Structural Strength and Wind Energy Utilization Characteristics of Ship Based on Magnus Effect Wind Turbine

Abstract

The potential of the Flettner rotor has been scrutinized again with the soaring fuel prices and the urgent need to drastically reduce CO2 emissions from ships. In this paper, starting from the verification of the reliability of a ship‘s wind turbine, we take the “E-ship” which applies the Flettner rotor as the research object, introduce the principle of the Magnus effect and analyze the structural strength of the wind turbine and the ship’s plate as well as the characteristics of the wind energy utilization through the finite element analysis. With the help of the ANSYS finite element method, the three-dimensional finite element model of wind turbine and ship plate was established. Through the finite element calculation and analysis, the stress cloud diagrams of the wind turbine and the ship plate are obtained respectively. The strength evaluation is carried out by using the relevant criteria. The results show that the maximum equivalent stresses of the windsock and ship plate, which are the main core components, are 100.57 MPa and 132.16 MPa respectively, which are smaller than the material yield strength of the structural material of 250MPa. Therefore the windsock has a large strength margin and can meet the requirements of its use. This study can be used as a theoretical guide and basis for the design of wind turbines and ship plates in engineering as well as wind energy utilization experiments.