WorldWideScience

Sample records for measure blade response

  1. System Identification of Mistuned Bladed Disks from Traveling Wave Response Measurements

    Science.gov (United States)

    Feiner, D. M.; Griffin, J. H.; Jones, K. W.; Kenyon, J. A.; Mehmed, O.; Kurkov, A. P.

    2003-01-01

    A new approach to modal analysis is presented. By applying this technique to bladed disk system identification methods, one can determine the mistuning in a rotor based on its response to a traveling wave excitation. This allows system identification to be performed under rotating conditions, and thus expands the applicability of existing mistuning identification techniques from integrally bladed rotors to conventional bladed disks.

  2. Blade Vibration Measurement System for Unducted Fans

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marscher, William

    2014-01-01

    With propulsion research programs focused on new levels of efficiency and noise reduction, two avenues for advanced gas turbine technology are emerging: the geared turbofan and ultrahigh bypass ratio fan engines. Both of these candidates are being pursued as collaborative research projects between NASA and the engine manufacturers. The high bypass concept from GE Aviation is an unducted fan that features a bypass ratio of over 30 along with the accompanying benefits in fuel efficiency. This project improved the test and measurement capabilities of the unducted fan blade dynamic response. In the course of this project, Mechanical Solutions, Inc. (MSI) collaborated with GE Aviation to (1) define the requirements for fan blade measurements; (2) leverage MSI's radar-based system for compressor and turbine blade monitoring; and (3) develop, validate, and deliver a noncontacting blade vibration measurement system for unducted fans.

  3. Non-invasive dynamic measurement of helicopter blades

    Science.gov (United States)

    Serafini, J.; Bernardini, G.; Mattioni, L.; Vezzari, V.; Ficuciello, C.

    2017-08-01

    This paper presents the development and the application on helicopter blades of a measurement system based on FBG strain gauges. Here, the main goal is the structural characterization of the main rotor blades, with the aim of showing the potentialities of such a system in blades quality check applications, as well as in the development of structural health monitoring and rotor state feedback devices. The device has been used in both non-rotating and rotating tests, and does not require the presence of slip rings or optical joint since it is completely allocated in the rotating system. It has been successfully applied to characterize the frequency response of blades lead-lag, flap and torsion deformations, up to 250 Hz.

  4. Helicopter blades running elevation measurement using omnidirectional vision

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chengtao CAI

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Omnidirectional dynamic space parameters of high-speed rotating helicopter blades are precise 3D vector description of the blades. In particular, the elevation difference is directly related to the aerodynamic performance and maneuverability of the helicopter. The state of the art detection techniques based on optics and common vision have several drawbacks, such as high demands on devices but poor extensibility, limited measurement range and fixed measurement position. In this paper, a novel approach of helicopter blades running elevation measurement is proposed based on omnidirectional vision. With the advantages of panoramic visual imaging integration, 360° field of view and rotation in-variance, high-resolution images of all rotating blades positions are obtained at one time. By studying the non-linear calibration and calculation model of omnidirectional vision system, aiming at solving the problem of inaccurate visual space mapping model, the omnidirectional and full-scale measurement of the elevation difference are finalized. Experiments are carried out on our multifunctional simulation blades test system and the practical blades test tower, respectively. The experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method and show that the proposed method can considerably reduce the complexity of measurement. Keywords: Full-scale measurement, Helicopter blades elevation, Non-linear calibration, Omnidirectional vision, Unified sphere model

  5. Aeroelastic stability and response of horizontal axis wind turbine blades

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kottapalli, S. B. R.; Friedmann, P. P.; Rosen, A.

    1979-01-01

    Coupled flap-lag-torsion equations of motion of an isolated horizontal axis wind turbine (HAWT) blade have been formulated. The analysis neglects blade-tower coupling. The final nonlinear equations have periodic coefficients. A new and convenient method of generating an appropriate time-dependent equilibrium position, required for the stability analysis, has been implemented and found to be computationally efficient. Steady-state response and stability boundaries for an existing (typical) HAWT blade are presented. Such stability boundaries have never been published in the literature. The results show that the isolated blade under study is basically stable. The tower shadow (wake) has a considerable effect on the out-of-plane response but leaves blade stability unchanged. Nonlinear terms can significantly affect linearized stability boundaries; however, they have a negligible effect on response, thus implying that a time-dependent equilibrium position (or steady-state response), based completely on the linear system, is appropriate for the type of HAWT blades under study.

  6. Experimental measurements of out-of-plane vibrations of a simple blisk design using Blade Tip Timing and Scanning LDV measurement methods

    Science.gov (United States)

    Di Maio, D.; Ewins, D. J.

    2012-04-01

    The study of dynamic properties of rotating structures, such as bladed discs, can be conveniently done using simple bladed discs where the blades do not have staggering angles. Simplified design, although not truly representative of real structures, can be easy and economic to manufacture and, still, very helpful for studying specific dynamic properties. An example of this can be called as mass mistune blisk study. Experimental measurements of vibrations of bladed discs under rotating conditions can be performed using Scanning Laser Doppler Vibrometer (SLDV) systems. However, in the aerospace industry, the vibrations of complex bladed discs must be measured under operating conditions which are more hostile than laboratory simulations. The Blade Tip Timing (BTT) measurement method is a measurement technique, which can be used to measure vibrations of bladed discs of an engine aircraft under operating conditions. However, the BTT technique is ineffective when used with a flat bladed disc whose blade vibrations cannot be measured. This can be detrimental when the use of controlled dynamic parameters, such as those obtained from a simple bladed disc design, can improve the confidence for the validation of post-processing software. This paper presents a work about experimental measurements of a simple bladed disc design whose vibrations were measured synchronously by Scanning LDV and BTT measurement systems. A rotating test rig and its mechanical modifications for the installation of the BTT probes are introduced. Implications of rotating a specimen inconsistently are presented so as solutions to obtained constant revolving speed. The experimental comparisons of forced response vibrations measured synchronously at one blade are presented and explained.

