Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION
1.1HISTORY OF WIND TURBINES
The wind turbine first came into being as a horizontal axis windmill for
mechanical power generation, used since 1000 AD in Persia, Tibet and China. Transfer
of mechanical windmill technology from the Middle East to Europe took place between
1100 and 1300, followed by further development of the technology in Europe. During
the 19th century many tens of thousands of modem windmills with rotors of 25 meters in
diameter were operated in France, Germany and the Netherlands, most of the
mechanical power used in industry was based on wind energy. Further diffusion of
mechanical windmill technology to the United States took place during the 19th century.
The earliest recorded (traditional) windmill dates from the year 1191 at the abbey
of bury S.T.Edmunds in Suffolk. It replaced animal power for grinding grain and other
farm activities like drawing water from well, the popularity of wind turbines increased
tremendously and they soon dotted the landscape.
The advent of DC electric power in 1882, and introduction of 3-phase ac power
production in the early 1890s, provided a technological basis for constructing wind
turbines that generated electricity. The Danish scientist and engineer poul la cour is the
most widely known pioneer of electricity generation using wind power. In 1891 in
askov. He also applied the DC current for water electrolysis, and utilized the hydrogen
gas for gas lamps to light up the local school grounds La cour's efforts started research,
development and commercialization of wind electricity in Europe and thus Europe
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gained its leadership role in wind energy electricity generation. Though less recognized
than la cour, Charles f. Brush in 1888 introduced in Cleveland Ohio the first
automatically operating wind turbine generator, a 12kw, 17-meter-diameter machine,
operated for 20 years. By 1908 there were several wind mills in operation for electricity
generation, with capacities ranging from 5-25 KW. By 1930s wind turbines with
capacity of 500kw were developed which found wide spread use in inaccessible areas.
With concerns over climate change and depleting and polluting fossil fuels wind power
has emerged as the most promising source of renewable energy:
Wind energy was the fastest growing energy technology in the 1990s, in terms of
percentage of yearly growth of installed capacity per technology source.. By the end of
1999, around 69% of the worldwide wind energy capacity was installed in Europe, a
further 19% in North America and 10% in Asia and the pacific. Wind energy is expected
to play an increasingly important role in the future national energy scene. Wind turbines
convert the kinetic energy of the wind to electrical energy by rotating the blades.
Greenpeace states that about 10% of electricity can be supplied by the wind by the year
2020.

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Table 1.1: historical development of wind turbines

Date

Typical capacity

Typical Blade Length

Mid 1990s

40 - 500 kW

15 - 25 m

Typical Technology
Fixed
rotational
speed

and

fixed

blade pitch angle.

Dual
rotational
2000

1000kW

25 - 35m

speed

and

fixed

blade pitch angle.

Variable rotational
Today

2000 - 3000kW

35 - 45m

speed and variable

blade pitch angle.
Variable rotational

Within 5 years

3000 - 7000kW

45 - 60m

speed and variable

blade pitch

1.2 THE SOURCE OF WINDS

In a macro-meteorological sense, winds are movements of air masses in the
atmosphere mainly originated by temperature differences. The temperature gradients are
due to uneven solar heating. In fact, the equatorial region is more irradiated than the polar
ones. Consequently, the warmer and lighter air of the equatorial region rises to the outer
layers of the atmosphere and moves towards the poles, being replaced at the lower layers
by a return flow of cooler air coming from the Polar Regions. This air circulation is also
affected by the coriolis forces associated with the rotation of the earth. In fact, these
forces deflect the upper flow towards the east and the lower flow towards the west.
Actually, the effects of differential heating dwindle for latitudes greater than 30 0n and
30os, where westerly winds predominate due to the rotation of the earth. These large-scale
air flows that take place in the entire atmosphere constitute the geotropic winds.
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The lower layer of the atmosphere is known as surface layer and extends to a
height of 100 m. In this layer, winds are delayed by frictional forces and obstacles
altering not only their speed but also their direction. This is the origin of turbulent flows,
which cause wind speed variations over a wide range of amplitudes and frequencies.
Additionally, the presence of seas and large lakes causes air masses circulation similar in
nature to the geo strophic winds. All these air movements are called local winds.

1.3 WIND ENERGY

The energy that can be extracted from the wind is directly proportional to the cube
of the wind speed, so an understanding of the characteristics of the wind (velocity,
direction, variation) is critical to all aspects of wind energy generation, from the
identification of suitable sites to predictions of the economic viability of wind farm
projects to the design of wind turbines themselves, all is dependent on characteristic of
wind. The most striking characteristic of the wind is its stochastic nature or randomness.
The wind is highly variable, both geographically and temporally
Moreover this variability exists over a very wide range of scales, both in space
and time. This is important because extractable energy from wind varies with the cube of
wind velocity. This variability is due to different climatic conditions in the world also
the tilt of earth on its axis and its own spinning results in different wind distributions
across the world. Also within any climatic region, there is a great deal of variation on a
smaller scale, which is dictated by several factors such as ratio of land and water,
presence of mountains etc.

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The type of vegetation also affects wind distribution through absorption of

moisture, temperature moderation and reflection of suns energy. Generally more wind is
witnessed on the tops of hills and mountains than in low level areas. Even more locally,
wind velocities are altered by obstacles such as trees or buildings. For any location there
is variation of wind pattern, wind speed may vary from year to year, also wind
distribution will change from decade to decade. These long-term variations are not well
understood, and thus make it difficult to make predictions of the economic viability of
wind-farm projects. Wind distribution is more predictable over shorter time spans like a
year, but on shorter time frame like few days the wind energy is difficult to predict.
These variations are due to the weather systems.
Depending on location, there may also be considerable variations with the time of
day (diurnal variations), which are fairly predictable. These variations are important to
be considered because they can affect production of large scale wind energy and
consequent integration into grid, also associated power generation systems must be
prepared for these variations. Also we must take into account the fact that short term
turbulence cause variations in the quality of power delivered.

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Fig 1.3 Van der hoven wind spectrum curve

Van der hoven (1957) created a wind-speed spectrum from long- and short-term
records at brookhaven, New York, showing clear peaks corresponding to the synoptic,
diurnal and turbulent effects referred to above. The spectral gap between the diurnal and
turbulent peaks shows that these variations can be treated quite distinct from the higherfrequency fluctuations of turbulence.
Major factors that have accelerated the wind-power technology development are
as follows:
1. Development of high-strength fiber composites for constructing large low-cost
blades.
2. Reduction in prices of the power electronics components such as converters.
3. Variable-speed operation of electrical generators to capture maximum energy.
4. Improved plant operation, pushing the availability up to 95 percent.
5. Economy of scale, as the turbines and plants are getting larger in size.
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1.4 WIND TURBINE

A wind turbine is a device that converts kinetic energy from the wind into
electrical power. The term appears to have migrated from parallel hydroelectric
technology (rotary propeller). The technical description for this type of machine is
an aerofoil-powered generator.
The result of over a millennium of windmill development and modern engineering,
today's wind turbines are manufactured in a wide range of vertical and horizontal axis
types. The smallest turbines are used for applications such as battery charging for
auxiliary power for boats or caravans or to power traffic warning signs. Slightly larger
turbines can be used for making contributions to a domestic power supply while selling
unused power back to the utility supplier via the electrical grid. Arrays of large turbines,
known as wind farms, are becoming an increasingly important source of renewable
energy and are used by many countries as part of a strategy to reduce their reliance
onfossil fuels.

1.5 WORKING PRINCIPLE OF WIND TURBINE

The wind imposes two driving forces on the blades of a turbine; lift and drag. A
force is produced when the wind on the leeward side of the airfoil must travel a greater
distance than that on the windward side. The wind traveling on the windward side must
travel at a greater speed than the wind traveling along the leeward side. This difference in
velocity creates a pressure differential. On the leeward side, a low-pressure area is
created, pulling the airfoil in that direction. This is known as the Bernoullis principle.
Lift and drag are the components of this force vector perpendicular to and parallel to the
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apparent or relative wind, respectively. By increasing the angle of attack, as shown in

figure 1.2, the distance that the leeward air travels is increased. This increases the
velocity of the leeward air and subsequently the lift.

Fig 1.5 force vectors on airfoil cross section

1.6 TYPES OF WIND TURBINES

The wind turbines can be divided into two groups of turbines depending on the
orientation of their axis of rotation, namely the most common horizontal axis wind
turbines (HAWTS) and vertical axis wind turbines (VAWTS).

Fig 1.6 Types of wind turbines

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The development of high performance VAWT is a recent requirement of the

strategies in renewable energy. This research focuses on the experimental studies of
VAWTS which can work under an average velocity of wind that is very low, as is the case
of most places in Romania. There are many types of VAWTS, which is categorized by the
shape of the blades. Basically there are two different shapes of blades; straight blades and
curved blades. Curved-bladed VAWTS is rarely applied due to its difficulties in
manufacturing. For a small scale wind power generation, straight-bladed VAWTS is more
popular because of its design simplicity, low manufacturing cost and also good
maintenance. This is why among VAWTS the straight-bladed type is often called as the
conventional type.

1.7 TYPES OF VAWT TURBINES:

1.7.1 SAVONIUS WIND TURBINE

Fig 1.7.1 Savonius wind turbine rotor

These are drag-type devices with two (or more) scoops that are used in
anemometers, flettner vents (commonly seen on bus and van roofs), and in some high-

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reliability low-efficiency power turbines. They are always self-starting if there are at least
three scoops.
The Savonius rotor is an extremely simple vertical- axis device that entirely
because of the thrust force of the wind. The basic equipment is a drum cut into two
halves vertically. The two parts are attached to the two opposite sides of a vertical shaft.
The wind blowing into the assembly meets two different surfaces- convex and concaveand different forces are exerted on them, giving torque to the rotor.
1.7.2 TWISTED SAVONIUS WIND TURBINE
Twisted savonius is a modified savonius, with long helical scoops to provide
smooth torque. This is often used as a rooftop wind turbine and has even been adapted for
ships.
1.7.3 DARRIEUS WIND TURBINE ROTOR
"Eggbeater" turbines, or darrieus turbines, were named after the French inventor,
Georges darrieus. They have good efficiency, but produce large torque ripple and
cyclical stress on the tower, which contributes to poor reliability. They also generally
require some external power source, or an additional savonius rotor to start turning,
because the starting torque is very low. The torque ripple is reduced by using three or
more blades which results in greater solidity of the rotor. Solidity is measured by blade
area divided by the rotor area. Newer darrieus type turbines are not held up by guywires but have an external superstructure connected to the top bearing.

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Fig 1.7.3 Darrieus wind turbine rotor

In a darrieus rotor, two or more flexible blades are attached to a vertical shaft. The
blades bow outward taking the shape of a parabola, and are of a symmetrical aero foil
section. When the rotor is stationary no torque is produced. It has to be started by some
external means as it has no starting torque.
1.7.4 GIROMILL
The giromill was included in darrieus's 1927 patent for vertical aerofoil powered
vertical axis wind turbines, however development is now starting again on new giromills
which take advantage of modern ultra strong light materials to produce turbine
blades robust enough to cope with the stresses they are put under. The giromill is
typically powered by two or three vertical aerofoils attached to a central mast by
horizontal supports. While it is cheaper and easier to build than a standard darrieus
turbine, it is not as efficient, and requires strong winds (or a motor) to get it to start
rotating. They can also sometimes struggle to maintain a steady rate of rotation. However,
giromills can work well in turbulent wind conditions and are an affordable option where a
standard horizontal axis windmill type turbine would be unsuitable.

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Fig 1.7.4 Giromill wind turbine

1.7.5 H-ROTOR
It is an augmented version of darrieus turbine with straight blades instead of using
curved blades. The h-rotor has variable pitch to reduce torque pulsation and is selfstarting. The advantages of variable pitch are: high starting torque; a lower blade speed
ratio; a higher coefficient of performance; more efficient operation in turbulent winds;

Fig 1.7.5 H-rotor

1.8 ANATOMY OF A WING OR AIRFOIL

The airfoil or blade is the predominant moving part on any wind machine. It is the
part that captures the kinetic energy of the wind and converts it to useful mechanical
motion. Lift producing windmill airfoils or blades predate heavier than air flight by 800
years .However, modern aerodynamics and computations have greatly accelerated the
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development and refinement of wind turbine airfoils. The cross section of a modem wind
blade is similar to an aircraft wing. Figure 2 shows a cross section of a typical modem
aircraft wing.

Fig 1.8 Cross section of a wing

The wing or airfoil has the leading edge which is the foremost point of an airfoil.
This leading edge effectively separates the incoming airstream. The trailing edge is the
rearmost point of an airfoil. The chord line is a straight line between the leading and
trailing edges. Its length is referred to as the chord length. In heavily cambered wings, the
cord line can extend through the exterior of the wing. At the advent of powered flight,
airfoils were heavily curved or cambered to imitate birds' wings (Craig 2002). The mean
camber line or simply the camber line is the line which connects all the center points of
the interior of the wing. It runs midway between the upper and lower surfaces of the
airfoil.

1.9 NACA AIRFOIL FEATURES

Airfoils used in earlier wind turbines were developed from aviation wings. Many
of these aviation airfoils were researched and designed under the national advisory
committee for aeronautics (NACA). NACA was founded before the united states' entry
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into world war I and was dissolved in the late 1950s when the national aeronautics and
space administration (NASA) began. Airfoil features are specified by a series of numbers
under the NACA system.
Mathew (2006) writes, in the four digit NACA specification, the first number
denotes the maximum camber of the airfoil at the chord line in percent of the chord. The
second number locates the point of maximum camber from the leading edge of the airfoil
in tenths of the chord. The third and fourth numbers indicate the maximum thickness in
percent of the chord. For example, a NACA 2220 airfoil would have a maximum
chamber of 2 per cent located at 0.2 times the chord length from the leading edge and the
maximum thickness is 20 per cent of the chord.

