High Fidelity Aero-Structural Simulation of Occluded Wind Turbine Blades

Wainwright, Thomas R.; Poole, Daniel J; Allen, Christian B; Appa, Jamil; Darbyshire, Oliver

doi:10.2514/6.2021-0950

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…Other recent efforts focused on a narrower but higher-fidelity approach to capture the complex fluid-structure interaction of the turbine blades (Lee et al, 2017). Wainwright et al (2021) combined a commercial CFD software and a finite-element modal solver with GPU acceleration to study the aerostructural behavior of a rotor in the wake of an upstream turbine. They used a strong coupling strategy to resolve time-accurate analyses, using a radial basis function to pass load-transfer information between the solvers.…”

Section: State-of-the-art For Wind Turbine Design Optimizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Aeroelastic Tailoring of Wind Turbine Rotors Using High-Fidelity Multidisciplinary Design Optimization

Mangano

Liao

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Abstract. Reducing the cost of energy from wind power is a critical step towards decarbonizing the electric grid and mitigating climate change effects. Computational models are crucial in understanding the complex, multiphysics interactions of modern, highly flexible wind turbine rotors. When coupled with numerical optimization, such models provide an efficient way to explore the design space. We propose a high-fidelity aerostructural framework that couples computational fluid dynamics with 5 computational structural mechanics to analyze and optimize wind turbines. The framework uses a gradient-based optimization strategy with gradients efficiently computed using a coupled-adjoint approach. We optimize a benchmark utility-scale wind turbine rotor and explore its trade-offs between steady-state aerodynamic efficiency and structural weight. The optimizations account for a representative below-rated operating condition and use more than 100 structural and geometric design variables. The monolithic approach we propose is compared with a loosely-coupled optimization strategy used for the structural sizing 10 of the baseline rotor layout. We then discuss specific optimized blade features and a broader design trade space exploration between extracted torque and rotor mass. Optimized layouts increase the torque by up to 14 % and reduce the mass by up to 9 % or reduce the mass by up to 27 % with the same torque output compared to the baseline blade. The results demonstrate the benefits of optimizing a tightly-coupled aerostructural model and reveal additional insights that high-fidelity analysis provide to complement conventional design approaches.

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Section: State-of-the-art For Wind Turbine Design Optimizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Aeroelastic Tailoring of Wind Turbine Rotors Using High-Fidelity Multidisciplinary Design Optimization

Mangano

Liao

et al. 2023

Preprint

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“…Other recent endeavors focused on a narrower but higher-fidelity approach to capture the intricate fluid-structure interaction of turbine blades [25]. Wainwright et al [26] merged a commercial CFD software package and a finite element modal solver using GPU acceleration to study a rotor's aerostructural behavior in the wake of an upstream turbine. Cheng et al [27] validated a model coupling different solvers in OpenFOAM to study a floating wind turbine's behavior.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Aerostructural Design Optimization of Wind Turbine Blades

Batay,

Baidullayeva,

Zhao

et al. 2023

Processes

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This study presents an aerostructural optimization process for wind turbine blades aimed at enhancing the turbine’s performance. The optimization framework integrates DAFoam as the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) solver, TACS as the finite element method (FEM) solver, Mphys for fluid–structure coupling, and SNOPT as the optimizer within the OpenMDAO framework. The objective is to simultaneously increase the torque generated by the wind turbine while decreasing the mass of the blade, thereby improving its efficiency. The design variables in this optimization process are the blade shape and panel thickness. The aerodynamic objective function is torque, a key performance indicator for wind turbine efficiency. The structural objective function is the blade mass, as reducing mass is essential to minimize material and manufacturing costs. The optimization process utilizes the integrated capabilities of DAFoam, TACS, Mphys, and SNOPT to iteratively evaluate and modify the blade shape and panel thickness. The OpenMDAO framework facilitates seamless communication between the solvers and the optimizer, ensuring a well-coordinated, efficient optimization process. The results of the optimization show a 6.78% increase in torque, which indicates a significant improvement in the wind turbine’s energy production capacity. Additionally, a 4.22% decrease in blade mass demonstrates a successful reduction in material usage without compromising structural integrity. These findings highlight the potential of the proposed aerostructural optimization process to enhance the performance and cost-effectiveness of wind turbine blades, contributing to the advancement of sustainable energy solutions. This work represents the first attempt to implement DAFoam for wind turbine aerostructural design optimization.

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Towards Passive Aeroelastic Tailoring of Large Wind Turbines Using High-Fidelity Multidisciplinary Design Optimization

Mangano

Liao

et al. 2022

AIAA SCITECH 2022 Forum

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High Fidelity Aero-Structural Simulation of Occluded Wind Turbine Blades

Cited by 3 publications

References 27 publications

Aeroelastic Tailoring of Wind Turbine Rotors Using High-Fidelity Multidisciplinary Design Optimization

Aeroelastic Tailoring of Wind Turbine Rotors Using High-Fidelity Multidisciplinary Design Optimization

Aerostructural Design Optimization of Wind Turbine Blades

Towards Passive Aeroelastic Tailoring of Large Wind Turbines Using High-Fidelity Multidisciplinary Design Optimization

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