  7. Measurements of UWB Pulse Propagation Along a Wind Turbine Blade at 1 to 20 GHz

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hejselbæk, Johannes; Syrytsin, Igor A.; Eggers, Patrick Claus F.

    2018-01-01

    This paper describes propagation measurements of an Ultra Wide Band (UWB) pulse along a full-scale wind turbine blade. The aim is to use the UWB channel characteristics to determine the deflection of the wind turbine blade under different wind loads. The frequency response is measured from 1 to 20...... the reflection originates a ray-tracing study incorporating a model of the curvature of the blade have been conducted. This showed the area causing the reflections depended highly on the placement of the antenna on the wind turbine blade....

  8. Dynamic response characteristics of dual flow-path integrally bladed rotors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beck, Joseph A.; Brown, Jeffrey M.; Scott-Emuakpor, Onome E.; Cross, Charles J.; Slater, Joseph C.

    2015-02-01

    New turbine engine designs requiring secondary flow compression often look to dual flow-path integrally bladed rotors (DFIBRs) since these stages have the ability to perform work on the secondary, or bypassed, flow-field. While analogous to traditional integrally bladed rotor stages, DFIBR designs have many differences that result in unique dynamic response characteristics that must be understood to avoid fatigue. This work investigates these characteristics using reduced-order models (ROMs) that incorporate mistuning through perturbations to blade frequencies. This work provides an alternative to computationally intensive geometric-mistuning approaches for DFIBRs by utilizing tuned blade mode reductions and substructure coupling in cyclic coordinates. Free and forced response results are compared to full finite element model (FEM) solutions to determine if any errors are related to the reduced-order model formulation reduction methods. It is shown that DFIBRs have many more frequency veering regions than their single flow-path integrally blade rotor (IBR) counterparts. Modal families are shown to transition between system, inner-blade, and outer-blade motion. Furthermore, findings illustrate that while mode localization of traditional IBRs is limited to a single or small subset of blades, DFIBRs can have modal energy localized to either an inner- or outer-blade set resulting in many blades responding above tuned levels. Lastly, ROM forced response predictions compare well to full FEM predictions for the two test cases shown.

  9. Research on the nonintrusive measurement of the turbine blade vibration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Shi hai; Li, Lu-ping; Rao, Hong-de

    2008-11-01

    It's one of the important ways to monitor the change of dynamic characteristic of turbine blades for ensuring safety operation of turbine unit. Traditional measurement systems for monitoring blade vibration generally use strain gauges attached to the surface of turbine blades, each strain gauge gives out an analogue signal related to blade deformation, it's maximal defect is only a few blades could be monitored which are attached by strain gauge. But the noncontact vibration measurement will be discussed would solve this problem. This paper deals with noncontact vibration measurement on the rotor blades of turbine through experiments. In this paper, the noncontact vibration measurement - Tip Timing Measurement will be presented, and will be improved. The statistics and DFT will be used in the improved measurement. The main advantage of the improved measurement is that only two sensors over the top of blades and one synchronous sensor of the rotor are used to get the exact vibration characteristics of the each blade in a row. In our experiment, we adopt NI Company's DAQ equipment: SCXI1001 and PCI 6221, three optical sensors, base on the graphics program soft LabVIEW to develop the turbine blade monitor system. At the different rotational speed of the rotor (1000r/m and 1200r/m) we do several experiments on the bench of the Turbine characteristic. Its results indicated that the vibration of turbine blade could be real-time monitored and accurately measured by the improved Tip Timing Measurement.

  10. Probabilistic SSME blades structural response under random pulse loading

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shiao, Michael; Rubinstein, Robert; Nagpal, Vinod K.

    1987-01-01

    The purpose is to develop models of random impacts on a Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) turbopump blade and to predict the probabilistic structural response of the blade to these impacts. The random loading is caused by the impact of debris. The probabilistic structural response is characterized by distribution functions for stress and displacements as functions of the loading parameters which determine the random pulse model. These parameters include pulse arrival, amplitude, and location. The analysis can be extended to predict level crossing rates. This requires knowledge of the joint distribution of the response and its derivative. The model of random impacts chosen allows the pulse arrivals, pulse amplitudes, and pulse locations to be random. Specifically, the pulse arrivals are assumed to be governed by a Poisson process, which is characterized by a mean arrival rate. The pulse intensity is modelled as a normally distributed random variable with a zero mean chosen independently at each arrival. The standard deviation of the distribution is a measure of pulse intensity. Several different models were used for the pulse locations. For example, three points near the blade tip were chosen at which pulses were allowed to arrive with equal probability. Again, the locations were chosen independently at each arrival. The structural response was analyzed both by direct Monte Carlo simulation and by a semi-analytical method.

  11. Measurements of blade aerodynamics on a rotor in the field

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Graham, J.M.R. [Imperical College, Dept. of Aeronautics, London (United Kingdom)

    1997-12-31

    This contribution describes the field test measurements undertaken on an instrumented rotor at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Oxfordshire, UK, during the period 1994 - 97. The programme was directed at improving the prediction of the steady and unsteady rotor blade loading, particularly the loads arising from the stalling of the blade. The measured data consisted of blade surface pressure distributions sampled at 50Hz at 6 sections along the span of one blade of the 17m diameter, 3 bladed, fixed pitch, upwind H.A.W.T., together with measurements of the incident velocity. (au)

  12. Measurement of Rotorcraft Blade Deformation Using Projection Moiré Interferometry

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gary A. Fleming

    2000-01-01

    Full Text Available Projection Moiré Interferometry (PMI has been used to obtain near instantaneous, quantitative blade deformation measurements of a generic rotorcraft model at several test conditions. These laser-based measurements provide quantitative, whole field, dynamic blade deformation profiles conditionally sampled as a function of rotor azimuth. The instantaneous nature of the measurements permits computation of the mean and unsteady blade deformation, blade bending, and twist. The PMI method is presented, and the image processing steps required to obtain quantitative deformation profiles from PMI interferograms are described. Experimental results are provided which show blade bending, twist, and unsteady motion. This initial proof-of-concept test has demonstrated the capability of PMI to acquire accurate, full field rotorcraft blade deformation data.