1.10 COST OF WIND TURBINES

In the 1990s, the cost for manufacturing wind turbines declined by about 20%
every time the number of manufactured wind turbines doubled. Currently, the production
of large-scale, grid-connected wind turbines doubles almost every 3 years. A similar cost
reduction was achieved during the first years of oil exploitation about 100 years ago. The
danish energy agency predicts that a further cost reduction of 50% can be achieved until
2020, and the eu commission estimates in its white book that energy cost from wind
power will be reduced by at least 30% between 1998 and 2010.
A general comparison of the electricity production costs, however, is very difficult
as production costs vary significantly between countries, due to the availability of
resources, different tax structures or other reasons. In addition, market regulations can
affect the electricity prices in different countries. The competitive bidding processes for

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renewable power generation in England and wales, however, provides a good comparison
of power production prices. Within this bidding process, potential project developers for
renewable energy projects are invited to bid for building new projects. The developers
bid under different technology brands,

1.11 ADVANTAGES OF THE VAWT

Here are some of the advantages of VAWT with that of conventional wind turbines.

Simpler: some VAWTS are simpler than conventional wind turbines. However,
some are more complex. In the end, VAWT designs often trade one form of
complexity for another.

More reliable: in nearly all cases, proponents have no field experience to support
such a claim. Often the claim is based only on a wish, not on real performance.
With the exception of wind side, the finnish manufacturer of s-rotors, few
manufacturers of VAWTS today have any operating experience. None have
performance data in the public domain where independent analysts can gauge the
reliability of their design.

Less costly: they may indeed be cheaper than conventional wind turbines. But if
the turbine doesn't work at all, doesn't work well, or doesn't work for long, it's no
bargain. In one north american case, the turbine was far more costly than the
conventional wind turbines it was said to replace.

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More efficient: calculation of efficiency from wind tunnel or truck tests says very
little about how a wind turbine will operate in real winds. Even where a wind
turbine is markedly more efficient than another. Reliability is a far more critical
parameter. A wind turbine may be efficient, but if it is not working reliably, it will
produce little or no electricity.

Cost-effective: whether a wind turbine is a good buy or not is a function of its

installed cost, the amount of energy it generates, and the cost of operating and
maintaining it. Modern VAWTS may be a good buy relative to other wind
turbines, but there is so little data on their performance that no one can say for
sure.

Safe for birds: this is simply an unfounded claim. Very few studies have been
done on birds and modern VAWTS because there are so few VAWTS in operation.
Nearly all studies to date have been conducted on large commercial wind turbines.
These studies find that the number of birds killed by wind turbines is primarily a
function of turbine size. A big wind turbine will kill proportionally more birds
than a small wind turbineof any configuration. Proponents argue that there's no
evidence that modern VAWTS kill birds at all. While technically true, the reason
for this paradox is that there are no studies on modern VAWTS and birds.
Moreover, nearly all modern VAWTS are extremely small, and the likelihood of a
small wind turbine of any configuration killing any bird is, therefore, very small.

Less noisy: this is one claim that may have real merit. The blades on modern
VAWTS may move through the air at much lower speeds than blades on

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conventional wind turbines. The lower blade speeds often translates into lower
noise emissions than those from conventional wind turbines. Unfortunately, there
is very little field experience, and even less publicly available data, to verify this
assertion.

1.12 DISADVANTAGES OF THE VAWT

Most of them are only half as efficient as HAWTS due to the dragging force.
Air flow near the ground and other objects can create a turbulent flow, introducing

issues of vibration.
VAWTS may need guy wires to hold it up (guy wires are impractical and heavy in
farm areas).

1.13 APPLICATIONS OF WIND TURBINE

As mentioned earlier, most of wind turbine machines are used for producing
electricity and are connected to the power grid. Additionally, because of the versatility of
electrical energy Grids and liquid fuels, these two forms of energy supply have
dominated energy policy in recent years. However, some decentralised applications on
the direct use of mechanical shaft Power from a wind machine may be simpler and more
economical. These applications, which use wind turbines as a power source, include
1. pumping water
2. desalinating saline or brackish water
3. aerating water, reservoirs and aquaculture ponds farm
4. circulating potable wastewater
5. heating water by fluid turbulence

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1.14 ROLE OF COMPOSITE MATERIALS IN WIND BLADES

Wind energy is captured by the rotation of the wind turbines rotor blades. Rotor
blades have historically been made of wood, but because of its sensitivity to moisture and
processing costs modern materials such as glass fiber reinforced plastic (GFRP), carbon
fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP), steel and aluminum are replacing the traditional wooden
units. Wood is a composite of cellulose and lignin. Wood finds many engineering
applications and has long been a common construction material. Woods are potentially
interesting because of their low density, but their rather low stiffness makes it difficult to
limit the (elastic) deflections for very large rotor blades. Even wood materials with
cellulosic fibers all aligned in the major load-bearing directions are close to the maximum
performance possible for wood. Furthermore, wood is a natural material and thus
environmentally attractive, but at the same time difficult to obtain in reproducible and
high quality, which is a requirement for stable and economical manufacturing of rotor
blades and thus economically attractive wind energy.
Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon. Older style wind turbines were designed with
heavier steel blades or nickel alloy steels which have higher inertia, and rotated at speeds
governed by the AC frequency of the power lines. The high inertia buffered the changes
in rotation speed and thus made power output more stable. The purpose of nickel alloy is
lessens distortion in quenching and lowers the critical temperatures of steel and widens
the range of successful heat treatment. Nickel alloy possesses good corrosion and

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oxidation resistance. Alloy steel was once thought to be an optimum choice for blade
fabrication, but was soon abandoned because of its high weight and low fatigue level.
Aluminum is a silvery white metal with a density about a third that of steel.
Aluminum was only implemented in testing situations because it was found to have a
lower fatigue level than steel. Aluminum is ductile and good heat conductor. Aluminum is
a low price metal but it has good reliability and has a low tensile strength. Aluminum is
lightweight, but weaker and less stiff than steel.
The fibers and the matrix materials like polyesters, vinyl esters, epoxies etc, are
combined into the composites. These composites have good properties like mechanical,
thermal and chemical properties. Firstly, the glass fibers are amorphous with isotropic
properties. Most glass-reinforced products are made with E-glass (electrical glass), which
has good electrical and mechanical properties and high heat resistance. E-glass is
available as chopped fiber, milled fiber, continuous roving, woven roving, woven fabric,
and reinforcing mat. Glass fibers for composites have good properties like moderate
stiffness, high strength, and moderate density.
Carbon fibers are composed of nearly pure carbon, which forms a crystallographic
lattice with a hexagonal shape called graphite. In recent years carbon fibers have become
of increasing interest because of the requirements presented by the ever-larger rotor
blades and the decreasing price of carbon fibers. Carbon fibers for composites have an
excellent combination of very high stiffness, high strength, light weight and low density.
Aramid

fibers

(aromatic

polyamides)

are

characterized

by

excellent

environmental and thermal stability, static and dynamic fatigue resistance, and impact
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resistance. These fibers have the highest specific tensile strength (strength/density ratio)
of

any

commercially

available

continuous-filament

yarn.

Aramid

reinforced

thermoplastic composites have excellent wear resistance. Aramid fibers have low or very
low densities

1.15 INTRODUCTION TO COMPOSITE MATERIALS

A composite is a structural material that results from the combination of two or
more constituent. The constituents are combined at a macroscopic level and are not
soluble in each other. One of the important constituent is called the matrix. The
reinforcing phase material may be in the form of fibers, particles or flakes. The matrix
phase materials are generally continuous; examples of composite systems include
concrete reinforced with graphite fibers, etc.
In case of composite materials one of the constituent materials or phases exists in
continuous form surrounding the remaining once, i.e. the later are the discontinuous
phases. The discontinuous phases, in general, meant for improving the mechanical
properties, exist in volume fractions greater than 10 percent. Some of the properties of
these discontinuous phases and of the resulting composite are much greater (> 5 times)
than the corresponding ones of the continuous phase. The phases retain their physical
identities on a macroscopic scale, which dont dissolve in to one another completely, but
they are perfectly bonded at the interfaces so that they complement each other in the
action. These facts indicate that the composite material is physically non-homogenous at
macroscopic level. On the other hand the phases of single phase metallic alloys combine

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at microscopic level, looses their physical identities and they have mechanical properties,
more or less of same order.
Advance composites are composite materials that are traditionally used in
aerospace applications. These composites have high performance reinforcements of a thin
diameter in a matrix material such as epoxy and aluminum. Examples are graphite/epoxy,
and boron/aluminum, composites. These materials have now found application in
commercial industries as well. This material is aimed to arrive at a new structural
material with improved performance with respect to strength, stiffness, toughness, fatigue
strength, corrosion resistance, wear resistance, weight, temperature dependent behaviour,
thermal insulation, thermal conductivity, acoustical insulation, etc., compared to
conventional engineering materials.
Some of the above properties are improved as per the requirements for need or all
does not arise usually. For example plastics are light, durable, easy to mould, noncorrosive, and easy to finish to any required color and texture, but are not strong, stiff and
dimensionally stable to use then for structural application. On the other hand, fibers of
glass, carbon, graphite, boron, kalvar, etc., are strong, stiff and durable, but they
themselves cannot carry all loads of practical nature. By combination any of the fibers
with any of the plastic, one can make a composite, called Fiber Reinforced Plastic (FRP),
that possesses the good properties of both the fiber and plastic composite structures are
the systems containing beams, columns, shafts, plates, shells ,wind turbine blades made
out of composite material. The discontinuous phase is usually stronger, harder and stiffer
than the continuous phase and is called the reinforcement; the continuous phase is called
the matrix.
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1.16 CLASSIFICATION OF COMPOSITES

Composites are classified by the geometry of reinforcement- particulate, flake and fibers
or by the type of matrix polymer, metal, ceramic, and carbon. Particulate composites
consist of particles immersed in matrices such as alloys and ceramics. They are usually
isotropic since the particles are added randomly. Flake composites consist of flat
reinforcements of matrices. Typical flake materials are glass, mica, aluminum and silver.
Flake composites provide advantage such as high out-of-plane flexural modulus, high
strength, and low cost.

Fig 1.16 Different types of composites

Fiber composites consist of matrices reinforced by short (discontinuous) or long
(continuous) fibers. Fibers are generally anisotropic and examples include carbon and
aramid. Examples of matrices are resins such as epoxy, metals such as aluminum and
ceramics such as calcium-alumino silicate. The fundamental units of continuous fiber

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matrix composites are uni-directional or woven fiber laminas. Laminas are stacked on top
of each other at various angles to form a multidirectional laminate. If short
(discontinuous) fibers used in the composite material, then it is called chopped fiber
composites. The combination of continuous and discontinuous fibers results in the hybrid
composite. Different types of composites are shown in the Fig 1.9. The classifications of
composites are shown in Table 1.2.
Table 1.16 Classification of composites
Matrix type

Fiber

Matrix

Polymer

Glass

Epoxy

Carbon

Polyimide

(Graphite)

Polyester

Aramid(Kevlar)

Thermoplastic

Boron

Polysulfone

Boron

Aluminum

Borosil

Magnesium

Carbon

Titanium

(Graphite)

Copper

Metal

Silicon Carbide
Alumina

1.17 COMPARATIVE STUDY OF DIFFERENT COMPOSITES USED

IN WIND TURBINES
Composites can be divided to a matrix whose function is to distribute the load
throughout and a fiber whose function is to carry the loads. Matrix commonly used are
Polyester resin, vinyl ester resin, epoxies resin and thermoplastic resin. Fibers commonly
used are E-glass, S-Glass, Carbon and Aramid.
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1.17.1 Polyester resin (matrix)

Polyester is the most commonly used matrix in the composite industry. Polyester
is a composite that has two types that is orthopthalic resin and isopthalic resin the later
preferred as it shows better water resistance ability. Polyester has limited storage life.
Polyester generally requires other additives when used for moulding (i.e. catalyst,
accelerator and additives) if not already added by the manufacture. Polyester is
chemically resistant however becomes brittle when shock loading is applied thus we see
that polyester suits for small scale wind turbine blades however is strongly competed by
other resins for larger wind turbine blades. The adhesion of fiber to the polyester is the
poorest which represents that the load is not that effectively transmitted to the fibers.
When a wind turbine blade loading reaches a certain level, well before the ultimate
tensile strength cracks start to appear in the resin this is called transverse micro cracking.
It is crucial that wind blade designers never exceed this limit to ensure adequate life.
Experiments have shown that polyester can use only 10% of its ultimate strength this
percentage is greater for epoxies because of their better adhesion with fibers. Since these
cracks allow spaces for water/moisture to penetrate and get absorbed within the structure
and decreases the strength of the material. As fatigue is the driving element in the design
of wind turbine blades. Fatigue resistance has primary importance in wind blade matrix
selection. A matrix must be selected which can endure such condition of continuous
loading. (See figure 1.10)

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Fig 1.17.1 Behavior under load

1.17.2 Vinyl ester resin (matrix)
These are different from polyester in the chemical structure and thus shows
improved shock loading toughness, water and chemical resistance as it has a longer chain
to bear the loads and reactive sites only at the ends making it hydrophobic and chemically
resistant as well compared to polyester resin. This property of Vinyl ester enables it to be
used in outer surfaces however has been replaced by more specialized coatings to counter
environmental effects. (see figure 1.11) Vinyl ester resin is tougher that polyester resin.
Despite having intermediate to good properties in couldnt find much popularity in the
wind blade manufacturing industry mainly due to advent of Epoxy resin. Polyester resin
must also be carefully worked with as it has been tested to have some detrimental effects
on health.

