Aero-elastic design optimization of floating offshore wind turbine blades

摘要

Floating offshore wind turbines operate with increased unsteady aerodynamic loading, brought on by motion of their support platform in response to wind and wave loads. Since floating wind turbines are a nascent technology, existing research and prototypes have employed existing rotor designs. This work presents the development of a systems engineering, simulation based approach for the aeroelastic optimization of wind turbine blades for floating applications. The optimization methodology is outlined and the results of a cases study presented. Increasing blade twist was found to increase the power coefficient over a wide range of below rated metocean conditions. A lower angle of attack resulting in lower lift resulted in reduced rotor thrust, thereby reducing rotor misalignment from platform pitch.