Finite element based damage assessment of composite tidal turbine blades

Fagan, Edward; Leen, Seán B.; Kennedy, Ciaran R.; Goggins, Jamie

doi:10.1088/1742-6596/628/1/012106

Cited by 6 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Post-processing of the results is also conducted using Python. The code has been previously used in the analysis of smallscale wind turbine blades [30] and concept tidal turbine blades [14] and is well suited for parametric studies. The loads are applied to the blade using a form of multi-point constraint (MPC).…”

Section: Fe Model Set-upmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This approach to modelling has been shown to be robust, demonstrating good correspondence between tests and models [11] [12], and can investigate various aspects of blade structural and aerodynamic design. The modelling methods presented in this study have been developed from a tidal turbine blade design methodology [13], [14]. The methodology generates parametric FE models of blades from basic design information, such as chord length, twist angle and aerodynamic load distributions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Physical experimental static testing and structural design optimisation for a composite wind turbine blade

Fagan

Flanagan

Leen

et al. 2017

Composite Structures

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This study presents experimental testing on a 13 m long glass-fibre epoxy composite wind turbine blade. The results of the test were used to calibrate finite element models. A design optimisation study was then performed using a genetic algorithm. The goal of the optimisation was to minimise the material used in blade construction and, thereby, reduce the manufacturing costs. The thickness distribution of the composite materials and the internal structural layout of the blade were considered for optimisation. Constraints were placed on the objective based on the stiffness of the blade and the blade surface stresses. A variable penalty function was used with limits derived from the blade test and the structural layout of the turbine. The model shows good correspondence to the test results (blade mass within 6% and deflection within 9%) and the differences between test and model are discussed in detail. The genetic algorithm resulted in five optimal blade designs, showing a reduction in mass up to 24%. Structural modelling in combination with numerical search algorithms provide a powerful tool for designers and demonstrates that the reader can have confidence in the claimed potential savings when the reference blade models are calibrated against physical test data.

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Section: Fe Model Set-upmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Physical experimental static testing and structural design optimisation for a composite wind turbine blade

Fagan

Flanagan

Leen

et al. 2017

Composite Structures

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“…al. [13], we also note that, the degradation in the shear and transverse material stiffness does have an important effect on the deflection of the blade. Only after elements begin to fail due to FF or IFF(C) starting from 30% loading, significant drop in the load displacement curve in Figure 6 becomes apparent.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 60%

“…al. [13] pointed out that blade root is subjected to high stresses due to bending moment and, hence blade root plays an important role as a design driver. Similarly, high failure exposures are computed at the root of RUZGEM blade.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Strength Analysis of a Composite Turbine Blade Using Puck Failure Criteria

Ozyildiz

Muyan

Çöker³

2018

J. Phys.: Conf. Ser.

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Abstract. The strength analysis of an existing 5-meter composite wind turbine blade using TsaiWu and Puck failure criteria is presented. Finite element analysis is performed on the blade under static flap wise loading. ANSYS APDL scripting language is used to implement Puck failure criteria and degradation rules for the progressive failure analysis of the blade. Evaluation and visualization of Tsai-Wu inverse reserve factors and Puck failure exposures in the blade is done with the help of the Ansys ACP/Post module. The results of this study indicate that the blade is not able resist extreme load case and needs to be redesigned. Root and trailing edge of the blade have the highest risk of failure initiation. Linear analysis using Tsai-Wu and Puck failure criteria is compared with the nonlinear analysis using progressive Puck failure criteria. It is concluded that progressive analysis is necessary for a more realistic simulation of blade failure mechanisms. Results of the analysis will be used to calibrate structural test set-up of the blade. IntroductionThe long-term reliability of wind turbines is very important for sustainable and economically viable wind energy utilization. Therefore, wind turbine designs must be optimized to minimize costs and maximize lifetime. This requires performance and durability characteristics of wind turbine materials, components and structures to be understood extensively. The most critical component of a wind turbine is the composite rotor blade. A rotor blade failure can have a significant impact on turbine downtime and safety. To avoid a blade failure, knowing the strength of the composite rotor blades is essential. Hence, validation of a composite blade resistance must be checked by structural testing and/or analysis [1]. However, the structural testing methods such as full-scale testing of the blade are expensive and troublesome due to construction of a test set-up. In order to provide more data for structural design and analysis of wind turbine blades, test approaches are being developed [2]. Structural analyses are utilized to calibrate structural blade test set-ups for different loading scenarios.In the literature, there are many studies on the structural behaviour of composite wind turbine blades. For instance, a novel methodology for the structural design and analysis of tidal turbine blade is presented based on the Puck phenomenological failure criteria for fibre and inter-fibre failure [3]. The methodology that is developed in the study predicted damage values for different load cases. This methodology is an iterative design process with respect to failure criteria to check structural strength of the blade. Another study developed is a fatigue damage simulator utilizing the failure criteria and degradation rules of Puck for the life prediction of composites under variable amplitude loading [4]. Puck failure criteria are used to predict failure initiation and sudden stiffness degradation. In another article, structural analysis was performed using finite element method to...

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“…The reliability of a composite tidal blade can be estimated through either a deterministic approach [17,21,25,28] or a probabilistic approach [26,31,46]. The primary difference between the deterministic and the probabilistic approaches in analysing a structure is the way the risk is evaluated.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Probabilistic structural reliability analysis of a horizontal axis tidal turbine blade by considering the moisture effects on the blade material

Nandagopal

Srikanth

Chai

2020

Mar Syst Ocean Technol

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The use of composite materials in marine structures like the horizontal axis tidal turbine blade introduces inherent uncertainties in the material properties of the blade. Further, the blade material ages because of the absorption of seawater into the material. Hence, whilst performing the static structural analysis of the blade, the probabilistic nature of the material properties, as well as its degradation due to ageing, must be considered. In this study, the probabilistic structural response of a 0.5 m blade was estimated by considering the experimentally determined statistical distributions of the dry and aged material properties. The polynomial chaos expansion (PCE) method was used to build a surrogate model to mimic the static analysis of the blade, which was used in conjunction with the Monte Carlo simulation to estimate the distributions of the structural response of the blade and the probability of failure of the dry and aged blade. Stochastic convergence was used to check the accuracy of the surrogate model built via the PCE method. The study revealed a statistically significant increase in the probability of failure of the blade due to the ageing induced degradation of the blade material. Further, the need for a probabilistic structural analysis was also established.

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Finite element based damage assessment of composite tidal turbine blades

Cited by 6 publications

References 24 publications

Physical experimental static testing and structural design optimisation for a composite wind turbine blade

Physical experimental static testing and structural design optimisation for a composite wind turbine blade

Strength Analysis of a Composite Turbine Blade Using Puck Failure Criteria

Probabilistic structural reliability analysis of a horizontal axis tidal turbine blade by considering the moisture effects on the blade material

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