Design of a small-scale wind turbine blade of glass fibre/epoxy composite for electrification of rural villages in Ethiopia: a case study

Abstract

This paper targeted the design and stress comparison of a small-scale wind turbine blade which was constructed for the specific environmental conditions of the small rural village in Ethiopia. Firstly, the blade was designed from the characteristic of aerodynamic performance. Secondly, modelling and stress analysis of the windmills was conducted which is very significant for the further design and application of wind turbines. The material was epoxy-GFRP composite. The orthotropic mechanical properties of woven fibre epoxy polymer composite were created (ASTM D1683) with help of Autodesk Helius Composite V.16 software. The tensile and flexural testing specimens were fabricated by D3039M-17 and D7264M-15, respectively. Load, displacement, and modulus were investigated using UTM. Based on the parameters of the airfoil, the three-dimension and the assembly models of blades were mounted with the SOLIDWORK-V.16. Then the models were imported into ANSYS-V.15 WORKBENCH software for analysis. The displacement, Von Misses, and principal stress effects were determined.