Optimized method for multi-axial fatigue testing of wind turbine blades

摘要

An optimized method for testing wind turbine blades under fatigue is suggested. With this method, material based damage targets along the blade are reached by applying an optimal combination of different uni- and multi-axial test blocks. The combination of test blocks is found using continuous linear optimization. Aeroelastic simulations are carried out to estimate both target and test strain-based damage in the blade. By applying the proposed method to a commercial wind turbine blade, the presented analysis illustrates that improved fatigue tests compared to current standard fatigue tests can be obtained in terms of both accuracy and total test time.