  13. Multi-spectral temperature measurement method for gas turbine blade

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gao, Shan; Feng, Chi; Wang, Lixin; Li, Dong

    2016-02-01

    One of the basic methods to improve both the thermal efficiency and power output of a gas turbine is to increase the firing temperature. However, gas turbine blades are easily damaged in harsh high-temperature and high-pressure environments. Therefore, ensuring that the blade temperature remains within the design limits is very important. There are unsolved problems in blade temperature measurement, relating to the emissivity of the blade surface, influences of the combustion gases, and reflections of radiant energy from the surroundings. In this study, the emissivity of blade surfaces has been measured, with errors reduced by a fitting method, influences of the combustion gases have been calculated for different operational conditions, and a reflection model has been built. An iterative computing method is proposed for calculating blade temperatures, and the experimental results show that this method has high precision.

  14. Quantifying uncertainties in the structural response of SSME blades

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nagpal, Vinod K.

    1987-01-01

    To quantify the uncertainties associated with the geometry and material properties of a Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) turbopump blade, a computer code known as STAEBL was used. A finite element model of the blade used 80 triangular shell elements with 55 nodes and five degrees of freedom per node. The whole study was simulated on the computer and no real experiments were conducted. The structural response has been evaluated in terms of three variables which are natural frequencies, root (maximum) stress, and blade tip displacements. The results of the study indicate that only the geometric uncertainties have significant effects on the response. Uncertainties in material properties have insignificant effects.

  15. Enhancement to Non-Contacting Stress Measurement of Blade Vibration Frequency

    Science.gov (United States)

    Platt, Michael; Jagodnik, John

    2011-01-01

    A system for turbo machinery blade vibration has been developed that combines time-of-arrival sensors for blade vibration amplitude measurement and radar sensors for vibration frequency and mode identification. The enabling technology for this continuous blade monitoring system is the radar sensor, which provides a continuous time series of blade displacement over a portion of a revolution. This allows the data reduction algorithms to directly calculate the blade vibration frequency and to correctly identify the active modes of vibration. The work in this project represents a significant enhancement in the mode identification and stress calculation accuracy in non-contacting stress measurement system (NSMS) technology when compared to time-of-arrival measurements alone.

  16. Inflow measurements from blade-mounted flow sensors: Flow analysis, application and aeroelastic response

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pedersen, Mads Mølgaard

    -mounted flow sensor, BMFS, e.g. a five-hole pitot tube, which has been used in several research experiments over the last 30 years. The BMFS measured flow velocity is, however, located inside the induction zone and thereby influenced by the aerodynamic properties, the control strategy and the operational......The power and load performance of wind turbines are both crucial for the development and expansion of wind energy. The power and loads are highly dependent on the inflow conditions, which can be measured using different types of sensors mounted on nearby met masts, on the nacelle, at the spinner...... or at the blade. Each combination of sensor type and mounting position has advantages and shortcomings. To characterise the inflow that results in high and low fatigue loads, information about the temporal and spatial variations within the rotor area is required. This information can be obtained from a blade...

  17. Analysis and improvement of gas turbine blade temperature measurement error

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gao, Shan; Wang, Lixin; Feng, Chi; Daniel, Ketui

    2015-01-01

    Gas turbine blade components are easily damaged; they also operate in harsh high-temperature, high-pressure environments over extended durations. Therefore, ensuring that the blade temperature remains within the design limits is very important. In this study, measurement errors in turbine blade temperatures were analyzed, taking into account detector lens contamination, the reflection of environmental energy from the target surface, the effects of the combustion gas, and the emissivity of the blade surface. In this paper, each of the above sources of measurement error is discussed, and an iterative computing method for calculating blade temperature is proposed. (paper)

  18. Analysis and improvement of gas turbine blade temperature measurement error

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gao, Shan; Wang, Lixin; Feng, Chi; Daniel, Ketui

    2015-10-01

    Gas turbine blade components are easily damaged; they also operate in harsh high-temperature, high-pressure environments over extended durations. Therefore, ensuring that the blade temperature remains within the design limits is very important. In this study, measurement errors in turbine blade temperatures were analyzed, taking into account detector lens contamination, the reflection of environmental energy from the target surface, the effects of the combustion gas, and the emissivity of the blade surface. In this paper, each of the above sources of measurement error is discussed, and an iterative computing method for calculating blade temperature is proposed.

  19. Force Measurements on a VAWT Blade in Parked Conditions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anders Goude

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available The forces on a turbine at extreme wind conditions when the turbine is parked is one of the most important design cases for the survivability of a turbine. In this work, the forces on a blade and its support arms have been measured on a 12 kW straight-bladed vertical axis wind turbine at an open site. Two cases are tested: one during electrical braking of the turbine, which allows it to rotate slowly, and one with the turbine mechanically fixed with the leading edge of the blade facing the main wind direction. The force variations with respect to wind direction are investigated, and it is seen that significant variations in forces depend on the wind direction. The measurements show that for the fixed case, when subjected to the same wind speed, the forces are lower when the blade faces the wind direction. The results also show that due to the lower forces at this particular wind direction, the average forces for the fixed blade are notably lower. Hence, it is possible to reduce the forces on a turbine blade, simply by taking the dominating wind direction into account when the turbine is parked. The measurements also show that a positive torque is generated from the blade for most wind directions, which causes the turbine to rotate in the electrically-braked case. These rotations will cause increased fatigue loads on the turbine blade.

