Open Access

ARTICLE

Evaluation of Small Wind Turbine Blades with Uni-Vinyl Foam Alignments Using Static Structural Analysis

Ajay Veludurthi¹, Venkateshwarlu Bolleddu^2,*

1 Research Scholar, School of Mechanical Engineering, Vellore Institute Technology, Vellore, 632014, India
2 Associate Professor Senior, School of Mechanical Engineering, Vellore Institute Technology, Vellore, 632014, India

* Corresponding Authors: Venkateshwarlu Bolleddu. Email: ;

Energy Engineering 2020, 117(4), 237-248. https://doi.org/10.32604/EE.2020.011304

Received 30 April 2020; Accepted 25 June 2020; Issue published 31 July 2020

Abstract

Mechanical characteristics of small wind turbine blades of National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) 63-415 series with different Univinyl (UV) foam alignments have been evaluated experimentally using Universal Testing Machine and numerically using Finite Element Analysis (FEA) software ANSYS. The wind turbine blade models considered are selected from the NACA 63415 series to give a power output of 1 kW. The blades in this study are made like a sandwich beam structure. The outermost portion of the blade is made of glass fiber reinforced plastics with epoxy resin as composite and Uni-vinyl foam alignments are placed in the inner portion, which acts as a stiffener. The alignments used in the blades are rectangular, taper, and teardrop. In FEA analysis, the load is converted into equivalent wind force and applied to the blade structure. Deformation and stress distributions are evaluated at different locations of the blade under different loading conditions. It is observed that the blade with teardrop alignment is having more resistance towards bending compared to blades with other alignments. It is also observed that the taper alignment blade is more capable of sustaining higher stresses as compared to the solid and hollow blades.

---

Keywords

---