Foldable Wind Turbine Blade

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Abstract:

Currently, there is major research being done on alternative electricity production from renewable energy sources. The use of wind turbines has been seen as an effective method; however; wind turbines desired to operate efficiently at a range of wind speeds and are unable to utilize maximum wind speeds. This report will describe the use of foldable wind turbine blades in order to maximize the efficiency of wind turbines at wind speeds above normal operation ranges. A small existing wind turbine was reconstructed with different blades which can be folded using hinges. The wind turbine assembly with various foldable blades was tested in a wind tunnel to determine the wind turbine effectiveness. The main objective of the study was to investigate the foldable blade performance in high wind speed conditions and to discuss the comparison between standard and folded blades. Results were obtained from experiments and CFD analysis performed on both unfolded and foldable blades. The obtained theoretical results using CFD analysis were then compared to actual data obtained from the experiments. The blade performance is assessed in terms of power output and power coefﬁcient. The attained results indicate that as the blade begins to fold, the power decreases but the stress on the blade starts to increase. For a foldable blade at a 30-degree angle, the lowest stress and highest power coefficient among all the folded blade angles were obtained.

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