  20. Rotor blade boundary layer measurement hardware feasibility demonstration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clark, D. R.; Lawton, T. D.

    1972-01-01

    A traverse mechanism which allows the measurement of the three dimensional boundary layers on a helicopter rotor blade has been built and tested on a full scale rotor to full scale conditions producing centrifugal accelerations in excess of 400 g and Mach numbers of 0.6 and above. Boundary layer velocity profiles have been measured over a range of rotor speeds and blade collective pitch angles. A pressure scanning switch and transducer were also tested on the full scale rotor and found to be insensitive to centrifugal effects within the normal main rotor operating range. The demonstration of the capability to measure boundary layer behavior on helicopter rotor blades represents the first step toward obtaining, in the rotating system, data of a quality comparable to that already existing for flows in the fixed system.

  1. The prediction of rotor rotational noise using measured fluctuating blade loads

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hosier, R. N.; Pegg, R. J.; Ramakrishnan, R.

    1974-01-01

    In tests conducted at the NASA Langley Research Center Helicopter Rotor Test Facility, simultaneous measurements of the high-frequency fluctuating aerodynamic blade loads and far-field radiated noise were made on a full-scale, nontranslating rotor system. After their characteristics were determined, the measured blade loads were used in an existing theory to predict the far-field rotational noise. A comparison of the calculated and measured rotational noise is presented with specific attention given to the effect of blade loading coefficients, chordwise loading distributions, blade loading phases, and observer azimuthal position on the predictions.

  2. Noncontact measurement of rotating blade vibrations. Doyoku shindo no hisesshoku keisokuho no kenkyu

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Matsuda, Yukio; Endo, Masanori; Sugiyama, Nanahisa; Koshinuma, Takeshi

    1989-08-01

    The noncontact measurement method of rotating blade vibrations was developed for fans, compressors and turbines, and applied to turbofan engines and industrial gas turbines. The method required no machining of blades and rotor except sensors attached to a casing to detect blade-tips. The method allowed to measure simultaneously the vibration of all blades, by measuring elapsed times of blade-tips rotating from a measuring start point to a detecting point, and detecting the time differences between a vibration and non-vibration condition. The measuring system was composed of the detectors and subsystems for signal processing, control, calculation and display. The vibration wave forms of a few blades and the maximum vibration amplitudes of all the blades were displayed on a realtime basis in an on-line monitoring mode, and an off-line data processing mode was also available for subsequent analyses and reviews. The results of application to existing engines favorably agreed with those of strain gage measurements. 16 refs., 75 figs., 3 tabs.

  3. Extreme Design Loads Calibration of Offshore Wind Turbine Blades through Real Time Measurements

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Natarajan, Anand; Vesth, Allan; Lamata, Rebeca Rivera

    2014-01-01

    Blade Root flap and Edge moments are measured on the blades of a 3.6MW offshore wind turbine in normal operation. Ten minute maxima of the measurements are sampled to determine the extreme blade root flap moment, edge moment and resultant moment over six month duration. A random subset of the mea......Blade Root flap and Edge moments are measured on the blades of a 3.6MW offshore wind turbine in normal operation. Ten minute maxima of the measurements are sampled to determine the extreme blade root flap moment, edge moment and resultant moment over six month duration. A random subset...... of the measurements over a week is taken as input to stochastic load extrapolation whereby the one year extrapolated design extreme is obtained, which are then compared with the maximum extremes obtained from direct measurements over a six month period to validate the magnification in the load levels for the blade...... root flap moment, edge moment obtained by extrapolation. The validation yields valuable information on prescribing the slope of the local extrapolation curve at each mean wind speed. As an alternative to determining the contemporaneous loads for each primary extrapolated load, the blade root resultant...

  4. Calibration procedures for improved accuracy of wind turbine blade load measurement

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dahlberg, J.Aa. [Aeronautical Research Inst. of Sweden, Bromma (Sweden); Johansson, Hjalmar [Teknikgruppen AB, Sollentuna (Sweden)

    1996-12-01

    External loads acting on wind turbine blades are mainly transferred via the hub to the rest of the structure. It is therefore a normal approach to measure the loads acting on the turbine by load measurements in the blade roots. The load measurement is often accomplished by measurements of strain on the surface of the blade or the hub. The strain signals are converted to loads by applying calibration factors to the measurements. This paper deals with difficulties associated with load measurements on two different wind turbines; one with strain gauges applied to a steel hub where a linear stress-load relationship is expected and the other with strain gauges applied to the GFRP blade close to the bearings where strong non-linearity`s and temperature effects are expected. This paper suggests calibration methods to overcome these problems. 2 refs, 11 figs

  5. A simulation study of active feedback supression of dynamic response in helicopter rotor blades

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kana, D. D.; Bessey, R. L.; Dodge, F. T.

    1975-01-01

    A parameter study is presented for active feedback control applied to a helicopter rotor blade during forward flight. The study was performed on an electromechanical apparatus which included a mechanical model rotor blade and electronic analog simulation of interaction between blade deflections and aerodynamic loading. Blade response parameters were obtained for simulated vortex impinging at the blade tip at one pulse per revolution, and for a pulse which traveled from the blade tip toward its root. Results show that the response in a 1 - 10-per-rev frequency band is diminished by the feedback action, but at the same time responses at frequencies above 10-per-rev become increasingly more prominent with increased feedback amplitude, and can even lead to instability at certain levels. It appears that the latter behavior results from limitations of the laboratory simulation apparatus, rather than genuine potential behavior for a prototype helicopter.

