Structural investigation of composite wind turbine blade considering various load cases and fatigue life

This study proposes a structural design for developing a medium scale composite wind turbine blade made of E-glass/epoxy for a 750 kW class horizontal axis wind turbine system. The design loads were determined from various load cases specified at the IEC61400-1 international specification and GL regulations for the wind energy conversion system. A specific composite structure configuration, which can effectively endure various loads such as aerodynamic loads and loads due to accumulation of ice, hygro-thermal and mechanical loads, was proposed. To evaluate the proposed composite wind turbine blade, structural analysis was performed by using the finite element method. Parametric studies were carried out to determine an acceptable blade structural design, and the most dominant design parameters were confirmed. In this study, the proposed blade structure was confirmed to be safe and stable under various load conditions, including the extreme load conditions. Moreover, the blade adapted a new blade root joint with insert bolts, and its safety was verified at design loads including fatigue loads. The fatigue life of a blade that has to endure for more than 20 years was estimated by using the well-known S-N linear damage theory, the service load spectrum, and the Spera's empirical equations. With the results obtained from all the structural design and analysis, prototype composite blades were manufactured. A specific construction process including the lay-up molding method was applied to manufacturing blades. Full-scale static structural test was performed with the simulated aerodynamic loads. From the experimental results, it was found that the designed blade had structural integrity. In addition, the measured results of deflections, strains, mass, and radial center of gravity agreed well with the analytical results. The prototype blade was successfully certified by an international certification institute, GL (Germanisher Lloyd) in Germany. (c) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.