Fig 1.17.2 Tensile strength and modulus of resins

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1.17.3 Epoxy resin (matrix)

These thermo set resin are the most widely used resin type in the wind blade
manufacturing industry, mostly because of their superior properties in terms of their load
carrying ability, resistance to environmental degradation and adhesiveness it has a tensile
strength of 85MPa and a Youngs modulus of 10.5GPa. Epoxy resin or simply called as
epoxy also has low viscosity which is essential in different blade manufacturing methods.
Epoxy also has lesser shrinkage compared to its other counterpart thus maintaining good
dimensional tolerance during curing. Dry ice and liquid nitrogen should be avoided as it
can damage the surface of blade; the resin also decomposes at 350C.
1.17.4 Thermoplastics (matrix)
Matrix material like PA-6 and CBT resin are currently under research and will
prove to be revolutionary to the wind turbine blade composite industry. As wind turbine
continue to grow in size and number, disposing off such large amounts of composites is
becoming a challenge for many countries. Proposed disposal techniques include
incineration, landfill and recycling with recycling being the most viable technique by
using thermoplastic composite. Thus in other words we can say that there is a need for
making green technology greener. Possible alternate matrix material include PA-6 being
worked upon by the Delft university shows good fatigue strength, abrasion, comparable
strength and 6 times faster processing cycles while manufacturing.

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1.17.5 S-Glass (fiber)

This fiber is named according to manufacture trade name also called as S-2 fiber
glass. Due to its small production quantities it is more expensive compared to E-Glass.
The S-glass is superior to the E-Glass in strength, fatigue, stiffness and temperature
resistance however it is made by the same manufacturing techniques.
1.17.6 Aramid (fiber)
Aramid fiber has bright golden filaments has a vast range of properties making it
quiet reasonable of a diverse range of applications like boat manufacturing. It has high
specific strength. They show high resistance to impact but its compressive strength is
similar to E-glass fibers. Aramid is susceptible to water ingress and UV erosion which
count as its disadvantages however which can be countered by using proper coatings.
Aramid possess good resistance to impact which makes it an excellent candidate against
sand erosion and insect collision. Its fatigue resistance is also high enough to make it a
strong wind blade material candidate.
1.17.7 Carbon (fiber)
Carbon Fibers fall into 3 different categories i.e. High strength (H.S), intermediate
modulas (IM), high modulas (HM) and ultra high modulas (UHM). Carbon has the
highest strength in tension and compression and can pose very high resistance to fatigue,
creep and erosion. Carbon fiber has become the material of choice for larger wind turbine
blades. However for medium scale wind blades E Glass, Aramid fiber, S Glass etc.
are commonly used because of its low cost compared with high modulas carbon fibers.

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1.17.8 Hybrid fabrics

When the desired application requires two different properties specific to a

particular fiber type then in such cases a hybrid fiber is used. A hybrid fabric comprises
of two different fiber sheets woven together to form one thinner sheet, usually named as a
Hybrid fabric. The resulting fabric has lesser weight. Most engineering structures these
days facing with stringent weight limitation and enduring excessive loading similar to
wind blade use hybrid fabric preplugs in epoxy resin. Common examples include
1) Carbon + Aramid (Aramid has good impact resistance while carbon has high
compression resistance) Cost is high.
2) Aramid+ Glass (Aramid has good impact resistance and glass is good in tension and
compression) low cost as well.

1.18 MECHANICAL ADVANTAGES OF COMPOSITES

Two parameters are commonly used to measure the relative mechanical advantage
of composite materials. One parameter is called the specific modulus and is defined as
the ratio between the Youngs modulus (E) and the density () of the material. The other
parameter is called the specific strength and is defined as the ratio between the strength
(ult) and the density of the material (), that is;

Specific modulus = E/
Specific strength = ult/

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These two ratios are high in composite materials. For example, the strength of a
graphite/epoxy unidirectional composite is the same as steel, but the specific strength is
three times that of steel.
Four fiber factors contribute to the mechanical performance of a composite are:
Length: The fibers can be either long or short. Long continuous fibers are easy to
orient and process, while short fibers cannot be controlled fully for proper orientation.
Long fibers provide many benefits over short fibers. These include impact resistance,
load shrinkage, improved surface finish and dimensional stability. However short
fibers provide low cost, easy to work and have fast cycle time fabrication procedures.
Short fibers have flaws and therefore have higher strength.
Orientation: Fibers oriented in one direction give very high stiffness and strength in
that direction. If the fibers are oriented more than in one direction such as in a mat,
there will be high stiffness and strength in the direction of the fiber orientation.
However, for the same volume of the fiber per unit volume of the composite, it cannot
match the stiffness and strength of unidirectional composites.
Shape: The most common shape of fibers is circular, it is because handling and
manufacturing them is very easy. Hexagon and square- shaped fibers are possible but
in those cases, advantage of strength and high packing factors do not weigh the
difficulty in handling and processing.
Material: The material of the fiber directly influences the mechanical performance of
a composite. Fibers are generally expected to have high elastic modules and strengths

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1.18.1 Advantages of composites over metals

1. Composites have potential for a high ratio of stiffness to weight.
2. The specific modulus (E/) and specific strength (ult/) are high.
3. Composites have improved strength, stiffness, fatigue & impact resistance,
thermal conductivity, corrosion resistance, etc.
4. Damping of composites is higher than that of monolithic metals

1.19 MANUFACTURING OF COMPOSITE WIND TURBINE

BLADES
During and after the energy crises in the early 1970s, many smaller companies
and grass-root organizations started to build wind turbines for energy production, and
shortly after, in the mid-1970s, utility companies took up the challenge and started
building larger wind turbines, often with push and financial support from the government.
New manufacturing technologies were gradually developed and introduced by the blade
manufacturers as the blades grew in size and in number produced (up through the 1990s),
and an increasing concern about the working environment and more strict legislation
pushed the technologies away from wet and open processes toward prepreg technology
and closed mold infusion techniques.
The manufacturing methods used to produce composites wind turbine blades include:
1.19.1 Wet hand Lay-up
1.19.2 Filament Winding
1.19.3 Prepreg Technology
1.19.4 Resin Infusion Technology
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1.19.1 Wet Hand-Lay-Up

In the early days, smaller glass fiber reinforced polyester blades were
manufactured using the traditional wet hand-lay-up technique in open molds, which has
been used for decades for building boats. The reinforcements were all glass fibers and
mainly chopped strand mats (CSM) with random fiber orientation; in some cases woven
fabrics were added to increase stiffness and strength. The upper and lower shells were
adhesively bonded together to form the airfoil-shaped blade. As the blades became longer
(approaching 8 m), webs were inserted to support the airfoil and to take up both bending
and shear loads, and a demand for higher stiffness and strength introduced a more
dedicated fiber orientation with more fibers in the longitudinal direction of the blade.
This was achieved either by using unidirectional woven fabrics (unbalanced fabrics with
more fibers in one of the directions, normally the warp direction) or by laying down
many parallel rovings in the length direction in between the CSMs. In some designs, this
rovings served another purpose: they were used to form the root-end attachment as well.
At the root-end the rovings were wound around steel bushes (small tubes), and continued
back into the blade. The steel bushes formed the holes in what became the flange of the
blade to be mounted to the hub. This principle is illustrated in Fig1.12 and is known as a
Hutter flange after the inventor Hutter, who used this technique for a wind turbine blade
as early as the 1950s.

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Fig 1.19.1 Principle and photo of a Hutter flange, illustrating how the fiber
rovingsare wound around steel bushes to form the flange.
1.19.2 Filament Winding
Filament winding is a rational way of placing a huge amount of roving in a
controlled manner around a rotating mandrel. The shape of a wind turbine blade is not
cylindrical, and the majority of the fibers have to be placed along the blade length;
therefore, the filament winding technique had to be developed further for this specific
application. In the United States, a technique for winding the entire blade was developed
by Kaman Aerospace Corporation and Structural Composites Industries, for blades up to
45 m in length in glass fibers. A set of three mandrels was used to gradually build up the
airfoil with integrated webs. First, the leading edge part and the forward shear web were
wound around the first mandrel, then a second mandrel was attached to the already
wound leading edge structure, and more fibers were wound onto the two combined
mandrels adding more materials to the first structure and forming a second shear web.
Finally, a third mandrel was attached, and more winding created the after body with the
trailing edge. The winding was done with a combination of glass fiber roving and a glass
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fiber tape with most of the fibers in the transverse direction of the tape. This special tape
was necessary to achieve sufficient bending stiffness and strength of the completed blade,
as it is difficult and inefficient to place rovings along the axis of the mandrel with a
filament-winding machine.
1.19.3 Prepreg Technology
The prepreg (pre-impregnated) technology is adapted from the aerospace and
aircraft industry, and it is based on the use of a semi-raw product where the fiber fabrics
are pre-impregnated with resin, which is not yet cured. At room temperature the resin is
like a tacky solid, and the tacky prepregs can be stacked on top of each other to build the
desired laminate. By increasing the temperature, the resin becomes liquid/viscous, and
the laminate can be consolidated under pressure and cured into the final component.
Prepregs are available in many varieties and combinations of types of fibers, style of
fabrics, and resin systems, all having different process and curing temperatures ranging
from about 70 to 225"C. For large wind turbine blades, a process temperature around
80"C is most common. It results in sufficient temperature resistance of the cured
laminate, and it keeps down the process and equipment costs. The required pressure to
consolidate the stacked layers of prepregs is achieved by vacuum. The whole lay-up of
prepreg is covered by a polymer film, which is sealed to the mold along its edge. A
vacuum is pulled underneath the polymer film, and the atmospheric pressure outside the
film presses the film, and thus the prepreg layers, toward the mold surface. The shelf life
of the prepreg at room temperature normally ranges from days to a few weeks depending

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on the resin system. Therefore, the prepreg is typically stored at 18 , resulting in a

shelf life from 6 to 12 months.
The prepreg technology offers some advantages: it is easier to control and obtain
constant materials properties, and higher fiber content gives higher specific stiffness and
strength of the material, which leads to lighter blades. Also, a clean process is obtained,
which leads to a better working environment, with fewer requirements for the workshop
ventilation systems (resulting in cost savings on smaller ventilation systems and energy
needed for heating). Vestas Wind Systems, one of the wind turbine manufacturers, uses
the prepreg technology for their blade production. Vestas has used glass/epoxy prepreg
technology for many years, and they have now introduced carbon fibers in their 45-mlong blades
1.19.4 Resin-Transfer Molding
There are many names and variations of the resin infusion technology, which in
principle consists of placing dry fibers in a mold, encapsulating and sealing off the fiber
package, injecting the liquid resin into the fiber package, and curing the component. This
technology was developed in the 1950s, but was used only rarely by the industry until the
1990s. Since then, the fibers, the resins, the accessories for the process, and the process
equipment have been intensively developed, and resin infusion technology is now a
widely used industrial process.
1.20 DEFINATION OF THE PROBLEM
The problem statement is to evaluate the structure's deformations, Von-Mises
stress, and natural frequencies fatigue stresses, fatigue life for composite materials (alBIET

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allo, Neat matrix, E - Glass composite) to a straight symmetrical (VAWT) blade. The
deformation and stresses are calculated by structural analysis. Natural frequency and
vibration mode shapes are obtained by modal analysis. Fatigue stress and fatigue life are
calculated by fatigue analysis. CATIA V5 R18 is used to model the turbine blade and
ANSYS 14.5 to find the stresses, deformations, natural frequency and vibration mode
shapes, fatigue stresses and fatigue life. The study is limited to single blade study without
assembly. It is assumed that the behaviour of all the blade models will be identical under
same loading conditions.
1.21 OBJECTIVES OF THE WORK
The main objective of the present work is to study static and thermal behavior of
straight VAWT blade. A straight symmetrical blade for a small scale vertical axis wind
turbine blade is considered for the study. The design features of straight VAWT blade
model have been taken from the existing model .
Model is developed and analyzed under static loads. The analysis is carried for
straight VAWT blade models made of alloys. Also same analysis is repeated for the
models made of composite materials viz. AL alloy,and neat matrix E glass reinforced
composites.

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Chapter-2
LITERATURE REVIEW
In wind turbine technology, the turbine blades play an important role as it directly comes
in contact with the wind. Wind turbine blades are shaped to generate maximum power
from the wind at minimum cost. The blades should be designed for longer life as they are
subjected to continuous fatigue loads.

2.1 REVIEW OF MODELLING OF WIND TURBINE BLADES

M. SaqibHameed e.tal Blade is the most important component of a wind turbine
which controls the performance of a wind turbine and design of other components
attached to it. A concept for the design of a straight symmetrical blade for a small scale
vertical axis wind turbine using beam theories for analytical modeling and a commercial
software ANSYS 11.0 for numerical modeling is used. Design parameters of the blade
like solidity, aspect ratio, pressure coefficient etc are determined aiming the 1 kW power
output and the blade design was analyzed at extreme wind conditions where maximum
values of deflection and bending stresses were determined at peak values of aerodynamic
and centrifugal forces. The design was optimized to attain the structural strength i.e.
reduction in deflections and bending stresses Nitin Tenguria

has developed an

optimization method for a VAWT blade of VESTAS 1.65 KW horizontal axis wind
turbine according to Indian wind condition. BEM theory was used for developing the
optimization method. NACA 634221 airfoil was used and the data is evaluated according
to the properties of the airfoil. Power coefficient curve with varying parameters like tip
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speed ratio, lift and drag coefficient, chord distribution and twist distribution by using a
computer program. Juan Mendez and David Greiner shown a method to compute the
chord and twist distributions in wind power blades the distributions are computed to
maximize the mean expected power depending on the Weibull wind distribution at
specific site. BEM theory is used to optimize chord and twist distributions. The
implementation is validated by comparing power prediction with experimental data of the
Riso test turbine. Ladean R. McKittrick etal. have developed a composite blade design
for the Atlantic Orient Corporation (AOC) using finite element modeling techniques by
keeping some assumptions and goals in the initial design phase. Xinzi Tang , have
presented the design and FEA of a 10KW fixed-pitch variable-speed wind turbine blade
with five different thickness of airfoil shape along the span of the blade. The main
parameters of the wind turbine rotor and the blade aerodynamic geometry shape are
determined based on the principles of the blade element momentum (BEM) theory. Based
on the FE method, deflections and strain distributions of the blade under extreme wind
conditions are numerically predicted. The results indicate that the tip clearance is
sufficient to prevent collision with the tower, and the blade material is linear and safe.