  6. Multi-spectral pyrometer for gas turbine blade temperature measurement

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gao, Shan; Wang, Lixin; Feng, Chi

    2014-09-01

    To achieve the highest possible turbine inlet temperature requires to accurately measuring the turbine blade temperature. If the temperature of blade frequent beyond the design limits, it will seriously reduce the service life. The problem for the accuracy of the temperature measurement includes the value of the target surface emissivity is unknown and the emissivity model is variability and the thermal radiation of the high temperature environment. In this paper, the multi-spectral pyrometer is designed provided mainly for range 500-1000°, and present a model corrected in terms of the error due to the reflected radiation only base on the turbine geometry and the physical properties of the material. Under different working conditions, the method can reduce the measurement error from the reflect radiation of vanes, make measurement closer to the actual temperature of the blade and calculating the corresponding model through genetic algorithm. The experiment shows that this method has higher accuracy measurements.

  7. Wind-induced response analysis of a wind turbine tower including the blade-tower coupling effect

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Xiao-bo CHEN; Jing LI; Jian-yun CHEN

    2009-01-01

    To analyze wind-induced response characteristics of a wind turbine tower more accurately, the blade-tower coupling effect was investigated. The mean wind velocity of the rotating blades and tower was simulated according to wind shear effects,and the fluctuating wind velocity time series of the wind turbine were simulated by a harmony superposition method. A dynamic finite element method (FEM) was used to calculate the wind-induced response of the blades and tower. Wind-induced responses of the tower were calculated in two cases (one included the blade-tower coupling effect, and the other only added the mass of blades and the hub at the top of the tower), and then the maximal displacements at the top of the tower of the tow cases were compared with each other. As a result of the influence of the blade-tower coupling effect and the total base shear of the blades, the maximal displacement of the first case increased nearly by 300% compared to the second case. To obtain more precise analysis, the blade-tower coupling effect and the total base shear of the blades should be considered simultaneously in the design of wind turbine towers.

  8. LDV measurement of boundary layer on rotating blade surface in wind tunnel

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maeda, Takao; Kamada, Yasunari; Murata, Junsuke; Suzuki, Daiki; Kaga, Norimitsu; Kagisaki, Yosuke

    2014-12-01

    Wind turbines generate electricity due to extracting energy from the wind. The rotor aerodynamics strongly depends on the flow around blade. The surface flow on the rotating blade affects the sectional performance. The wind turbine surface flow has span-wise component due to span-wise change of airfoil section, chord length, twisted angle of blade and centrifugal force on the flow. These span-wise flow changes the boundary layer on the rotating blade and the sectional performance. Hence, the thorough understanding of blade surface flow is important to improve the rotor performance. For the purpose of clarification of the flow behaviour around the rotor blade, the velocity in the boundary layer on rotating blade surface of an experimental HAWT was measured in a wind tunnel. The velocity measurement on the blade surface was carried out by a laser Doppler velocimeter (LDV). As the results of the measurement, characteristics of surface flow are clarified. In optimum tip speed operation, the surface flow on leading edge and r/R=0.3 have large span-wise velocity which reaches 20% of sectional inflow velocity. The surface flow inboard have three dimensional flow patterns. On the other hand, the flow outboard is almost two dimensional in cross sectional plane.

  9. Videometric research on deformation measurement of large-scale wind turbine blades

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    2011-01-01

    Utilization of wind energy is a promising way to generate power,and wind turbine blades play a key role in collecting the wind energy effectively.This paper attempts to measure the deformation parameter of wind turbine blades in mechanics experiments using a videometric method. In view that the blades experience small buckling deformation and large integral deformation simultaneously, we proposed a parallel network measurement(PNM) method including the key techniques such as camera network construction,c...

  10. On the development of a magnetoresistive sensor for blade tip timing and blade tip clearance measurement systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tomassini, R.; Rossi, G.; Brouckaert, J.-F.

    2016-10-01

    A simultaneous blade tip timing (BTT) and blade tip clearance (BTC) measurement system enables the determination of turbomachinery blade vibrations and ensures the monitoring of the existing running gaps between the blade tip and the casing. This contactless instrumentation presents several advantages compared to the well-known telemetry system with strain gauges, at the cost of a more complex data processing procedure. The probes used can be optical, capacitive, eddy current as well as microwaves, everyone with its dedicated electronics and many existing different signal processing algorithms. Every company working in this field has developed its own processing method and sensor technology. Hence, repeating the same test with different instrumentations, the answer is often different. Moreover, rarely it is possible to achieve reliability for in-service measurements. Developments are focused on innovative instrumentations and a common standard. This paper focuses on the results achieved using a novel magnetoresistive sensor for simultaneous tip timing and tip clearance measurements. The sensor measurement principle is described. The sensitivity to gap variation is investigated. In terms of measurement of vibrations, experimental investigations were performed at the Air Force Institute of Technology (ITWL, Warsaw, Poland) in a real aeroengine and in the von Karman Institute (VKI) R2 compressor rig. The advantages and limitations of the magnetoresistive probe for turbomachinery testing are highlighted.

