Wind Turbine Blade Design
Wind Turbine Blade Design
Wind Turbine Blade Design
Introduction
Power has been extracted from the wind over hundreds of years with historic designs,
known as windmills, constructed from wood, cloth and stone for the purpose of pumping
water or grinding corn. Historic designs, typically large, heavy and inefficient, were replaced
in the 19th century by fossil fuel engines and the implementation of a nationally distributed
power network. A greater understanding of aerodynamics and advances in materials,
particularly polymers, has led to the return of wind energy extraction in the latter half of the
20th century. Wind power devices are now used to produce electricity, and commonly
termed wind turbines.
The orientation of the shaft and rotational axis determines the first classification of the
wind turbine. A turbine with a shaft mounted horizontally parallel to the ground is known
as a horizontal axis wind turbine or (HAWT). A vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) has its
shaft normal to the ground (Figure 1)
The two configurations have instantly distinguishable rotor designs, each with its own
favourable characteristics [1]. The discontinued mainstream development of the VAWT can be
attributed to a low tip speed ratio and difficulty in controlling rotor speed. Difficulties in the
starting of vertical turbines have also hampered development, believed until recently to be
incapable of self-starting [2]. However, the VAWT requires no additional mechanism to face the
wind and heavy generator equipment can be mounted on the ground, thus reducing tower loads.
Therefore, the VAWT is not completely disregarded for future development. A novel V-shaped
VAWT rotor design is currently under investigation which exploits these favourable attributes
[3]. This design is currently unproven on a megawatt scale, requiring several years of
development before it can be considered competitive. In addition to the problems associated with
alternative designs, the popularity of the HAWT can be attributed to increased rotor control
through pitch and yaw control. The HAWT has therefore emerged as the dominant design
configuration, capitalised by all of today’s leading large scale turbine manufacturers.
3. Propulsion
The method of propulsion critically affects the maximum achievable efficiency of the rotor.
Historically, the most commonly utilised method was drag, by utilising a sail faced normal to
the wind, relying on the drag factor (Cd) to produce a force in the direction of the prevailing
wind. This method proved inefficient as the force and rotation of the sail correspond to the
wind direction; therefore, the relative velocity of the wind is reduced as rotor speed increases
(Table 1).
Practical Efficiency
In practice rotor designs suffer from the accumulation of minor losses resulting from:
Tip losses
Wake effects
Drive train efficiency losses
Blade shape simplification losses
Therefore, the maximum theoretical efficiency has yet to be achieved [9]. Over the
centuries many types of design have emerged, and some of the more distinguishable are
listed in Table 2. The earliest designs, Persian windmills, utilised drag by means of sails
made from wood and cloth. These Persian windmills were principally similar to their
modern counterpart the Savonius rotor (No. 1) which can be seen in use today in ventilation
cowls and rotating advertising signs. Similar in principle is the cup type differential drag
rotor (No. 2), utilised today by anemometers for calculating airspeed due to their ease of
calibration and multidirectional operation. The American farm windmill (No. 3) is an early
example of a high torque lift driven rotor with a high degree of solidity, still in use today for
water pumping applications. The Dutch windmill (No. 4) is another example of an early lift
type device utilised for grinding corn which has now disappeared from mainstream use, yet
a small number still survive as tourist attractions. The Darrieus VAWT (No. 5) is a modern
aerodynamic aerofoil blade design which despite extensive research and development has so
far been unable to compete with the modern HAWT design, although recent developments
[2,3] could see a resurgence of this rotor type. Due to its efficiency and ease of control, the
aerofoil three bladed HAWT (No. 6) has become the wind turbine industry benchmark, with
a fully established international supply chain securing its dominance for the foreseeable
futur
HAWT Blade Design
A focus is now being made on the HAWT due to its dominance in the wind turbine
industry. HAWT are very sensitive to changes in blade profile and design. This section
briefly discusses the major parameters that influence the performance of HAWT blades.
5.1. Tip Speed Ratio
The tip speed ratio defined as the relationship between rotor blade velocity and relative wind
velocity [Equation (2)] is the foremost design parameter around which all other optimum rotor
dimensions are calculated:
(2)
Aspects such as efficiency, torque, mechanical stress, aerodynamics and noise should be
considered in selecting the appropriate tip speed (Table 3). The efficiency of a turbine can be
increased with higher tip speeds [4], although the increase is not significant when considering
some penalties such as increased noise, aerodynamic and centrifugal stress (Table 3).