2.2 REVIEW OF COMPOSITE MATERIALS USED IN WIND

TURBINE BLADES
Dayton A Griffin, performed a study concerning blades for wind turbines using
commercial blade designs and manufacturing methods, and innovations in composite
materials, manufacturing process and structural configurations were assessed. In the
structural designs are developed for hybrid carbon fiber / fiber glass blades. Dale
Retallack designed 25kW wind turbine blade produced from engineered wood at reduced
manufacturing cost. In this testing on existing fiber glass and carbon fiber blades and this
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information was used to design the wood blade. FEA was used in reference testing.
Operational testing was conducted and found the results produced are very close to
carbon fiber blades. Ted Hubbard have analyzed the performance of wind turbine blades
using engineered wood and determined the fatigue life safety factor and design load
survival based on finite element analysis. This analysis has been verified by comparing
stiffness testing to predicted FEA results. C. Kong, J. Bang have developed a design of
750 kW HAWT, with E-glass / epoxy blades. Structural analysis was performed on blade
models using finite element method. The blade structure was conformed to be safe and
stable under various load conditions. Fatigue life of the blade was calculated by S-N
linear damage theory, the service load spectrum and the Spera's empirical equations. The
results shows that the prototype blade was successful in meeting the certification
requirements by international certification institute, GL (Germanisher Lloyd) in
Germany. Bulent Eker

investigated the importance of composite materials in wind

turbine blades. Their research was based on the theories of material science and wind
technology. Some practical results shown that the composites can decrease the danger
factor, can control the structural vibration and produce high magnitude of power. P. K.
Chaviaropoulos carried a project with a main objective of developing a damped wind
turbine blade with unique composite damping mechanism. A full scale laboratory test was
conducted on a 19 m glass / polyester damped blade and modal analysis showed nearly
80% increase in the damping ratio of the both first flap and lag modes. Brian Hayman
have studied the necessity of achieving adequate stiffness to prevent excessive blade
deflection, preventing buckling failure, ensuring adequate fatigue life under variable wind
loading combined with gravitational loading, minimizing the occurrences and

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consequences of production defects and also developed the concept based on the use of
fiber composite materials in the production of wind turbine blades. The important
observation is made on blade deflection, buckling failure, and adequate fatigue life and
production defects. Andrew Corbyn have developed practical guide which is designed to
show the process of producing a wind turbine blade from fibre-glass. This guide stemmed
from work trying to produce a 1.8m blade for a 1kW version of Hughs design. Povl
Brondsted have focused on various materials used in the manufacture of wind rotor
blades along with their importance

2.3 FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS OF WIND TURBINE BLADES

2.3.1 REVIEW OF STATIC ANALYSIS
M. SaqibHameed A concept for the design of a straight symmetrical blade for a
small scale vertical axis wind turbine using beam theories for analytical modeling and a
commercial software ANSYS 11.0 for numerical modeling is presented in current
research. Design parameters of the blade like solidity, aspect ratio, pressure coefficient
etc are determined aiming the 1 kW power output and the blade design was analyzed at
extreme wind conditions where maximum values of deflection and bending stresses were
determined at peak values of aerodynamic and centrifugal forces. The design was
optimized to attain the structural strength i.e. reduction in deflections and bending
stresses. N.M. El Chazly analyzed the lift and the drag forces created in a steady wind
conditions by using consistent mass matrix in finite element analysis. NACA 0015 airfoil
series was used to test the constant chord, tapered blades for the survival at rated wind
speeds. The validity of the computer program used was verified by applying it to a
standard cantilever box beam using the beam theory. Results showed that maximum
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stresses occurred at the root of the blades for all configurations and the twisting of the
blade lead to the increase of the stiffness and the decrease of the stresses. M.E.Bechly ,
have performed finite element analysis of a 2.5m long fiberglass composite wind turbine
blade and compared with static bending and twisting deflections of the blade and with the
first two natural frequencies of vibration. Optimization is done for getting the final blade
shape by minimizing both tip deflection and the maximum value of stress. L.G.J. Janssen
have investigated the structural behavior of composite rotor blades and extracted results
based on the conditions like variable amplitude of loading, complex three dimensional
stresses, environmental conditions
2.3.2 REVIEW OF MODAL ANALYSIS
Gunner C. Larsen

has determined the natural frequencies, damping

characteristics and mode shapes of the wind turbine blades by using modal analysis. The
experimental results of LM19 m blade has been compared with results from a FEModeling and the modal analysis respectively Henrik Broen Pedersen has determined
the natural frequencies, damping and mode shapes for wind turbine blades using modal
analysis. In experimental campaigns different excitation techniques are used and a
pendulum hammer was used and further modified to get improved hammer and test was
carried out. Finally the results obtained from modal analysis carried out a wind turbine
blade are compared with results obtained from the Stig Oyes blade_EV1 program. J
Wang adopted finite element and thin-walled structure theory to develop a mathematical
model and to predict the natural frequency and blade behaviour of a horizontal axis wind
turbine under constant wind speed and turbulence condition. Detailed expressions for
centrifugal and Coriolis forces are obtained. The stress on the root and displacement at
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the tip are analyzed in detail. The blade deflection in the turbulent conditions is simulated
and shown to mostly influence flap-wise blade deformation. Scott Michael Larwood
carried out a dynamic analysis for swept wind turbine blades. Adams TM dynamic
software was used to develop the codes. The outputs obtained from the codes are
validated with field test data. The designs showed a 5% increase in annual energy
production and a decrease in flap-bending over the straight blade designs. Chao Liu
carried out vibrational analysis on a wind turbine system. Finite element analysis was
done to extract mode parameters and excitation forces on the blades using harmonic
analysis. Cui Yanbin used finite element analysis software ANSYS to determine the
characteristics of composite laminated plate blade.

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Chapter-3
ANALYTICAL ANALYSIS
3.1 THEORY FOR ANALYTICAL MODELS
This section presents the theory used for the prediction of the performance of the
H-rotor wind machine (H-rotor). The H-rotor is rotated by the lift and drag force
aerofoils characteristics. The lift and drag forces are developed when the wind passes
across the aerofoil shape. Since the wind flow passes through the different flow volumes,,
the velocity will change. It passes more rapidly over the longer (upper) side of the
aerofoil, creating a lower-pressure area above the aerofoil. The pressure differential
between top and bottom surfaces results in a force, called aerodynamic lift. Since the
rotor blades of this wind machine are constrained and can move in a plane with the
connected link to the hub as its centre, the lift force causes the rotor blades to rotate about
the axis. The shape of the aerofoil section and its angle to the wind flow stream cause the
wind turbine rotors to rotate and develop the power output. In addition to the lift force,
there is a drag force, which is perpendicular to the lift force. Therefore, a required design
objective is the aerofoil profile rotor blades to have a relatively high lift-to-drag ratio.
Numerical values of forces acting on the blade at extreme wind conditions are
determined and applied to the blade, maximum deflections and maximum bending
stresses are calculated using basic beam theories.

3.2 RELATION BETWEEN ANGLE

PITCHING ANGLE ( )

OF ATTACK

() AND

The following equation was used to determine the values of angle of attack with
the variation in pitching angle.

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 =tan1

sin
TSR+cos

Equ 3.1

The variation in angle of attackduring360 rotation of blade is determined and some of

the values are shown in Table3. 1 The variation in angle of attack with pitch angle is
plotted in Fig.3.
Table 3.2.1 Variation in angle of attack with pitch angle

pitch angle

(deg)

(radians)

angle of attack

(radians)

(radians)

0
30
60
90
120
150
180
210
240
270
300
330
360

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0
.52
1.05
1.57
2.09
2.62
3.14
3.67
4.19
4.71
5.24
5.76
6.28

0
0.10
0.19
0.24
0.24
0.15
0
-0.15
-0.24
-0.24
-0.19
-0.10
0

Page 43

0
5.75
10.66
13.71
13.53
8.79
0
-8.79
-13.53
-13.71
-10.66
-5.75
0

Fig. 3.2 Plot of the variation in the angle of angle of attack (y-axis) with pitch angle
(x-axis)

3.3 DETERMINATION OF LIFT AND DRAG COEFFICIENTS

The lift and drag coefficients for NACA0015 the was utilized from [1, 3] shown in the
table 3. 3.1
Table 3.3.1 Variation in coefficient of lift and coefficient of drag with pitch angle and angle
of attack.

pitch

angle of

angle

attack

(deg

DESFOIL

profile(1995 2009)

CL

CD

CL

CD

0
0.71
1.23
1.34
1.34
1.07
0
-1.08
-1.64
-1.66
-1.30
-0.71
0

0.15
0.03
0.04
0.04
0.04
0.03
0.02
0.03
0.04
0.04
0.04
0.03
0.02

0
0.72
1.02
0.9
0.9
0.9
0
-0.9
NA
NA
NA
-0.75
0

0.02
0.02
0.036
0.079
0.07
0.03
0.02
0.03
NA
NA
NA
0.02
0.02

(degree)

ree)
0
30
60
90
120
150
180
210
240
270
300
330
360

0
5.76
10.67
13.72
13.54
8.80
0
-8.80
-1354
-13.72
-10.67
-5.76
0

3.4 MAXIMUM VELOCITY OF THE BLADE IN TANGENTIAL

R
DIRECTION, W

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Relation of tip speed ratio issued here to determine the maxi-mum velocity of
blade tip at maximum wind speed viz. 8 m/s in current design.
TSR=

RW
=4.1
V

Equ 3.2

Therefore, the maximum velocity of blade tip in forward direction is calculated as, 32.8
m/s.

3.5 RELATIVE VELOCITY, W

In the case of vertical axis wind turbine, it is not just the simple wind velocity that
basically produces the lift on the blade but relative velocity viz. a vector solution of
maximum blade tip velocity

and

with

Rw

and wind velocity V, shown in Fig. 4. The variation in

was determined and therefore the value of W at different angles

of attack was evaluated using sine and cosine laws and shown in the Table 3.3.1

Fig .3.5 Velocity triangle for darrieus VAWT with internal angles

R
R
V
= W = =sin1 ( W sin )
sin sin
V

( )

Equ 3.3

=180( + )

Equ 3.4

W 2=V 2 + R2W 2 V RW cos

Equ 3.5

Table 3.5.1 Variations in internal angles of the velocity triangle with variation in the value of
the relative velocity with pitch angle.

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pitch angle( )

(radians)

(radia

(radians)

velocity W m/s

ns)

degrees

Relative

180

30.84

30

0.11

0.43

179.49

40.28

60

0.20

0.87

178.96

40.77

90

0.25

1.34

178.44

39.51

120

0.25

1.29

178.49

39.71

150

0.16

0.69

179.18

40.78

180

0.00

180

38.14

210

-0.16

-0.69

181.84

32.28

240

-0.25

-1.29

181.53

27.14

270

-0.25

-1.34

181.58

26.83

300

-0.20

-0.87

181.06

30.55

330

-0.11

-0.43

180.53

34.67

360

38.14

3.6 CALCULATIONS FOR NORMAL AND AXIAL FORCES

The values of lift (perpendicular to wind velocity V) and Drag (parallel to V) are
calculated in complete360 rotation of the blade using the following relations, shown in
Table 3.5.1.

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L=q C L S

D=q C D ,

Where

1
q = W 2
2

Equ 3.6

These values of lift and drag were then resolved perpendicular (normal force N)
and parallel (axial force A) to the chord of the blade, using the following relationship,
these results are also shown in Table3.5.1.
N=L cos + D sin , A=L sin D cos

Equ 3.7

Table 3.6.1 Variation in values of Lift and Drag with pitch angle and resolving each value
along and perpendicular to chord.

(degr

ee)

(degre

e)
0
30
60
90
110
120
150
180
210
240
270
300
330
360

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0
5.76
10.67
12.49
13.72
13.54
8.80
0
-8.80
-1354
-13.72
-10.67
-5.75
0

Lift
force(N)
0
372
660
695
681
687
579
0.49
-364
-393
-389
-395
-276
-096

Drag
force(N)
6.66
9.29
13.64
16.13
17.15
17.06
11.85
6.66
7.46
8.07
8.00
7.81
6.88
6.66

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Normal force(N)

Axial
force(N)

0
371
651
681
664
670
572
0.49
-361
-384
-380
-388
-276
-0.96

-6.66
27
109
134.45
145
144
77
-6.68
47
83
84
64
21
-6.7

The maximum value of normal force during the complete 360 rotation of the
blade is 681N. This value issued as a component of total forces to obtain the deflections
and bending stresses in the blade.

3.7. LOCATION OF STRUT ATTACHMENTS AND CROSS SECTIONAL

PROPERTIES OF THE OPTIMIZED BLADE MODEL
For blades with high aspect ratios (low value of c) and higher value of solidity
which increases the torque and bending stresses on the blade, a two point support is
recommended, shown in Fig.3.3. The location of supporting struts attachment with the
blade was chosen in such a manner to achieve minimum deflection and bending stresses
at both the regions i.e. cantilever region each of 0.56 m and fixed region of 1.46m. The
blade model was optimized from solid to a hollow cross section with different blade
shapes and wall thickness to reduce the weight and centrifugal forces on the blade. The
cross sectional properties using the following relations were calculated and cross checked
with the beam section properties facility of ANSYS14.5

Fig. 3.7 Location of Strut attachment with the designed blade front view of designedVAWT.

