Efficiency losses as a result of simplification to ideal chord length [15].
Table 5. Cont. Control System
Table 5. Cont. Control System
Table 6. The aerofoil requirements for blade regions [26]. An aerodynamic phenomenon known as stall should be considered carefully in turbine blade Jesign. Stall typically occurs at large angles of attack depending on the aerofoil design. The boundary layer separates at the tip rather than further down the aerofoil causing a wake to flow over the upper surface drastically reducing lift and increasing drag forces [6]. This condition is considered dangerous in aviation and is generally avoided. However, for wind turbines, it can be utilised to limit the a The angle of attack is the angle of the oncoming flow relative to the chord line, and all figures f 7, and Cp are quoted relative to this angle. The use of a single aerofoil for the entire blade leng vould result in inefficient design [19]. Each section of the blade has a differing relative air veloc: nd structural requirement and therefore should have its aerofoil section tailored accordingly. At t oot, the blade sections have large minimum thickness which is essential for the intensive loads carri esulting in thick profiles. Approaching the tip blades blend into thinner sections with reduced loz igher linear velocity and increasingly critical aerodynamic performance. The differing aerof equirements relative to the blade region are apparent when considering airflow velocities a tructural loads (Table 6).
Table 6. The aerofoil requirements for blade regions [26]. An aerodynamic phenomenon known as stall should be considered carefully in turbine blade Jesign. Stall typically occurs at large angles of attack depending on the aerofoil design. The boundary layer separates at the tip rather than further down the aerofoil causing a wake to flow over the upper surface drastically reducing lift and increasing drag forces [6]. This condition is considered dangerous in aviation and is generally avoided. However, for wind turbines, it can be utilised to limit the a The angle of attack is the angle of the oncoming flow relative to the chord line, and all figures f 7, and Cp are quoted relative to this angle. The use of a single aerofoil for the entire blade leng vould result in inefficient design [19]. Each section of the blade has a differing relative air veloc: nd structural requirement and therefore should have its aerofoil section tailored accordingly. At t oot, the blade sections have large minimum thickness which is essential for the intensive loads carri esulting in thick profiles. Approaching the tip blades blend into thinner sections with reduced loz igher linear velocity and increasingly critical aerodynamic performance. The differing aerof equirements relative to the blade region are apparent when considering airflow velocities a tructural loads (Table 6).
Figure 6. Schematics of smart structure concepts.
Figure 6. Schematics of smart structure concepts.
Smart actuator materials include conventional actuators, smart material actuators, piezoelectric and shape memory alloys. Traditional actuators probably do not meet minimum requirements for such concepts. Furthermore, proposed concepts of aerodynamic control surfaces (distributed along the blade span) require fast actuation without complex mechanical systems and large energy to weight ratios.
Smart actuator materials include conventional actuators, smart material actuators, piezoelectric and shape memory alloys. Traditional actuators probably do not meet minimum requirements for such concepts. Furthermore, proposed concepts of aerodynamic control surfaces (distributed along the blade span) require fast actuation without complex mechanical systems and large energy to weight ratios.
Figure 8. A typical modern HAWT blade with multiple aerofoil profiles, twist and linear chord length increase. All manufacturing simplifications are detrimental to rotor efficiency and should be well justified. The introduction of new moulding techniques and materials has allowed the manufacture of ncreasingly complex blade shapes. However, the economics of production coupled with difficulty of lesign analysis still dictate final geometry. Leading wind turbine suppliers now include most yptimisation features such as angle of twist, variable chord length and multiple aerofoil geometries.
Figure 8. A typical modern HAWT blade with multiple aerofoil profiles, twist and linear chord length increase. All manufacturing simplifications are detrimental to rotor efficiency and should be well justified. The introduction of new moulding techniques and materials has allowed the manufacture of ncreasingly complex blade shapes. However, the economics of production coupled with difficulty of lesign analysis still dictate final geometry. Leading wind turbine suppliers now include most yptimisation features such as angle of twist, variable chord length and multiple aerofoil geometries.
Figure 9. Aerodynamic forces generated at a blade element. For calculation of the blade aerodynamic forces the widely publicised blade element momentum (BEM) theory is applied [4,6,37]. Working along the blade radius taking small elements (dr), the sum of the aerodynamic forces can be calculated to give the overall blade reaction and thrust loads (Figure 9).
Figure 9. Aerodynamic forces generated at a blade element. For calculation of the blade aerodynamic forces the widely publicised blade element momentum (BEM) theory is applied [4,6,37]. Working along the blade radius taking small elements (dr), the sum of the aerodynamic forces can be calculated to give the overall blade reaction and thrust loads (Figure 9).
Figure 10. The blade modelled as a cantilever beam with uniformly distributed aerodynamic load.
Figure 10. The blade modelled as a cantilever beam with uniformly distributed aerodynamic load.
When calculating the second moment of area [Equation (5)] it is apparent that increasing the distance from the central axis of bending gives a cubic increase. When substituted into the bear bending equation [Equation (7)], it can be seen that a squared decrease in material stress can be obtained by simply moving load bearing material away from the central plane of bending. It i: therefore efficient to place load bearing material in the spar cap region of the blade at extreme positions from the central plane of bending (x) (Figure 11). This signifies why thick section aerofoils are structurally preferred, despite their aerodynamic deficiencies. This increase in structural efficiency can be used to minimise the use of structural materials and allow significant weight reductions [42] The conflict between slender aerofoils for aerodynamic efficiency and thicker aerofoils for structura integrity is therefore apparent. Bending moments [Equation (6)] and therefore stress [Equation (7)] car be seen to increase towards the rotor hub. This signifies why aerofoil sections tend to increase ir thickness towards the hub to maintain structural integrity. Figure 11. Flapwise bending about the axis xx.
When calculating the second moment of area [Equation (5)] it is apparent that increasing the distance from the central axis of bending gives a cubic increase. When substituted into the bear bending equation [Equation (7)], it can be seen that a squared decrease in material stress can be obtained by simply moving load bearing material away from the central plane of bending. It i: therefore efficient to place load bearing material in the spar cap region of the blade at extreme positions from the central plane of bending (x) (Figure 11). This signifies why thick section aerofoils are structurally preferred, despite their aerodynamic deficiencies. This increase in structural efficiency can be used to minimise the use of structural materials and allow significant weight reductions [42] The conflict between slender aerofoils for aerodynamic efficiency and thicker aerofoils for structura integrity is therefore apparent. Bending moments [Equation (6)] and therefore stress [Equation (7)] car be seen to increase towards the rotor hub. This signifies why aerofoil sections tend to increase ir thickness towards the hub to maintain structural integrity. Figure 11. Flapwise bending about the axis xx.
Figure 12. Gravitational load modelled as a cantilever beam.
Figure 12. Gravitational load modelled as a cantilever beam.
Figure 13. Edgewise bending about yy.
Figure 13. Edgewise bending about yy.
Figure 14. The three blade regions.
Figure 14. The three blade regions.
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