Numerical Analysis of Wind Turbine Performance Using Different Blade Materials under Wind Load Deflection

Abstract

A numerical investigation of the deflection on blades of three different materials against the range of wind speeds, and the effect on the blades’ aerodynamic performance was carried out. ABS plastic, wood and glass fiber were used to make blade solid models with Eppler E387 airfoil. Using ANSYS software, wind load impact simulation was carried on the blades over range of operation wind speeds to determine blade tip deflections. Highest and lowest deflection over the range of wind speeds were found to be for ABS plastic blade and glass fibre blade respectively Deflected blades were adopted to a commercial 20 kW wind turbine as a case study. The turbines were subjected to air flow simulation to determine aerodynamic performances over the range of 5m/s to 20m/s wind speeds. At rated wind speed of 10m/s, power coefficient values of 0.52175, 0.53685 and 0.53710 at optimum tip speed ratio (TSR) of 5 were produced by ABS, wood and glass fibre blades respectively. At severe wind speed of 20m/s, corresponding power coefficient values were 0.29911, 0.47458 and 0.58666 respectively. The study indicates that at normal operating winds speeds, all the materials are suitable for blade adoption, while glass fibre material seems to withstand severe wind speed most in aerodynamic performance.