1).Thickness to chord ratio for NACA001 airfoil (Emami, 2007)

Z
t
x
x
x 2
x 3
x 4
=
[0.2969
0.126
0.3516
0.2834
0.2834
] Equ 3.8
C 0.2
c
c
c
c
c

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()

Page 48

()

()

2) Area of the airfoil.

0.206

A=

([ +ZC )( ZC )] dx

Equ 3.9

(3) Moment of inertia.

0.206

I=
0

1 +Z
Z

dx
3
C
C

( )( )

Equ 3.10

3.8. SELECTION OF MATERIAL PROPERTIES

The bladeis designed with aluminium alloy with E=71 GPa

3.9. EFFECT OF CENTRIFUGAL FORCES,

=2700kg/m^3 and =.3

FC

The high aspect ratio straight blades of H-darrieus rotor are subjected to high
values of centrifugal forces, these values are determined for all designed values of wall

thickness (with mass m) at the maximum tip speed velocity(

Rw

) of 32.8m/s, using the

following relationship
2

2 m RW
C=
D
F

Equ 3.11

The total force evaluated here is the sum of centrifugal force determined at maximum tip
speed velocity and extreme aerodynamics force perpendicular to chord viz. 681 N.

Table 3.9.1 Value of total force (aerodynamics + centrifugal) acting on the blade at different
values of wall thickness of the blade.

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wall

3
A (10 )

thickness(mm)

(m2)

10
(7)
I xx

Mass( kg)

Total force
(KN)

solid

4.36

2.40

30.38

26.02

A straight symmetrical blade for a small scale vertical axis wind turbine was
optimized because, to attain the structural strength i.e reduction in deflections and
bending stresses.The circumference demensions for a solid blade with different shapes
and wall thickness[1]. The area, moment of interia and mass for various wall thickness of
the blade models were calculated using formulas.The total force on straight vertical axis
wind tirbine

is a combination of aerodynamics and centrifugal force.Maximum

aerodynamic force is calculated in complete 3600 rotation of the blade[Equ 3.7] is

valuated as 681N at 900. Centrifugal force is an outward force on a body rotating about an
axis relies on mass,relative velocity and diameter of the body[Equ 3.11].It is evident from
the from the tabular form the mass, area moment of interia and area shows linear relation
with wall thickness of the blade.The uniform diminution of thickness with respect to
mass tends to decrease in centrifugal force.The contribution of aerodynamic force and
centrifugal force resulted in the reduction of total force playing on the blade.The total
variations in different paramerters like mass, area moment of interia ,area and total force
can be visualise from the table[3.9.1].

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3.10. EVALUATING THE VALUES OF MAXIMUM DEFLECTIONS

AND STRESSES
As the blade is divided into two beams, cantilever and fixed at both ends
therefore, both the regions were analyzed separately and max.deflection and Max.stress
were evaluated using relations taken from beam theories for uniformly distributed
loading , shown in Equ 3.12 (a, b), 3.13 (a, b), results are shown in Table 3.10.1.

(1) Max.moments (

M max

) and max.deflection at beam with both ends fixed and

uniformly distributed loading w.

M max

w l2

(at ends)
12

Equ 3.12(a)

wl
Max.deflection (at center) 384 E I xx

Equ 3.12(b)

(2) Max.moments ) and max.deflection at Cantilever beam with uniformly

distributed loading.
M max

wl
(at fixed end) 2

Equ 3.13(a)
4

wl
Max.deflection (at free end) 8 E I xx

Equ 3.13(b)

The high values of deflection were observed in cantilever region where as, in
fixed region stress were high.
Table 3.10.1 Analytical calculations for the evaluation of maximum deflection and
maximum stress on the blade using basic beam theories.

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Cantilever region (0.56m) and fixed region (1.46)

Max.

Wall
Force

UDL(kN/m)

M max (kNm)

Stress(MPa)

(kN)

Max.def(m
m)

Solid(c)

5.65

10.08

1.58

102

7.39

Solid(F)

14.72

10.08

1.79

116

7.12

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Chapter 4
MODELING OF WIND TURBINE BLADE
4.1 CATIA
CATIA (Computer Aided Three-dimensional Interactive Application) is a multiplatform CAD/CAM/CAE commercial software suite developed by the French company
assault. Written in the C++ programming language, CATIA is the cornerstone of the
Dassault Systems product lifecycle management software suite. CATIA competes in the
high-end CAD/CAM/CAE market with Creo Elements/Pro and NX (Unigraphics).CATIA
(Computer Aided Three-Dimensional Interactive Application) started as an in-house
development in 1977 by French aircraft manufacturer Avions Marcel Dassault, at that
time customer of the CAD/CAM CAD software to develop Dassault's Mirage fighter jet.
It was later adopted in the aerospace, automotive, ship building, and other industries.
4.1.1 Scope of Application
Commonly referred to as 3D Product Lifecycle Management software suite,
CATIA supports

multiple

stages

of

product

development

(CAX),

including

conceptualization, design (CAD), manufacturing (CAM), and engineering (CAE). CATIA

facilitates collaborative engineering across disciplines, including surfacing & shape
design, mechanical engineering, and equipment and systems engineering. CATIA
provides a suite of surfacing, reverse engineering, and visualization solutions to create,
modify, and validate complex innovative shapes, from subdivision, styling, and Class A
surfaces to mechanical functional surfaces. CATIA enables the creation of 3D parts, from
3D sketches, sheet metal, composites, and molded, forged or tooling parts up to the
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definition of mechanical assemblies. It provides tools to complete product definition,

including functional tolerances as well as kinematics definition. CATIA facilitates the
design of electronic, electrical, and distributed systems such as fluid and HV AC systems,
all the way to the production of documentation for manufacturing.
4.1.2 Highlights & Benefits
CATIA is the leading product development solution for all manufacturing
organizations, from OEMs, through their supply chains, to small independent producers.
The range of CATIA capabilities allows it to be applied in a wide variety of industries,
such as aerospace, automotive, industrial machinery, electrical, electronics, shipbuilding,
plant design, and consumer goods, including design for such diverse products as
jewellery and clothing.
CATIA is the only solution capable of addressing the complete product
development process, from product concept specification through product in-service, in a
fully integrated and associative manner. Based on an open, scalable architecture, it
facilitates true collaborative engineering across the multidisciplinary extended enterprise,
including style and form design, mechanical design and equipment and systems
engineering, managing digital mock-ups, machining, analysis, and simulation. By
enabling enterprises to reuse product design knowledge and accelerate development
cycles, CATIA helps companies to speed-up their responses to market needs.

4.2 PROCEDURE FOR MODELING OF WIND TURBINE BLADE:

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The modeling of straight wind turbine blade of varying wall thickness (i.e. from Solid
to 1 mm) models are created by using the CATIA V5 R18. The following GUI path for
creating part name as shown below and illustrated in the fig.4.1
Case - 1: modeling of the solid straight wind turbine blade.
Step 1: creating part name
GUI path: Open CATIA V5 R18 select mechanical design > part design > part name
solid blade> OK

Fig 4.2.1 part name solid

For darrieus vertical axis wind turbine, NACA 00xx series of symmetric airfoils are used
and more specifically NACA 0012, NACA 0015 and NACA 0018 are more frequently
used.
When lift and drag coefficients of these airfoils were compared at low angle of
attack. From that it was observed that a low value of lift coefficient and high value drag
coefficient is obtained for NACA 0018 whereas, a high value lift and lower value drag
coefficient for NACA 0012.This make NACA 0012 most suitable from aerodynamic

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characteristics but at the same time NACA 0012 is considered as too thin (12% of chord
length) for this design of high aspect ratio blades.
Therefore, NACA 0015 is chosen for this design considering its thickness and
aerodynamics performance. The following GUI path for creating the airfoil spline in the
CATIA V5 R18 as shown below and illustrated in the fig.4.2.2 and fig.4.2.3
Different shapes like r-blunt, s-blunt ,sharp and round are modeled.
Step 2: creating airfoil spline in the CATIA V5 R18.
GUI path: minimize CATIA window > Open Excel sheet > select view option >
Feuil1.main > Run > user info > Select 2 > Ok > open CATIA V5 R18 window.

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Fig 4.2.2 coordinates for sharp blade

Fig 4.2.4 coordinates for R-blunt

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Fig 4.2.3 coordinates for S-blunt

Fig 4.2.5 coordinates for Round

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Fig 4.2.6 coordinate file Excel sheet

Fig 4.2.7 airfoil spline

Therefore generated airfoil cross section of the blade in the CATIA V5 R18 can be
extruded to the required blade length of 2000 mm in Z-direction. The following GUI path
for extruding is given below and illustrated in the fig 4.2.6.
Step 3: extruding
GUI path: Extrude > Select the profile > Select length (2000 mm), right side appeared
dialogue box > Click OK > Select generated geometry > Ok.

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Fig 4.2.8 extruded geometry

** Steps: 2 - 3 are same in all the cases from case II**

Case: II modeling of 5 mm thickness blade.
Procedure for modeling of 5mm thickness blade were followed as below
Step- 1: creating part name
GUI path: Open CATIA V5 R18 select mechanical design > part design > part name 5
mm thickness blade > OK

Fig 4.2.9 part name as 5 mm airfoil blade

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Step- 4: creating thickness

GUI path: Extrude > Select the profile > Select length (2000 mm), right side appeared
dialogue box > Select thick option give thickness 5 mm > Select generated geometry >
Ok.

Fig 4.2.10 extruded 5mm thickness blade

Modeling of the reaming cross sections of all shapes of the blades is same as the
above procedure from case I and II.All the blades with different cross
section(withvarying shapes) were modeled as shown in below fig.4.2.10. From (a-f)

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(a) Sharp Solid profile blade

(b) S-blunt Solid profile blade

(c)S-blunt Solid profile blade

(e) 5mm wall thickness sharp blade

(g) 5mm wall thickness R-blunt

(d) Round Solid profile blade

(f) 5mm wall thickness S-blunt

(f) 5mm wall thickness Round blade

Fig.4.2.11 (a-h) Cross Sections of designed models of the blade with different shapes and
thickness.

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Chapter 5
FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS
5.1 INTRODUCTION
Finite Element Analysis (FEA) is a computer-based numerical technique for
calculating the strength and behavior of engineering structures. It can be used to calculate
deflection, stress, vibration, buckling behavior and many other phenomena. It can be used
to analyze either small or large-scale deflection under loading or applied displacement. It
can analyze elastic deformation, or "permanently bent out of shape" plastic deformation.
The computer is required because of the astronomical number of calculations needed to
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analyze a large structure. The power and low cost of modern computers has made finite
element analysis available to many disciplines and companies.
In the finite element method, a structure is broken down into many small simple
blocks or elements. The behavior of an individual element can be described with a
relatively simple set of equations. Just as the set of elements would be joined together to
build the whole structure, the equations describing the behaviors of the individual
elements are joined into an extremely large set of equations that describe the behavior of
the whole structure. The computer can solve this large set of simultaneous equations.
From the solution, the computer extracts the behavior of the individual elements. From
this, it can get the stress and deflection of all the parts of the structure. The stresses will
be compared to allowed values of stress for the materials to be used, to see if the structure
is strong enough.
The term "finite element" distinguishes the technique from the use of infinitesimal
"differential elements" used in calculus, differential equations, and partial differential
equations. The method is also distinguished from finite difference equations, for which
although the steps into which space is divided are finite in size, there is little freedom in
the shapes that the discreet steps can take. Finite element analysis is a way to deal with
structures that are more complex than with analytically using partial differential
equations. FEA deals with complex boundaries better than finite difference equations, and
gives answers to "real world" structural problems. It has been substantially extended in
scope during the roughly 40 years of its use.

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FEA consists of a computer model of a material or design that is loaded and

analyzed for specific results. It is used in new product design, and existing product
refinement. A company is able to verify that a proposed design will be able to perform to
the client's specifications prior to manufacturing or construction. Modifying an existing
product or structure is utilized to qualify the product or structure for a new service
condition. In case of structural failure, FEA may be used to help determine the design
modifications to meet the new condition.
Mathematically, the structure to be analyzed is subdivided into a mesh of finite
sized elements of simple shape. Within each element, the variation of displacement is
assumed to be determined by simple polynomial shape functions and nodal
displacements. Equations for the strains and stresses are developed in terms of the
unknown nodal displacements. From this, the equations of equilibrium are assembled in a
matrix form which can be easily be programmed and solved on a computer. After
applying the appropriate boundary conditions, the nodal displacements are found by
solving the matrix stiffness equation. Once the nodal displacements are known, element
stresses and strains can be calculated. Within each of these modeling schemes, the
programmer can insert numerous algorithms (functions), which may make the system
behave linearly or non-linearly. Linear systems are far less complex and generally ignore
many subtleties of model loading & behaviour. Non-linear systems can account for more
realistic behaviour such as plastic deformation, changing loads etc. and is capable of
testing a component all the way to failure.