  11. Measurement of Unsteady Aerodynamics Load on the Blade of Field Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kamada, Yasunari; Maeda, Takao; Naito, Keita; Ouchi, Yuu; Kozawa, Masayoshi

    This paper describes an experimental field study of the rotor aerodynamics of wind turbines. The test wind turbine is a horizontal axis wind turbine, or: HAWT with a diameter of 10m. The pressure distributions on the rotating blade are measured with multi point pressure transducers. Sectional aerodynamic forces are analyzed from pressure distribution. Blade root moments are measured simultaneously by a pair of strain gauges. The inflow wind is measured by a three component sonic anemometer, the local inflow of the blade section are measured by a pair of 7 hole Pitot tubes. The relation between the aerodynamic moments on the blade root from pressure distribution and the mechanical moment from strain gauges is discussed. The aerodynamic moments are estimated from the sectional aerodynamic forces and show oscillation caused by local wind speed and direction change. The mechanical moment shows similar oscillation to the aerodynamic excepting the short period oscillation of the blade first mode frequency. The fluctuation of the sectional aerodynamic force triggers resonant blade oscillations. Where stall is present along the blade section, the blade's first mode frequency is dominant. Without stall, the rotating frequency is dominant in the blade root moment.

  12. Wind turbine blade shear web disbond detection using rotor blade operational sensing and data analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Myrent, Noah; Adams, Douglas E; Griffith, D Todd

    2015-02-28

    A wind turbine blade's structural dynamic response is simulated and analysed with the goal of characterizing the presence and severity of a shear web disbond. Computer models of a 5 MW offshore utility-scale wind turbine were created to develop effective algorithms for detecting such damage. Through data analysis and with the use of blade measurements, a shear web disbond was quantified according to its length. An aerodynamic sensitivity study was conducted to ensure robustness of the detection algorithms. In all analyses, the blade's flap-wise acceleration and root-pitching moment were the clearest indicators of the presence and severity of a shear web disbond. A combination of blade and non-blade measurements was formulated into a final algorithm for the detection and quantification of the disbond. The probability of detection was 100% for the optimized wind speed ranges in laminar, 30% horizontal shear and 60% horizontal shear conditions. © 2015 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.

  13. Summary of Full-Scale Blade Displacement Measurements of the UH- 60A Airloads Rotor

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abrego, Anita I.; Meyn, Larry; Burner, Alpheus W.; Barrows, Danny A.

    2016-01-01

    Blade displacement measurements using multi-camera photogrammetry techniques were acquired for a full-scale UH-60A rotor, tested in the National Full-Scale Aerodynamic Complex 40-Foot by 80-Foot Wind Tunnel. The measurements, acquired over the full rotor azimuth, encompass a range of test conditions that include advance ratios from 0.15 to 1.0, thrust coefficient to rotor solidity ratios from 0.01 to 0.13, and rotor shaft angles from -10.0 to 8.0 degrees. The objective was to measure the blade displacements and deformations of the four rotor blades and provide a benchmark blade displacement database to be utilized in the development and validation of rotorcraft prediction techniques. An overview of the blade displacement measurement methodology, system development, and data analysis techniques are presented. Sample results based on the final set of camera calibrations, data reduction procedures and estimated corrections that account for registration errors due to blade elasticity are shown. Differences in blade root pitch, flap and lag between the previously reported results and the current results are small. However, even small changes in estimated root flap and pitch can lead to significant differences in the blade elasticity values.

  14. Techniques for blade tip clearance measurements with capacitive probes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Steiner, Alexander

    2000-07-01

    This article presents a proven but advantageous concept for blade tip clearance evaluation in turbomachinery. The system is based on heavy duty probes and a high frequency (HF) and amplifying electronic unit followed by a signal processing unit. Measurements are taken under high temperature and other severe conditions such as ionization. Every single blade can be observed. The signals are digitally filtered and linearized in real time. The electronic set-up is highly integrated. Miniaturized versions of the electronic units exist. The small and robust units can be used in turbo engines in flight. With several probes at different angles in one radial plane further information is available. Shaft eccentricity or blade oscillations can be calculated.

  15. Blade Vibration Measurement System for Characterization of Closely Spaced Modes and Mistuning, Phase I

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — There are several ongoing challenges in non-contacting blade vibration and stress measurement systems that can address closely spaced modes and blade-to-blade...

  16. Aeroelastic response and blade loads of a composite rotor in forward flight

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Edward C.; Chopra, Inderjit

    1992-01-01

    The aeroelastic response, blade and hub loads, and shaft-fixed aeroelastic stability is investigated for a helicopter with elastically tailored composite rotor blades. A new finite element based structural analysis including nonclassical effects such as transverse shear, torsion related warping and inplane elasticity is integrated with the University of Maryland Advanced Rotorcraft Code. The structural dynamics analysis is correlated against both experimental data and detailed finite element results. Correlation of rotating natural frequencies of coupled composite box-beams is generally within 5-10 percent. The analysis is applied to a soft-inplane hingeless rotor helicopter in free flight propulsive trim. For example, lag mode damping can be increased 300 percent over a range of thrust conditions and forward speeds. The influence of unsteady aerodynamics on the blade response and vibratory hub loads is also investigated. The magnitude and phase of the flap response is substantially altered by the unsteady aerodynamic effects. Vibratory hub loads increase up to 30 percent due to unsteady aerodynamic effects.

  17. Real-time estimation of helicopter rotor blade kinematics through measurement of rotation induced acceleration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Allred, C. Jeff; Churchill, David; Buckner, Gregory D.

    2017-07-01

    This paper presents a novel approach to monitoring rotor blade flap, lead-lag and pitch using an embedded gyroscope and symmetrically mounted MEMS accelerometers. The central hypothesis is that differential accelerometer measurements are proportional only to blade motion; fuselage acceleration and blade bending are inherently compensated for. The inverse kinematic relationships (from blade position to acceleration and angular rate) are derived and simulated to validate this hypothesis. An algorithm to solve the forward kinematic relationships (from sensor measurement to blade position) is developed using these simulation results. This algorithm is experimentally validated using a prototype device. The experimental results justify continued development of this kinematic estimation approach.

