Structural optimization of wind turbine blades with ring shear webs

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to present an optimized structure for the design of wind turbine blades. It sets up a forced blade model with ring shear webs and deduces the equations for the inertia moment Iy of airfoil section, the maximum stress σmax and the compression ΔD of airfoil relative thickness. Then, the model and the equations are applied to one 750 kw wind turbine. By MATLAB software, the changing trends of the inertia moment Iy, the maximum stress σmax, and the compression ΔD, respectively, along with the ratio e of the inner chord length to the outer and the blade span x are gained. It is concluded that the bending strength around the blade root increases greatly. It also indicates that the bending strength of blades with ring shear webs is almost the same as the blades with solid shear webs when the ratio e is set as 0.4, and also the use of ring shear webs in wind turbine blade structure leads to lighter blades.