5.2 A BRIEF HISTORY' OF THE FINITE ELEMENT METHOD AND

ANSYS
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The finite element method is a numerical procedure that can be applied to obtain
solutions to a variety of problems in engineering. Steady, transient, linear, or nonlinear
problems in stress analysis, heat transfer, fluid flow, and electromagnetism problems may
be analyzed with finite element methods. The origin of the modem finite element method
may be traced back to the early 1900s, when some investigators approximated and
modeled elastic continua using discrete equivalent elastic bars. However, Courant (1943)
has been credited with being the first person to develop the finite element method. In a
paper published in the early 1940s. Courant used piecewise polynomial interpolation over
triangular sub regions to investigate torsion problems. The next significant step in the
utilization of finite element methods was taken by Boeing in the 1950s when Boeing,
followed by others, used triangular stress elements to model airplane wings. Yet, it was
not until 1960 that Clough made the term "finite element" popular. During the 1960s,
investigators began to apply the finite element method to other areas of engineering, such
as heat transfer and seepage flow problems. Zienkiewicz and Cheung (1967) wrote the
first book entirely devoted to the finite element method in 1967. In 1971, ANSYS was
released for the first time. ANSYS is a comprehensive general-purpose finite element
computer program that contains over 100,000 lines of code. ANSYS is capable of
performing static, dynamic, heat transfer, fluid flow, and electromagnetism analyses.
ANSYS has been a leading FEA program for well over 20 years. The current version of
ANSYS has a completely new look, with multiple windows incorporating Graphical User
Interface (GUI), pull down menus, dialog boxes, and a tool bar. Today, you will find
ANSYS in use in many engineering fields, including aerospace, automotive, electronics,
and nuclear. In order to use ANSYS or any other "canned" FEA computer program
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intelligently, it is imperative that one first fully understands the underlying basic concepts
and limitations of the finite element methods.

5.3 BASIC STEPS IN THE FINITE ELEMENT METHOD

The basic steps involved in any finite element analysis consist of the following:
Preprocessing Phase

Create and discretize the solution domain into finite elements; that is, subdivide

the problem into nodes and elements.

Assume a shape function to represent the physical behavior of an element; that is,
an approximate continuous function is assumed to represent the solution of an

element.
Develop equations for an element.
Assemble the elements to present the entire problem. Construct the global

stiffness matrix.
Apply boundary conditions. Initial conditions are constraining the body and
loading on the body.

Solution Phase
Solve a set of linear or nonlinear algebraic equations simultaneously to obtain
results. Such as displacement values at different nodes or temperature values at

different nodes in a heat transfer problem.

Post processing Phase
Obtain other important information. At this point, you may be interested in values
of principal stresses. heat fluxes, etc.
All post-processors now include the calculation of stress & strains in any of the x,

y or z directions, or indeed in a direction at an angle to the coordinate axes. The principal

stresses and strains may also be plotted, or if required the yield stresses and strains
according to the main theories of failure (Von-Mises, St. Venant, Tresca etc.). Other
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information such as the strain energy, plastic strain and creep strain may be obtained for
certain types of analyses.
5.3.1 STEPS IN WORK BENCH
Step 1:Static Structural
1.engineering data= Aluminum alloy
Step 2: Geometry
1.inset =import part

Step 3:Mesh
1.generate mesh
Step 4:Static Structural
1.Given All DOFS(FIXED SUPPORT) to the internal area of the pivot
2. Selected the flat area of the pivot than applied the pressure
Pressure Applied = 2602N
Step 5: Solution
1. total deformation
2. von mises stress

5.4 TYPES OF ELEMENTS IN ANSYS

The process of discretization is equivalent to replacing the domain having an
infinite number of degrees of freedom by a system having finite number of degrees of
freedom. Element types in FEA may be described in terms of their shapes and degrees of

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freedom. Total number of degrees of freedom in the mesh determines the size of the
stiffness of the matrix.
Depending upon the geometry, material properties and other parameters 1D, 2D
or 3D elements can be used. The type of elements to be used depends upon the physical
problem at hand. The nodes are generally located at abrupt changes in geometry, material
properties and external conditions. The no. of elements depends upon the accuracy
desired. For symmetric bodies part of the body/model can be considered for
discretization. ANSYS Workbench does not have all Mechanical APDL elements
available. The ones that are available are the following.
Elements can also be categorized as
a. 3D Line Body: BEAM188 is suitable for analyzing slender to moderately thick
beam structures. The element is a linear, quadratic, or cubic two-node beam
element in 3-D. BEAM188 has six degrees of freedom at each node. These
include translations in the x, y, and z directions and rotations about the x, y, and z
directions.

Fig. 5.4.1 BEAM 188 Element

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b. 2D Solid Bodies: Usually, there are 2 DOF per node in the case of 2D analysis.
These elements may be triangular or quadrilateral in shape. Triangular type is the
simplest and is well suited for modeling irregular shapes.
PLANE182 is used for 2-D modeling of solid structures. The element can be
used as either a plane element (plane stress, plane strain or generalized plane
strain) or an axisymmetric element. It is defined by four nodes having two
degrees of freedom at each node: translations in the nodal x and y directions.
The element has plasticity, hyper elasticity, stress stiffening, large deflection,
and large strain capabilities. It also has mixed formulation capability for
simulating deformations of nearly incompressible elastoplastic materials, and
fully incompressible hyper elastic materials. These are of flat shape with

uniform cross section.

PLANE183 is a higher order 2-D, 8-node or 6-node element. PLANE183 has
quadratic displacement behavior and is well suited to modeling irregular
meshes (such as those produced by various CAD/CAM systems). This
element is defined by 8 nodes or 6 nodes having two degrees of freedom at
each node: translations in the nodal x and y directions. The element may be
used as a plane element (plane stress, plane strain and generalized plane
strain) or as an axisymmetric element. This element has plasticity, hyper
elasticity, creep, stress stiffening, large deflection, and large strain capabilities.
It also has mixed formulation capability for simulating deformations of nearly
incompressible elastoplastic materials, and fully incompressible hyper elastic
materials.

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Fig 5.4.2 PLANE 183 Element

Fig 5.4.3 PLANE 182Element

c. Shell elements: SHELL181 is suitable for analyzing thin to moderately-thick

shell structures. It is a four-node element with six degrees of freedom at each
node: translations in the x, y, and z directions, and rotations about the x, y, and zaxes. It is well-suited for linear, large rotation, and/or large strain nonlinear
applications. Change in shell thickness is accounted for in nonlinear analyses. In
the element domain, both full and reduced integration schemes are supported. It
can be used for layered applications for modeling composite shells or sandwich
construction. The accuracy in modeling composite shells is governed by the firstorder shear-deformation theory.
d. Solid elements: This type of element is used for complex 3D components having
non-uniform thickness.
SOLID186 is a higher order 3-D 20-node solid element that exhibits quadratic
displacement behavior. The element is defined by 20 nodes having three
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degrees of freedom per node: translations in the nodal x, y, and z directions.

The element supports plasticity, hyper elasticity, creep, stress stiffening, large
deflection, and large strain capabilities. It also has mixed formulation
capability for simulating deformations of nearly incompressible elastoplastic
materials, and fully incompressible hyper elastic materials. The homogeneous
Structural Solid is well suited to modeling irregular meshes (such as those
produced by various CAD/CAM systems). The element may have any spatial

orientation.
SOLID187 element is a higher order 3-D, 10-node element. SOLID187 has a
quadratic displacement behavior and is well suited to modeling irregular
meshes (such as those produced from various CAD/CAM systems). The
element is defined by 10 nodes having three degrees of freedom at each node:
translations in the nodal x, y, and z directions. The element has plasticity,
hyper elasticity, creep, stress stiffening, large deflection, and large strain
capabilities. It also has mixed formulation capability for simulating
deformations of nearly incompressible elastoplastic materials, and fully
incompressible hyper elastic materials.

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Fig 5.4.4 SOLID 186 and 187 Elements

5.5 APPLICATION AREAS

In essence, the finite element is a mathematical method for solving ordinary &
partial differential equations. Because it is a numerical method, it has the ability to solve
complex problems that can be represented in differential equation form. As these types of
equations occur naturally in virtually all fields of the physical sciences, the applications
of the finite element method are limitless as regards the solution of practical design
problems.
Due to the high cost of computing power of years gone by, FEA has a history of
being used to solve complex & cost critical problems. Classical methods alone usually
cannot provide adequate information to determine the safe working limits of a major civil
engineering construction. If a tall building, a large suspension bridge or a nuclear reactor
failed catastrophically, the economic & social costs would be unacceptably high.
In recent years, FEA has been used almost universally to solve structural
engineering problems. One discipline that has relied heavily on the technology is the
aerospace industry. Due to the extreme demands for faster, stronger, lighter and more
efficient aircrafts, manufacturers have to rely on the technique to stay competitive. But
more importantly, due to safety, high manufacturing costs of components and the high
media coverage that the industry is exposed to, aircraft companies need to ensure that
none of their components fail, that is to cease providing the service that the design
intended.

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FEA has been used routinely in high volume production & manufacturing
industries for many years, as to get a product design wrong would be detrimental. For
example, if a large manufacturer had to recall one model alone due to a piston design
fault, they would end up having to replace up to 10 million pistons. Similarly, if an oil
platform had to shut down due to one of the major components failing (platform frame,
turrets, etc..), the cost of lost revenue is far greater than the cost of fixing or replacing the
components, not to mention the huge environmental & safety costs that such an incident
could incur. The finite element method is a very important tool for those involved in
engineering design; it is now used routinely to solve problems in the following areas:

Structural strength design

Structural interaction with fluid flows

Analysis of Shock (underwater & in materials)

Acoustics

Thermal analysis

Vibrations

Fluid flows

Electrical analyses

Buckling problems

Dynamic analyses

Electromagnetic evaluations

Metal forming

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5.6 ADVANTAGES OF FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS

Finite element analysis has numerous advantages over other numerical methods. Some of
these advantages are listed below.

FEA is applicable to any physical problem like stress analysis, fluid flow, heat

transfer, electromagnetic fields, etc.

There is no restriction about the geometry of the component. Component can

have any complex shape.

There is no restriction on the location of loading and boundary conditions.
Isotropic, orthotropic as well as composite material properties may be used.
Material nonlinearity can also be incorporated.
Parts that have different physical behaviors and different geometrical

descriptions can be combined and analyzed.

The desired accuracy can be achieved by implementing an adaptive meshing
scheme, in which a mesh can be revised.

5.7 DISADVANTAGES OF FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS

For some problems the approximation used does not provide accurate results.
For vibration and stability problems the cost of analysis by FEA is prohibitive.

Stress values may vary from fine mesh to average mesh analysis.

5.8 ANALYSIS PROCEDURE FOR STRAIGHT WIND TURBINE

BLADES IN ANSYS SIMULATION
Selection of analysis type, element type, defining material properties, defining
geometric properties (real constants) are common steps for all blade geometries.

5.8.1 Selection of Analysis Type

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The analysis type used for straight wind turbine blade model is static structural
steady state analysis. By using following GUI path, the analysis type is selected as shown
in fig5.8.1
GUI Path: Main menu> tool box >structural

Fig 5.8.1 Selecting analysis type

5.8.2 Defining Material Properties

The material properties of materials are specified as below table 5.1. They are
applied in the ANSYS environment by taking the following GUI path as shown in fig
5.8.2
GUI Path: main menu >structural > engineering data > Material properties > Linear >
Elastic > Isotropic > Ex=71e9 > PRXY=0.33 > Ok.
Linear isotropic properties of Aluminum are being defined as shown in

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Fig 5.8.2 Material properties

There are four material numbers used in all the simulation. The properties of each
material are in the table 5.8.2.1.
Material Type

Poissons Ratio()

Aluminum alloy
Neat matrix

Youngs Modulus
E(G Pa)
71
20

.33
0.2

Density
(kg/m3)
2700
1800

E-Glass Composite

9.572

0.25

1800

Table 5.8.2.1 Mechanical properties of the given materials

5.8.3 import In File

The blade models created in CATIA V5 SOFTWARE can be imported for the analysis in
the ANSYS WORKBENCH. The blade importing procedure is given in the following
GUI path .The imported is shown the following figure 5.8.3
GUI Path: geometry>right click> Import > I.G.E.S > Ok > Browse the file > Open >
Ok>model>right click>edit.

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Fig 5.8 .3 Imported blade

5.8.4 Meshing
Mapped meshing (hexahedral elements) is carried out as illustrated below, which
is common procedure for all the modeled straight wind turbine blade geometries. The
analysis taken up is symmetric analysis of half of the U shaped shell model because the
geometry is symmetry. For meshing straight wind turbine blade models, the following
GUI Path is used as shown in fig 5.8.4.
GUI Path: Main menu> tool box >structural>geometry>aqa>meshing>generate
meshing>ok.

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Fi
g 5.8.4 Meshed straight solid wind turbine blade

After meshing is done, the number elements and nodes created are shown in the
following table 5.8.4.1.
Table 5.8.4 .1 Number of elements and nodes
Blade
mode
l
Solid

Elements

Nodes

216

1497

5.8.5 Solution
Applying boundary conditions
Therefore all the degrees of freedom of the blade are constraints at the distance of
the .56 m from both ends giving the fixed region of length 1.46 m viz. The location of
struts attached to the blade. Different constraints used in this analysis are as shown
below for straight wind turbine blade. Constraints (Ux,y and z and Rx,y and z ) : (i)
Symmetric mid cross-sectional area (Same for other shell geometry).
While taking boundary conditions, all translational (Ux,y and z) and
rotational(Rx,y and z) degrees of freedom are constrained. The area to be constrained for
straight wind turbine blade is shown as in the below fig.
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.F
ig 5.8.5 Applying constraints on lines

The following GUI path is used for constraining all translational & rotational
degrees of freedoms of the symmetric mid cross-section straight wind turbine blade
model as shown in fig 5.10.
GUI Path: Main Menu >AQAV >static structural >fixed support>Apply > Structural
area>ok
Applying pressure loading:

The pressure load distributed load along the blade span at

c4

from leading

edge was applied for each designed cross section of the blade viz. The GUI path for
applying pressure load loading on the geometry is shown below and illustrated in the fig
5.8.6
GUI Path: Main Menu >AQAV >static structural (A5)>pressure >Apply > Structural
area>ok

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\
Fig 5.8.6 Applying pressure Distributed

Solution: Form the above given boundary conditions the problem can be solved.
The GUI path for solution is shown below and illustrated in the fig 5.12.
: Main Menu > Solution(A6) > Solve > Ok

Fig.5.8.7 solving

Case: 1I same procedure is applied (i.e. Case: I Procedure) to the all the designed
models.

