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Full-Text Articles in Mechanical Engineering
Effect Of Airfoil And Composite Layer Thicknesses On An Aerostructural Blade Optimization For Wind Turbines, Ryan Barrett, Ian Freeman, Andrew Ning
Effect Of Airfoil And Composite Layer Thicknesses On An Aerostructural Blade Optimization For Wind Turbines, Ryan Barrett, Ian Freeman, Andrew Ning
Faculty Publications
The purpose of this research is to enhance the performance of wind turbine blades by exploring the effect of adding airfoil and material layer thicknesses to the optimization design process. This is accomplished by performing an aerostructural blade optimization to minimize mass over annual energy production and thereby reduce the cost of energy. Changing airfoil thickness allows the airfoil shape to evolve as part of the optimization. The airfoil thicknesses are allowed to vary within two airfoil families, the TU-Delft and NACA 64-series, that are used in the NREL 5-MW reference turbine. Both experimental wind tunnel and computational data are …