Fluid-structure interaction of FRP wind turbine blades under aerodynamic effect

Structural analysis of FRP wind turbine blades must take into account phenomena associated with aerodynamics as well as fluid-structure coupling, because aerodynamic loading causes blades to bend mostly in the flapwise direction, and simultaneously causes foil sections to rotate to create new fluid fields around the foils. This study developed an analytical process for calculating fluid-structure interaction, while considering the effects of aerodynamic pressure and finite element analysis in the design of wind turbine blades. In addition, we calculated turbine power efficiency to evaluate the results of fluid-structure interaction displaying approximately power capacity loss of 17% at a wind speed of 25 m/s, and proposed three feasible improvements to enhance the performance of wind turbines. The presented study provided a comprehensible means by which to interpret changes in the aeroelastic response of blades, and was helpful to modify the original wind turbine model. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.