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Chapter -6
STATIC ANALYSIS
Static analysis is done using ANSYS SOFTWARE for the present design of
straight (VAWT) vertical axis wind turbine blade. All the relevant parameters and
conditions such as material properties and boundary conditions are maintained in the
same manner for all the schemes to ensure a realistic and a justified one to one
comparison.
In the analysis we had compared various responses such as von-mises stress, and
deformation from the simulation solutions are to be validated against corresponding
previous observations .
Further dynamic analysis (i.e. Modal analysis) for the current design is carried out
in this work. Modal analysis is performed to determine the natural frequencies and mode

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shapes of a structure or a machine component while it is being designed. Later,

application of composite material properties is done. Models made of two composite
materials viz.AL alloy and E- Glass reinforced composites have been analyzed.
This chapter presents the results obtained by the ANSYS simulation of static, and
Thermal analysis of the straight (VAWT) vertical axis wind turbine blade.

6.1 STATIC ANALYSIS

Static analysis determines the stresses, strains, and deformations in structures or
components, caused by loads that do not induce significant inertia and damping effects.
The primary step of analysis is to validate the present design with the existing design,
hence, the analysis is carried out for uniformly distributed loads over the entire length of
the designed model (solid & beam elements varying from thickness 5mm) blades.
In this section the static analysis of the VAWT blade is calculated by using basic
beam theories, and those theoretical calculated designed values were evaluated using
SOLID185 and then BEAM188 elements.

6.2 STATIC LOAD ANALYSIS FOR ALUMINUM ALLOY

The Designed models were analyzed by applying various uniformly(pressure)
distributed loads (sum of aerodynamic load and centrifugal load) as shown in the table
3.5.1, stress and deformation on the straight wind turbine blade at each loading condition
were found and shown in the Table 6.6. The stresses which are experienced by the
straight wind turbine blade and the deformation occurred due to stress on the material and
are compared with the existing design values. It is noted that the stress value is well

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Page 83
Fig 6.2.1 Contour of stress distribution
Fig 6.2.2 Contour of stress distribution
over the solid cross section (Sharp) solid)
over the solid cross section (Round
blade)

Fig 6.2.3 Contour of Stress distribution

over the solid cross section blade (Rblunt)

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Fig 6.2.4 Contour of Stress distribution

over the solid cross section blade (Sblunt)

Page 84

Fig 6.2.5 Contour of stress distribution over

the 5mm thick hallow cross section blade
(Sharp)

Fig 6.2.6 Contour of stress

distribution over the 5mm thick
hallow cross section blade (Round)

Fig 6.2.7 Contour of stress distribution over

the 5mm thick hallow cross section blade (Rblunt)

Fig 6.2.8 Contour of stress

distribution over the 5mm thick hallow
cross section blade (S-blunt)

A straight VAWT blades is shown as in Fig above the solid element and vonmises stress distribution, contour plots for solid model under uniformly distributed
loads(pressure) of 26.02 KN on the fixed region
It can be observed that maximum stress occurs at the two fixed supports
(i.e. in the fixed region), which is identified with red color and the values are 5.241e5m to
the sharp thickness and the minimum stress induced in straight wind turbine blade are
identified with blue color,

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With the performed static analysis on 5mm thickness blade von-mises stresses and
deformations were measured for solid element blade model In effect to the applied
uniformly distributed load (pressure) on both fixed region (26.02 KN).The resultant
maximum stress happened at the fixed region for solid element blade model (5.241e^5)
is visualized in the above figs
Deformation Aluminum Alloy

Fig 6.2.9 Contour of Deformation

distribution over the solid cross section
blade (Sharp)

Fig 6.2.11 Contour of deformation

distribution over the solid cross section
blade (R-blunt)

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Fig 6.2.10 Contour of Deformation

distribution over the solid cross section
blade (Round)

Fig 6.2.12 Contour of deformation

distribution over the solid cross section
blade (S-blunt)

Page 86

Fig 6.2.13Contour of deformation

distribution over the 5mm thick hallow
cross section blade (Sharp)

Fig 6.2.14 Contour of deformation

distribution over the 5mm thick hallow
cross section blade (Round)

Fig 6.2.15 Contour of deformation

distribution over the 5mm thick hallow
cross section blade (R-blunt)

Fig 6.2.16 Contour of deformation

distribution over the 5mm thick hallow
cross section blade (S-blunt)

A straight VAWT blade made in AL alloy shown as in above fig, the solid element
deformation distribution, contour plots for solid model under uniformly distributed
loads(pressure) of 26.02 KN on the fixed region
It can be observed that maximum deformation

occurs at the two fixed supports

(i.e. in the fixed region), which is identified with red color and the values are 5.92e-6m to
the sharp thickness and the minimum stress induced in straight wind turbine blade are
identified with blue color,

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With the performed static analysis on 5mm thickness blade von-mises stresses and
deformations were measured for solid element blade model In effect to the applied
uniformly distributed load (pressure) on both fixed region (26.02 KN).The resultant
maximum deformation happened at the fixed region for solid element blade model
(2.29241e^-6) is visualized in the above fig.

6.3STATIC LOAD ANALYSIS FOR E-GLASS

The Designed models were analyzed by applying various uniformly distributed
loads (sum of aerodynamic load and centrifugal load) as shown in the table 3.6, stress and
deformation on the straight wind turbine blade at each loading condition were found and
shown in the Table 6.1. The stresses which are experienced by the straight wind turbine
blade and the deformation occurred due to stress on the material and are compare with
the existing design values. It is noted that the stress value is well below the

Fig 6.3.1 Contour of Stress distribution

over the solid cross section blade
(sharp)

Fig 6.3.2 Contour of Stress distribution

over the solid cross section blade
(Round)

Fig 6.2.1 Contour of stress distribution

over the solid cross section (Sharp)
solid)
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Fig 6.2.2 Contour of stress

distribution over the solid
crossection (Round blade)
Page 88

Fig 6.3.3 Contour of Stress over the solid

cross section blade (R-blunt)

Fig 6.3.4 Contour of Stress distribution

over the solid cross section blade (Sblunt)

Fig 6.3.5 Contour of stress distribution over

the 5mm thick hallow cross section blade
(Sharp)

Fig 6.3.6 Contour of stress

distribution over the 5mm thick
hallow cross section blade (Round)

Fig 6.3.7 stress distribution over the 5mm

thick hallow cross section blade (R-blunt)

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Fig 6.3.8 stress distribution over the

5mm thick hallow cross section blade
(S-blunt)

Page 89

A straight VAWT blade made in e glass is shown as in above fig the solid element stress
distribution, contour plots for solid model under uniformly distributed loads(pressure) of
26.02 KN on the fixed region
It can be observed that maximum stress occurs at the two fixed supports (i.e. in
the fixed region), which is identified with red color and the values are 6.21e5 to the sharp
thickness and the minimum stress induced in straight wind turbine blade are identified
with blue color,
With the performed static analysis on 5mm thickness blade von-mises stresses
were measured for solid element blade model In effect to the applied uniformly
distributed load (pressure) on both fixed region (26.02 KN).The resultant maximum vonmises stresses happened at the fixed region for solid element blade model is visualized in
the above fig.

Deformation E Glass

Fig 6.3.9 Contour of Deformation

distribution over the solid cross section
blade (Sharp)

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Fig 6.3.10 Contour of Deformation

distribution over the solid cross section
blade (Round)

Page 90

Fig 6.3.11 Contour of Deformation

distribution over the solid cross section
blade (R-blunt)

Fig 6.3.13 Contour of deformation

distribution over the 5mm thick hallow
cross section blade (Sharp)

Fig 6.3.15 Contour of deformation

distribution over the 5mm thick hallow
cross section blade (R-blunt)

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Fig 6.3.12 Contour of Deformation

distribution over the solid cross section
blade (S-blunt)

Fig 6.3.14 Contour of deformation

distribution over the 5mm thick hallow
cross section blade (Round)

Fig 6.3.16Contour of deformation

distribution over the 5mm thick hallow
cross section blade (S-blunt)

Page 91

A straight VAWT blades E glass shown as in above Figs the solid element stress
distribution, contour plots for solid model under uniformly distributed loads(pressure) of
26.02 KN on the fixed region
It can be observed that maximum deformation

occurs at the two fixed supports

(i.e. in the fixed region), which is identified with red color and the values are 2.09e-5 m
to the sharp thickness and the minimum stress induced in straight wind turbine blade are
identified with blue color,
With the performed static analysis on 5mm thickness blade total deformation were
measured for solid element blade model In effect to the applied uniformly distributed
load (pressure) on both fixed region (26.02 KN).The resultant maximum

total

deformation happened at the fixed region for solid element blade model is visualized in
above the figs.

6.4 STATIC LOAD ANALYSIS FOR NEAT GLASS

Stress

Fig 6.4.1 Contour of Stress distribution

Fig 6.4.2 Contour of Stress
over the solid cross section blade (sharp)
distribution over the solid cross
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Page 92
section blade (Round)

Fig 6.4.3 Contour of Stress distribution

over the solid cross section blade
(R-blunt)

Fig 6.4.4 Contour of Stress distribution

over the solid cross section blade
(Sblunt)

Fig 6.4.5 Contour of stress distribution

over the 5mm thick hallow cross section
blade (Sharp)

Fig 6.4.6 Contour of stress distribution

over the 5mm thick hallow cross section
blade (Round)

Fig 6.4.7 Contour of stress distribution

over the 5mm thick hallow cross section
blade (R-blunt)

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Fig 6.4.8 Contour of stress distribution

over the 5mm thick hallow cross section
blade (S-blunt)

Page 93

Deformation For Neat Matrix

Fig 6.4.9 Contour of Deformation

distribution over the solid cross section
blade (Sharp)

Fig 6.4.10 Contour of Deformation

distribution over the solid cross section
blade (Round)

Fig 6.4.11 Contour of Deformation

distribution over the solid cross section
blade (R-blunt)

Fig 6.4.12 Contour of Deformation

distribution over the solid cross section
blade (S-blunt)

Fig 6.4.13 Contour of deformation

distribution over the 5mm thick hallow
cross section blade (Sharp)

Fig 6.4.14 Contour of deformation

distribution over the 5mm thick hallow
cross section blade (Round)

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Fig 6.4.15 Contour of deformation

distribution over the 5mm thick hallow
cross section blade (Sharp)

Fig 6.4.16 Contour of deformation

distribution over the 5mm thick hallow
cross section blade (Sharp)

A straight VAWT blade s neat matrix is shown as in above Figs the solid element
stress distribution, contour plots for solid model under uniformly distributed
loads(pressure) of 26.02 KN on the fixed region
.

It can be observed that maximum stress occurs at the two fixed supports (i.e. in

the fixed region), which is identified with red color and the values are 6.21e^5Pa to the
sharp thickness and the and the minimum stress induced in straight wind turbine blade are
identified with blue color, and the maximum deformation occurs at the free ends of the
blade (.i.e. in the cantilever region), identified with red color and the values are 9.23e^6m for the sharp thickness and the and the minimum deformation induced in straight
wind turbine blade are identified with blue color.
With the performed static analysis on 5mm thickness blade total deformation were
measured for solid element blade model In effect to the applied uniformly distributed
load (pressure) on both fixed region (26.02 KN).The resultant maximum

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total

deformation happened at the fixed region for solid element blade model is visualized in
above the figs.

6.5 DEFORMATION RESULTS

Fig 6.5.1 effort of deformation on AL-alloy

Fig 6.5.2 effort of deformation on E-glass

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Fig 6.5.3 effort of deformation on Neat matrix

Fig 6.5.2 effort of deformation on neat matrix

6.6 STRESS RESULTS

Fig 6.6.1 effort of stress AL-alloy

Fig 6.6.2 effort of stress E-glass

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Fig 6.6.3effort of stress Neat matrix

6.7 STATIC ANALYSIS RESULTS

6.7.1 Aluminum Alloy
Table 6.7.1 Comparison of stress and deformation of solid model and 5mm wall thickness
blade for aluminum alloy as given below

stress and deformation of optimized solid and 5 mm

S.No

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Pofile name

wall thickness blade

Von - Mises
Max Deformation( e^-6m)
stress(e^5Pa)

Page 98

Sharp solid

3.747

2.15

S- blunt solid

3.606

1.766

R- blunt solid

3.31

1.46

Round solid

3.29

1.46

Sharp thick
thickness

5.24

2.92

S- Blunt Thick
thickness

4.70

2.10

4.76

2.11

4.66

2.09

R blunt thickness

Round thickness

6.7.2 E - GLASS
Table 6.7.2 Comparison of stress and deformation of solid model and 5mm wall thickness
blade for E- glass as given below

S.No

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Pofile name

stress and deformation of optimized solid and 5

mm wall thickness blade
Von - Mises
Deformation(e^-6m)
stress(e^5Pa)

Page 99

Sharp solid

3.51

1.58

S- blunt solid

3.39

1.33

R- blunt solid

3.35

1.09

Round solid

3.13

1.09

6.21

2.09

5.25

1.55

5.28

1.56

5.12

1.54

Sharp thick thickness

S- blunt thick
thickness
R blunt thickness

Round thickness

6.7.3 NEAT MATRIX

Table 6.7.3. Comparison of stress and deformation of solid model and 5mm wall thickness
blade for neat matrix as given below

S.No

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Pofile name

stress and deformation of optimized solid and 5

mm wall thickness blade

Page 100

Von - Mises
stress(e^5Pa)

Deformation(e^-6m)

Sharp solid

3.77

7.43

S- blunt solid

3.66

6.14

R- blunt solid

Round solid

3.25

5.14

Sharp thick thickness

6.23

9.23

S- blunt thickness

5.54

7.34

R blunt thickness

5.56

7.33

Round thickness

5.36

7.25

3.55

5.18

6.8 DISCUSSION ON STATIC RESULTS FOR DIFFERENT SHAPE

BLADE MODELS

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Table 6.7.2.1 shows the, von-mises stresses and deformation of the Solid Model And 5
mm thickness optimized blade for aluminum allloy, . It can be observed that round solid
is better shape with metal as compare to other shapes
Table 6.7.2.1 shows the, von-mises stresses and deformation of the Solid Model And 5
mm thickness optimized blade for E -glass, . It can be observed that round solid is better
shape with metal as compare to other shapes
Table 6.7.2.1 shows the, von-mises stresses and deformation of the Solid Model And 5
mm thickness optimized blade for neat matrix , . It can be observed that round is better
shape with metal as compare to other shapes

Chapter 7
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THERMAL ANALYSIS
7.1 THERMAL ANALYSIS PROCEDURE FOR STRAIGHT WIND
TURBINE BLADES IN ANSYS SIMULATION
Thermal analysis is a branch of materials science where the properties of materials are
studied as they change with temperature. Several methods are commonly used these are
distinguished from one another by the property which is measured

Dielectric thermal analysis (DEA): dielectric permittivity and loss factor

Differential thermal analysis (DTA): temperature difference

Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC): heat difference

Dilatometry (DIL): volume

Dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) : mechanical stiffness and damping

Evolved gas analysis (EGA) : gaseous decomposition products

Laser flash analysis (LFA): thermal diffusivity and thermal conductivity

Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA): mass

Thermomechanical analysis (TMA): dimension

Thermo-optical analysis (TOA): optical properties

Derivatography: A complex method in thermal analysis[1]

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Simultaneous Thermal Analysis (STA) generally refers to the simultaneous application

of Thermogravimetry (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) to one and the
same sample in a single instrument. The test conditions are perfectly identical for the
TGA and DSC signals (same atmosphere, gas flow rate, vapor pressure of the sample,
heating rate, thermal contact to the sample crucible and sensor, radiation effect, etc.). The
information gathered can even be enhanced by coupling the STA instrument to an
Evolved Gas Analyzer (EGA) like Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) or
mass spectrometry (MS).

