Abstract
A multi-objective optimization method for the structural design of horizontal-axis wind turbine (HAWT) blades is presented. The main goal is to minimize the weight and cost of the blade which uses glass fiber reinforced plastic (GFRP) coupled with carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) materials. The number and the location of layers in the spar cap, the width of the spar cap and the position of the shear webs are employed as the design variables, while the strain limit, blade/tower clearance limit and vibration limit are taken into account as the constraint conditions. The optimization of the design of a commercial 1.5 MW HAWT blade is carried out by combining FEM analysis and a multi-objective evolutionary algorithm under ultimate (extreme) flap-wise load and edge-wise load conditions. The best solutions are described and the comparison of the obtained results with the original design is performed to prove the efficiency and applicability of the method.
Highlights
The blade is one of the most important components of wind turbines
A successful structural design of Horizontal-Axis Wind Turbine (HAWT) blades must satisfy a wide range of objectives, such as minimization of weight and cost, resistance to extreme and fatigue loads, restricted tip deflections, and avoiding resonances, but some of these objectives are in conflict [1]
This paper considers a two-objective optimization strategy of minimizing the weight as well as the material cost of a 1.5 MW HAWT blade
Summary
A successful structural design of Horizontal-Axis Wind Turbine (HAWT) blades must satisfy a wide range of objectives, such as minimization of weight and cost, resistance to extreme and fatigue loads, restricted tip deflections, and avoiding resonances, but some of these objectives are in conflict [1]. Most modern wind turbine blades are made of glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) due to its light weight, high strength and stiffness, superior fatigue and corrosion properties. As the size of the blades becomes larger, the blade weight grows rapidly (approximately as a cubic power of length) and GFRP cannot satisfy the structural requirements, which leads to the use of lighter and stronger materials such as carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) [3]. The combination of GFRP and CFRP in an appropriate way to achieve optimal utilization (reducing both the weight and the material cost) is an important issue worthy of research. The weight and the material cost of the blade are set to be a multi-objective function in this study
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