Isogeometric analysis of ice accretion on wind turbine blades

For wind turbines operating in cold weather conditions, ice accretion is an established issue that remains an obstacle in effective turbine operation. While the aerodynamic performance of wind turbine blades with ice accretion has received considerable research attention, few studies have investigated the structural impact of blade ice accretion. This work proposes an adaptable projection-based method to superimpose complex ice configurations onto a baseline structure. The proposed approach provides an efficient methodology to include ice accretion in the high-fidelity isogeometric shell analysis of a realistic wind turbine blade. Linear vibration and nonlinear deflection analyses of the blade are performed for various ice configurations to demonstrate the impact of different ice accretion distributions on structural performance. These analyses indicate decreases in the blade natural frequencies and deflection under icing conditions. Such ice-induced changes clearly reveal the need for structural design consideration for turbines operating under icing conditions.