Weak coupling aeroelastic analysis for the structural characterisation of wind turbine blades

In the current state-of-the-art, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis and beam based models are used in order to analyse and design a wind turbine blade. CFD code simulations are accurate but very time consuming. Instead, beam model based software like FAST or Bladed are quick but they are not able to calculate the local stress/strain that appear at different positions on the blade. The work focuses on the development of an automated procedure for blade aero-structural analysis. As a practical example, the whole procedure has been applied to the 5 MW Upwind wind turbine blade. This methodology saves time and provides the necessary data in order to do subsequent studies such as blade structural behaviour analysis.