Finite element analysis of smart wind turbine blades sandwiched with magnetorheological fluid

Abstract

A brand-new smart wind turbine blade with magnetorheological fluid (MRF) sandwiched was proposed in the research. The three-dimension entity model of a 750 KW wind turbine blades was established through the use of UG software, and three kinds of MRF sandwich layouts were considered into the blade model, that is, at the blade tip, at the blade root and at the whole blade from the root till the tip. The MRF was simplified as Kelvin-Voigt model in order to implement the finite element analysis based on ANSYS software, so that the mode shapes of smart wind turbine blade were revealed under various conditions with three different layout forms of MRF sandwich wind turbine blades. Analysis results showed that the magnetic field would influence the mode shapes of the wind turbine blade with MRF sandwiched, especially the torsion vibration. When the MRF was inserted through the blade from the root till the tip, the blade would dramatically influence the torsion vibration, so that the torsion vibration, which originally would have happened at higher orders, would arise in advance. While the MRF was located at the root of wind turbine blade, the torsion vibration would be postponed to arise at the higher orders. Therefore, the MRF should be located at the blade root, instead of the middle and the tip of wind turbine blade. Smart sandwich wind turbine blade will provide a new way to the vibration control of wind turbine blade.