Towards High Fidelity Aeroelastic analysis of Wind Turbines: Coupling and Verification

The design of wind turbines is a multidisciplinary process. Most of the codes currently used in industry and academia use low fidelity models, which are not suitable for detailed design. This thesis describes the development of an aerostructural model for wind turbines with a higg fidelity structural solver. This is done by coupling an existing high fidelity structural solver with an aerodynamic solver. Coupling is done by interfacing the components in Python. The aeroelastic solution is computed using the non-linear block Gauss-Seidel method. The code makes it possible to do steady-state analysis of a wind turbine blade. A high-fidelity model is created based on a Sandia National Labs model detailing the design of a 5MW turbine. Results from a comparative study between a low fidelity model and the developed model of this work show that the structural torsion has a significant effect on the performance of large wind turbines. Torsional degrees of freedom are not included in most low fidelity models. This is a clear indication that current aeroelastic codes have severe limitations when used to design flexible blades. The developed model makes it possible to model bend-twist coupling due to composite layups as well as geometry. Future work will focus on time-domain simulation of the aeroelastic response and high-fidelity optimization.Precision and Microsystems EngineeringMechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineerin