Abstract
Tidal turbine blades experience significant fatigue cycles during operation and it is expected that fatigue strength will be a major consideration in their design. Glass fibre reinforced polymers are a candidate low-cost material for this application. This article presents a methodology for preliminary fatigue design of glass fibre reinforced polymer tidal turbine blades. The methodology combines: (a) a hydrodynamic model for calculation of local distributions of fluid-blade forces; (b) a finite element structural model for prediction of blade strain distributions; (c) a fatigue damage accumulation model, which incorporates mean stress effects; and (d) uniaxial fatigue testing of two candidate glass fibre reinforced polymer materials (for illustrative purposes). The methodology is applied here for the preliminary design of a three-bladed tidal turbine concept, including tower shadow effects, and comparative assessment of pitch-and stall-regulated control with respect to fatigue performance.
| Original language | English (Ireland) |
|---|---|
| Number of pages | 15 |
| Journal | Proceedings Of The Institution Of Mechanical Engineers Part L-Journal Of Materials-Design And Applications |
| Volume | 226 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Jul 2012 |
Authors (Note for portal: view the doc link for the full list of authors)
- Authors
- Kennedy, CR,Leen, SB,Bradaigh, CMO