  18. Along-wind response of a wind turbine tower with blade coupling subjected to rotationally sampled wind loading

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Murtagh, P J; Basu, B; Broderick, B M [Department of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering, Trinity College, Dublin (Ireland)

    2005-07-15

    This paper proposes an approach to investigate the along-wind forced vibration response of a wind turbine tower and rotating blades assembly subjected to rotationally sampled stationary wind loading. The wind turbine assembly consists of three rotating rotor blades connected to the top of a flexible annular tower, constituting a multi-body dynamic entity. The tower and rotating blades are each modelled as discretized multi-degree-of-freedom (MDOF) entities, allowing the free vibration characteristics of each to be obtained using a discrete parameter approach. The free vibration properties of the tower include the effect of a rigid mass at the top, representing the nacelle, and those of the blade include the effects of centrifugal stiffening due to rotation and blade gravity loadings. The blades are excited by drag force time-histories derived from discrete Fourier transform (DFT) representations of rotationally sampled wind turbulence spectra. Blade response time-histories are obtained using the mode acceleration method, which allows for the quantification of base shear forces due to flapping for the three blades to be obtained. This resultant base shear is imparted into the top of the tower. Wind drag loading on the tower is also considered, with a series of spatially correlated nodal force time-histories being derived using DFTs of wind force spectra. The tower/nacelle is then coupled with the rotating blades by combining their equations of motion and solving for the displacement at the top of the tower under compatibility conditions in the frequency domain. An inverse Fourier transform of the frequency domain response yields the response time-history of the coupled system. The response of an equivalent system that does not consider the blade/tower interaction is also investigated, and the results are compared. (Author)

  19. Study on measurement of leading and trailing edges of blades based on optical scanning system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chao, Bi; Liu, Hongguang; Bao, Longxiang; Li, Di

    2017-10-01

    In the field of aeronautics, the geometry and dimensional accuracy of the blade edges has a large influence on the aerodynamic performance of aero engine. Therefore, a non-contact optical scanning system is established to realize the measurement of leading and trailing edges of blades in a rapid, precise and efficient manner in the paper. Based on the mechanical framework of a traditional CMM, the system is equipped with a specified sensing device as the scanning probe, which is made up by two new-style laser scanning sensors installed at a certain angle to each other by a holder. In the measuring procedure, the geometric dimensions of the measured blade edges on every contour plane are determined by the contour information on five transversals at the leading or trailing edges, which can be used to determine the machining allowance of the blades. In order to verify the effectiveness and practicality of the system set up, a precision forging blade after grinded is adopted as the measured object and its leading and trailing edges are measured by the system respectively. In the experiment, the thickness of blade edges on three contour planes is measured by the optical scanning system several times. As the experiment results show, the repeatability accuracy of the system can meet its design requirements and the inspecting demands of the blade edges. As a result, the optical scanning system could serve as a component of the intelligent manufacturing system of blades to improve the machining quality of the blade edges.

  20. Characterization of Deficiencies in the Frequency Domain Forced Response Analysis Technique for Turbine Bladed Disks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brown, Andrew M.; Schmauch, Preston

    2012-01-01

    Turbine blades in rocket and jet engine turbomachinery experience enormous harmonic loading conditions. These loads result from the integer number of upstream and downstream stator vanes as well as the other turbine stages. The standard technique for forced response analysis to assess structural integrity is to decompose a CFD generated flow field into its harmonic components, and to then perform a frequency response analysis at the problematic natural frequencies. Recent CFD analysis and water-flow testing at NASA/MSFC, though, indicates that this technique may miss substantial harmonic and non-harmonic excitation sources that become present in complex flows. These complications suggest the question of whether frequency domain analysis is capable of capturing the excitation content sufficiently. Two studies comparing frequency response analysis with transient response analysis, therefore, have been performed. The first is of a bladed disk with each blade modeled by simple beam elements. It was hypothesized that the randomness and other variation from the standard harmonic excitation would reduce the blade structural response, but the results showed little reduction. The second study was of a realistic model of a bladed-disk excited by the same CFD used in the J2X engine program. The results showed that the transient analysis results were up to 10% higher for "clean" nodal diameter excitations and six times larger for "messy" excitations, where substantial Fourier content around the main harmonic exists.

  1. Damage detection of engine bladed-disks using multivariate statistical analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fang, X.; Tang, J.

    2006-03-01

    The timely detection of damage in aero-engine bladed-disks is an extremely important and challenging research topic. Bladed-disks have high modal density and, particularly, their vibration responses are subject to significant uncertainties due to manufacturing tolerance (blade-to-blade difference or mistuning), operating condition change and sensor noise. In this study, we present a new methodology for the on-line damage detection of engine bladed-disks using their vibratory responses during spin-up or spin-down operations which can be measured by blade-tip-timing sensing technique. We apply a principle component analysis (PCA)-based approach for data compression, feature extraction, and denoising. The non-model based damage detection is achieved by analyzing the change between response features of the healthy structure and of the damaged one. We facilitate such comparison by incorporating the Hotelling's statistic T2 analysis, which yields damage declaration with a given confidence level. The effectiveness of the method is demonstrated by case studies.