7.1.1 Selection of Analysis Type

The analysis type used for straight wind turbine blade model is transient themal
analysis. By using following GUI path, the analysis type is selected as shown in fig7.1.1
GUI Path: Main menu> Anlysis System> transient Thermal>ok.

Fig 7.1.1 Selecting analysis type

7.1.2 Defining Material Properties

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The material properties of materials are specified as below table 7.1.2 They are
applied in the ANSYS environment by taking the following GUI path as shown in fig 5.8.
GUI Path: Main menu> Anlysis System> transient Thermal>engineering data>Material
models > metrial data> Ok.
The above GUI path opens the tab for defining structural linear elastic isotropic
material. Density, sp.heat , isotopic thermal conductivity are defined as below. Linear
isotropic properties of Aluminum alloy are being defined as shown in fig 7.3

Fig 7.1.2 Material properties

There are four material numbers used in all the simulation. The properties of each
material are in the table 7.1.2
Table 7.2.1 Thermal properties of the given materials

Material Type

Sp.heat w/m^2

Density
(kg/m3)

Aluminum alloys
Neat matrix

Iso tropic thermal

conductivity
Wm^-1C^-1
875
4.15

875
20934

2700
1800

E-Glass Composite

3.8

2595.8

1800

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7.1.3 Importing File

The blade models created in CATIA V5 SOFTWARE can be imported for the analysis in
the Ansys WORK BENCH. The blade importing procedure is given in the following GUI
path .The imported is shown the following figure 7.3.
GUI Path: geometry>right click> Import > I.G.E.S > Ok > Browse the file >
Open > Ok>model>right click>edit.

Fig 7.1.3 Imported blade

7.1.4 Meshing
Mapped meshing (hexahedral elements) is carried out as illustrated below, which
is common procedure for all the modeled straight wind turbine blade geometries. The
analysis taken up is symmetric analysis of half of the U shaped shell model because the
geometry is symmetry. For meshing straight wind turbine blade models, the following
GUI Path is used as shown in fig 7.1.4.
GUI Path: Main menu> tool box>structural>geometry>aqa>meshing>generate
meshing>ok.

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Fig 7.1.4 Meshed straight solid wind turbine blade

After meshing is done, the number elements and nodes created are shown in the
following table 7.1.4
Table 7.1.4 Number of elements and nodes

Blade
mode
l
Solid

Elements

Nodes

216

1497

7.1.5 Solution
Applying boundary conditions
While taking boundary conditions, Applying Temperature. The area to be
constrained for straight wind turbine blade is shown as in the fig 7.1.5

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.
Fig 7.1.5.1Applying temperature

The following GUI path is used for temperature of the symmetric mid crosssection straight wind turbine blade model as shown in fig7. 5.1
GUI Path: Main Menu >AQAV >transient thermal(A5) >temperature > Structural area>
magnitude >apply>ok.

Applying convection
The GUI path for applying convention on the geometry is shown below and
illustrated in the fig 7.5.2.
GUI Path: GUI Path: Main Menu >AQAV >transient thermal(A5 >convection>film co
efficient> stangent air-simplified case > Structural area>ok

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Fig 7.1.5.2 applying convection

Solution: Form the above given boundary conditions the problem can be solved.
The GUI path for solution is shown below and illustrated in the fig 7.5.3.
GUI Path: Main Menu > Solution(A6) > Solve > Ok

Fig 7.1.5.3 solving

Case: 1I same procedure is applied (i.e. Case: I Procedure) to the all the designed models

7.2 THERMAL ANALYSIS OF ALLUMINIUM ALLOY

Fig 7.2.1 total heat flux over the solid

cross section blade (Sharp)
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Fig 7.2.2 total heat flux over the solid

cross section blade (s-blunt)
Page 109

Fig 7.2.3 total heat flux over the solid

cross section blade (r-blunt)

Fig 7.2.4 total heat flux over the solid

cross section blade (round)

Fig 7.2.5 total heat flux over the solid

cross section blade (sharp t)

Fig 7.2.6 total heat flux over the solid

cross section blade (s-blunt t)

Fig 7.2.7 total heat flux over the solid

cross section blade (r blunt thickness)

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Fig 7.2.8 total heat flux over the solid cross

section blade (round thickness)

Page 110

It can be observed that total heat flux occurs at the two fixed convention, which is
identified with red color and the values are 51968w/m^2 to the sharp thickness and the
minimum stress induced in straight wind turbine blade are identified with blue color

7.3 THERMAL ANALYSIS OF E-GLASS

Fig 7.3.1 total heat flux over the solid

cross section blade (sharp solid )

Fig 7.3.3 total heat flux over the solid

cross section blade (r-blunt solid )

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Fig 7.3.2 total heat flux over the solid

cross section blade (s-blunt solid )

Fig 7.3.4 total heat flux over the solid

cross section blade (round solid )

Page 111

Fig 7.7.5 total heat flux over the solid

cross section blade (sharp thickness )

Fig 7.7.6 total heat flux over the solid

cross section blade (s-blunt thickness )

Fig 7.3.7 total heat flux over the

Fig 7.3.8 total heat flux over the solid
It
can
be
observed
that
total
heat
flux
occurs
at the blade
two fixed
convention,which
is
solid cross section blade (r-blunt
cross section
(r-round
thickness )
thickness )

identified with red color and the values are 44135w/m^2 to the sharp thickness and the
minimum stress induced in straight wind turbine blade are identified with blue color

7.4 THERMAL ANALYSIS OF NEAT MATRIX

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Fig 7.4.1 total heat flux over the

solid cross section blade (sharp
solid)

Fig 7.4.3 total heat flux over the solid

cross section blade (r -blunt solid)

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Fig 7.4.2 total heat flux over the solid

cross section blade (s- blunt )

Fig 7.4.4 total heat flux over the solid

cross section blade (round solid)

Page 113

Fig 7.4.5 total heat flux over the solid

cross section blade (sharp thickness)

Fig 7.4.6 total heat flux over the

solid cross section blade (s-blunt
thickness)

Fig 7.4.7 total heat flux over the solid

cross section blade (r- blunt thickness)

Fig 7.4.8 total heat flux over the

solid cross section blade (round
thickness)

It can be observed that total heat flux occurs at the two fixed convention,which is
identified with red color and the values are 39496w/m^2 to the sharp solid and the
minimum stress induced in straight wind turbine blade are identified with blue color

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7.5 THERMAL RESULT

Fig 7.9.1 effort of total heat flux AL-alloy

Fig 7.9.2 effort of total heat flux E-glass

Fig 7.9.3 effort of total heat flux Neat matrix

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7.6 THERMAL ANALYSIS RESULTS OF METALS .

Table 7.6 .1Comparison of heat flux of solid model and 5mm wall thickness blade as given
below

Profile name
S.No

Heat flux of optimized solid model and 5 mm wall

thickness blade(w/m^2)
Aluminum alloy
E glass
Neat matrix

Sharp solid
1

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51968

44135

39496

s- blunt solid

51047

42773

36597

R blunt solid

48742

38947

38779

Round solid

52806

30263

39340

Sharp thickness

5712.5

42457

35317

s-blunt
thickness

5052.7

39417

36879

R blunt
thickness

5680.7

25271

37968

Round thickness

5680.2

25450

36145

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7.7 DISCUSSION ON THERMAL RESULTS FOR DIFFERENT

SHAPE BLADE MODELS
Table7.6 .1shows the, heat flux of the Solid Model And 5 mm thickness optimized blade
for all metals , . It can be observed that if the blades are made of aluminum alloy Rblunt Solid is better than rest. since,heatflux of R-blunt is 48742 .
For E-Glass made blades R-Blunt thickness is considered as better options compared to
other shapes.
As far as Neat matrix is concerned, sharp thickness blades have least heat flux of 35317

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Chapter- 7
CONCLUSIONS
7.1 CONCLUSIONS

Evaluating the values of maximum deflections and stresses considering cantilever

and fixed at both ends therefore, both the regions were analyzed separately and
Max.deflection and Max.stress of solid and thickness blades were evaluated using
relations taken from beam theories for uniformly distributed loading,and observed

that experimental values are less compared to theoretical values.

The Von-Misses stresses developed in solid and 5mm thickness optimized straight
hallow cross section blade (VAWT) during static analysis for, aluminum, neat

matrix and E-glass material respectively as given in table 6.7.1-6.7.3

These stresses are below yield stress of their respective materials i.e. 250, 185,
201.37, 165.6, and 154 MPa. Thus it is safe. And Von - mises stresses for
composites are less compared with aluminum (so, therefore

aluminum is

replaced with composite von mises stresses which reduced to 30 %.of Von-mises

stress)
The total deformations induced during static analysis in 8 blade for aluminum, ,
neat matrix and E-glass material respectively given in the table. It can observed
that the blades which are made of Neat matrix, deformation values are
comparatively less than that of all other blades made of aluminum and Eglass.And sharp solid blades made of neat matrix is considered as blade having

least deformation.
From the Thermal analysis of 8 blade shapes for aluminum, neat matrix and Eglass material respectively given in the table. It can be concluded that neat matrix
is more suitable in thermal conditions since almost all blades made of neat matrix

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are having less heat flux. Particularly, sharp thick blade made of neat matrix is

having least heat flux compared to all other blades made of aluminum and E-glass
Considering overall results, it is concluded that sharp thickness with made of neat
matrix metal is good wind stight blade with respectively all tables.

FUTURE SCOPE

Since the modeling and analysis has been done on straight VAWT blade by
comparing with different materials present work can be extended towards a

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greater complexity by doing other analyses like Flow analysis can be done by

using CFD software.

By using advanced composite materials and techniques the deflection can be

reduced for low thickness materials with possible good strength.

To find the response of the blade harmonic analysis can be done.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY
1)M. C. Claessens(2006) The design and testing of airfoils for application insmall
vertical axis wind turbines, M.S. thesis, Faculty of Aerospace Engineering, Delft Univ.
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2)K. Bergey(, 1979) The Lanchester-Betz limit, J. Energy, vol. 3, pp. 382384,
3) M. Islam, A. Fartaj, and R. Carriveau, Analysis of the design parameters related to a
fixed-pitch straight-bladed
4) F. Saeed et al(2008)., Inverse airfoil design method for low-speed straight bladed
Darrieus-type VAWT applications, in Proc. 7th World Wind Energy Conf., Ontario,
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5) K. McLaren, S. Tullis, and S. Ziada(, 2011 )Computational fluid dynamics simulation
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6) J. L. Summers and W. A. Page,( 1950.) Lift and Moment Characteristics at Subsonic
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Thickness. Washington, DC, USA: National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics,
7) A. H. A. Hamid et al.,( , 2012.) Comparative analysis of straight-bladed and
curved-bladed vertical axis wind turbine, Adv. Math. Comput. Methods,vol. 2, no. 1, pp.
18
8) L. A. Danao, J. Edwards, O. Eboibi, and R. Howell, (2013)The performance of
a vertical axis wind turbine in fluctuating windA numerical study, in Proc. World
Congr. Eng., vol. 3 pp. 35.
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9) T. J. Carrigan et al.,( , 2012.) Aerodynamic shape optimization of a verticalaxis

wind turbine using differential evolution, ISRN Renew. Energy,vol. 2012, p. 16
10) R. Howell et al.( 2010.) Wind tunnel and numerical study of a small vertical
axis wind turbine, Renew. Energy, vol. 35, no. 2, pp. 412422,
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/271882434_Design_and_anal
ysis_of_a_straight_bladed_vertical_axis_wind_turbine_blade_using_anal
ytical_and_numerical_techniques
http://pia.sagepub.com/content/228/7/742.abstract
http://www.hindawi.com/journals/isrn/2012/528418/
http://greenterrafirma.com/wind%20turbines.html

APENDIX 1
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January 2013

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