Structural design and optimisation of a full-scale tidal turbine blade

This paper focuses on the structural design and optimisation of a 1 MW tidal turbine blade, with the goal of reducing the blade design and manufacturing costs. The blade model optimisation was conducted using an inhouse software BladeComp, developed in the Large Structures Research Group at NUI Galway. The blade design and modelling cover a range of properties, namely composite materials and layup distributions. The structural response of the blade is analysed using Finite Element (FE) software. As the material costs contribute a significant proportion to the total blade manufacturing costs, optimisation of the layups is carried out using genetic algorithms to reduce the blade mass. During the optimisation, the blade’s safe operation is assured by controlling its stiffness levels. Two resultant blade designs, from different mass ranges, are adopted from a large set of potential blades within the constraints of the problem. The layup thickness distributions and structural responses are compared and discussed.