Hamid Ghaderi

Grade:  Master

Thesis Title:

Stress analysis of horizontal axis wind turbine blade considering the interaction of fluid and structure 

Year: Sept. 2012- Jun. 2015.

Abstract:

In recent years, the rising cost of fossil fuels and irreversible effects of this type of energy on the environment has caused researchers to pay more attention to renewable energy. The wind energy as a cheap and always available energy more than other renewable energy sources has attracted the attention of scientists. The horizontal axis wind turbines have caused large-scale plants to be built. Identifying critical condition in the creation of blade failure due to the high cost of design, construction and maintenance of horizontal axis wind turbines is necessary. In previous years the primary methods to simulate wind flow and estimate the aerodynamic forces acting on the blade was used. The nature of turbulent flow, boundary layer flow over complex geometry of the blade and the interaction of wind flow and blade surfaces, causing a more accurate method for calculating the aerodynamic forces. Fluid and solid interaction (FSI) method as a new method to predict the behavior of structures and fluid and their effects on each other known. The aim of this study is to evaluate the stress caused by the wind flow around the blade with FSI method. For this purpose, the geometry of the blade and its layered composite is done in ANSYS ACP. then wind flow around the blade by choosing the appropriate mesh network and turbulent model in ANSYS CFX is simulated. Pressure caused by the wind flow on the blade for different wind speeds, by analysis of wind flow around the blade is obtained. With the help of FSI capabilities in ANSYS Workbech, the obtained pressure  from CFD analysis of fluid as pressure forces are applied to Static Structure environment of ANSYS Workbech sofware. Stress along the blade is calculated from the static analysis of blade. from The study of Stress created along the blade, probabilistic weak points for Improved layered composite are obtained.

Keywords: renewable energy, horizontal axis wind turbines blade, FSI, ANSY ACP, ANSYS CFX, stress analysis.