Determination of the geometric and material properties of the NREL Phase Ⅵ wind turbine blade

摘要

In recent years, the wind turbine market has gained relevance due to technological advances that make this renewable energy type increasingly efficient and economically competitive. Numerous studies have focused on the rotor blades due to their design process and constant increase in dimensions. During their useful life, the blades are exposed to critical external loads from winds, gravity, and dynamic interactions. In addition to having a high aerodynamic performance, these structures are made of composite materials to achieve a high strength-to-weight ratio. A fluid-structure interaction (FSI) simulation is required to analyze the complex aeroelastic phenomenon of wind pressure on the turbine blades. A more accurate structural response of the FSI behavior can be performed using shell elements in a finite element analysis based on the sectional beams’ mass and stiffness properties. In the present work, the geometric and material properties are determined from the mass and stiffness properties for a blade of the unsteady aerodynamics experiment (UAE) Phase Ⅵ wind turbine, tested by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in the NASA Ames wind tunnel. The application of a technique makes it possible to detail the thickness distribution, the number of the composite layers, and mechanical and physical properties of the material, relating it with the most relevant structural properties of the blade sections. This result can contribute to the more accurate calibration of FSI models for predicting structural behavior. The numerical models are correlated with the experimental test’s natural frequencies to ensure the attendance of the dynamic blade requirements.