This article presents the analysis of the performance of a flexible wind turbine blade. The simulation analysis is based on a 3 m span blade prototype. The blade has a flexible surface and a cam mechanism that modifies the aerodynamic profile and adapts the surface to different configurations. The blade surface was built with a flexible fiberglass composite, and the internal mechanism consists of a flexible structure actuated with an eccentric cam. The cam mechanism deforms five sections of the blade, and the airfoil geometry for each section was measured from zero cam displacement to full cam displacement. The measured data were interpolated to obtain the aerodynamic profiles of the five sections to model the flexible blade in the simulation process. The simulation analysis consisted of determining the different aerodynamic coefficients for different deformed surfaces and a range of wind speeds. The aerodynamic coefficients were calculated with the BEM method (QBlade®); as a result, the data performance of the flexible blade was compared for the different deformation configurations. Finally, a decrease of up to approximately 6% in the mean bending moment suggests that the flexible turbine rotor presented in this article can be used to reduce extreme and fatigue loads on wind turbines.
The purpose of the present document is to describe a design proposal for a flexible blade that can adapt its aerodynamic profile and fulfill the “Shape-Morphing concept.” The design is based on the analysis of the geometrical changes that a specific baseline aerodynamic profile must undergo during the shape-morphing process to another aerodynamic profile. The concept design assumes that the arc length of the aerodynamic profiles remains constant; therefore, the cord length changes from one configuration to the other. The proposed mechanism deforms the baseline profile in a way that it assures a continuous path between the aerodynamic forms. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed mechanism, a flexible blade prototype was constructed and tested while morphing from a NACA 0012-based shape to a NACA 4412-based shape. The experimental results indicate that it is possible to implement a shape-morphing mechanism within small wind turbine blades that is able to accurately modify their geometrical shape and, thus, their aerodynamics, providing a novel alternative for control and operation optimization.
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