Hybrid wind turbine blades: Damage tolerant design
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Stiffness, strength, weight, and power output of wind turbine blades are greatly dependent on the geometry as well as the reinforcement type and architecture. Herein, blades with composite sandwich skins and modular array of composite tubulars as internal stiffeners are explored for their potential damage tolerance. The incentives are to reduce weight and tip displacement while increasing the resonance frequency for safe operation. This concept is illustrated for a novel 8 MW class blades. Finite element models are developed to address static and dynamic response. Specifically, displacements, stresses, damage mechanisms, and vibration modes are obtained. The results illustrated that even though modular tubulars as internal stiffeners are effective, further optimization is necessary to provide better torsional rigidity.
