Publication Date

1978

Abstract

There are many problems to be addressed with respect to the design o f wind turbine blades. Foremost among these are aerodynamic performance, structural integrity and cost. The subject of aerodynamic performance, at least in the steady state condition, has been dealt with at some length by various investigators. The cost of a blade system is beyond the scope of this paper. The structural integrity o f wind turbine blades must be insured in both the static and dynamic load cases. The critical static load has been determined to be a hurricane wind perpendicular t o the blade planform. The dynamic loads include the fluctuating component due to the wind and all blade-support interactions. Vital to an understanding o f these structural problems is a description of the natural frequencies and mode shapes o f the blades. These considerations are the subject of this paper. While these characteristics can be computed using existing programs (e.g. NASTRAN) the cost of the repetititve use of those codes is prohibitive for the general user. The enclosed codes are much less expensive to run, and are not as comprehensive. They are, however, closely matched to the needs of the Alternative Energy Program of the School of Engineering at the University of Massachusetts, and have been developed to be o f use to the small wind energy conversion industry.

Pages

141

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