  2. Characterization of Deficiencies in the Frequency Domain Forced Response Analysis Technique for Supersonic Turbine Bladed Disks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brown, Andrew M.; Schmauch, Preston

    2011-01-01

    Turbine blades in rocket and jet engine turbomachinery experience enormous harmonic loading conditions. These loads result from the integer number of upstream and downstream stator vanes as well as the other turbine stages. Assessing the blade structural integrity is a complex task requiring an initial characterization of whether resonance is possible and then performing a forced response analysis if that condition is met. The standard technique for forced response analysis in rocket engines is to decompose a CFD-generated flow field into its harmonic components, and to then perform a frequency response analysis at the problematic natural frequencies. Recent CFD analysis and water-flow testing at NASA/MSFC, though, indicates that this technique may miss substantial harmonic and non-harmonic excitation sources that become present in complex flows. A substantial effort has been made to account for this denser spatial Fourier content in frequency response analysis (described in another paper by the author), but the question still remains whether the frequency response analysis itself is capable of capturing the excitation content sufficiently. Two studies comparing frequency response analysis with transient response analysis, therefore, of bladed-disks undergoing this complex flow environment have been performed. The first is of a bladed disk with each blade modeled by simple beam elements. Six loading cases were generated by varying a baseline harmonic excitation in different ways based upon cold-flow testing from Heritage Fuel Air Turbine Test. It was hypothesized that the randomness and other variation from the standard harmonic excitation would reduce the blade structural response, but the results showed little reduction. The second study was of a realistic model of a bladed-disk excited by the same CFD used in the J2X engine program. It was hypothesized that enforcing periodicity in the CFD (inherent in the frequency response technique) would overestimate the

  3. Piezoelectric actuation of helicopter rotor blades

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lieven, Nicholas A. J.

    2001-07-01

    The work presented in this paper is concerned with the application of embedded piezo-electric actuators in model helicopter rotor blades. The paper outlines techniques to define the optimal location of actuators to excite particular modes of vibration whilst the blade is rotating. Using composite blades the distribution of strain energy is defined using a Finite Element model with imposed rotor-dynamic and aerodynamics loads. The loads are specified through strip theory to determine the position of maximum bending moment and thus the optimal location of the embedded actuators. The effectiveness of the technique is demonstrated on a 1/4 scale fixed cyclic pitch rotor head. Measurement of the blade displacement is achieved by using strain gauges. In addition a redundant piezo-electric actuator is used to measure the blades' response characteristics. The addition of piezo-electric devices in this application has been shown to exhibit adverse aeroelastic effects, such as counter mass balancing and increased drag. Methods to minimise these effects are suggested. The outcome of the paper is a method for defining the location and orientation of piezo-electric devices in rotor-dynamic applications.

  4. Laser Displacement Measurements of Fan Blades in Resonance and Flutter During the Boundary Layer Ingesting Inlet and Distortion-Tolerant Fan Test

    Science.gov (United States)

    Duffy, Kirsten P.; Provenza, Andrew J.; Bakhle, Milind A.; Min, James B.; Abdul-Aziz, Ali

    2018-01-01

    NASA's Advanced Air Transport Technology Project is investigating boundary layer ingesting propulsors for future subsonic commercial aircraft to improve aircraft efficiency, thereby reducing fuel burn. To that end, a boundary layer ingesting inlet and distortion-tolerant fan stage was designed, fabricated, and tested within the 8' x 6' Supersonic Wind Tunnel at NASA Glenn Research Center. Because of the distortion in the air flow over the fan, the blades were designed to withstand a much higher aerodynamic forcing than for a typical clean flow. The blade response for several resonance modes were measured during start-up and shutdown, as well as at near 85% design speed. Flutter in the first bending mode was also observed in the fan at the design speed, at an off-design condition, although instabilities were difficult to instigate with this fan in general. Blade vibrations were monitored through twelve laser displacement probes that were placed around the inner circumference of the casing, at the blade leading and trailing edges. These probes captured the movement of all the blades during the entire test. Results are presented for various resonance mode amplitudes, frequencies and damping, as well as flutter amplitudes and frequency. Benefits and disadvantages of laser displacement probe measurements versus strain gage measurements are discussed.

  5. Effects of Blade Boundary Layer Transition and Daytime Atmospheric Turbulence on Wind Turbine Performance Analyzed with Blade-Resolved Simulation and Field Data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nandi, Tarak Nath

    Relevant to utility scale wind turbine functioning and reliability, the present work focuses on enhancing our understanding of wind turbine responses from interactions between energy-dominant daytime atmospheric turbulence eddies and rotating blades of a GE 1.5 MW wind turbine using a unique data set from a GE field experiment and computer simulations at two levels of fidelity. Previous studies have shown that the stability state of the lower troposphere has a major impact on the coherent structure of the turbulence eddies, with corresponding differences in wind turbine loading response. In this study, time-resolved aerodynamic data measured locally at the leading edge and trailing edge of three outer blade sections on a GE 1.5 MW wind turbine blade and high-frequency SCADA generator power data from a daytime field campaign are combined with computer simulations that mimic the GE wind turbine within a numerically generated atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) flow field which is a close approximation of the atmospheric turbulence experienced by the wind turbine in the field campaign. By combining the experimental and numerical data sets, this study describes the time-response characteristics of the local loadings on the blade sections in response to nonsteady nonuniform energetic atmospheric turbulence eddies within a daytime ABL which have spatial scale commensurate with that of the turbine blade length. This study is the first of its kind where actuator line and blade boundary layer resolved CFD studies of a wind turbine field campaign are performed with the motivation to validate the numerical predictions with the experimental data set, and emphasis is given on understanding the influence of the laminar to turbulent transition process on the blade loadings. The experimental and actuator line method data sets identify three important response time scales quantified at the blade location: advective passage of energy-dominant eddies (≈25 - 50 s), blade rotation (1P

  6. Development of Static Balance Measurement and Correction Compound Platform for Single Blade of Controllable Pitch Propeller

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chao, Zhang; Shijie, Su; Yilin, Yang; Guofu, Wang; Chao, Wang

    2017-11-01

    Aiming at the static balance of the controllable pitch propeller (CPP), a high efficiency static balance method based on the double-layer structure of the measuring table and gantry robot is adopted to realize the integration of torque measurement and corrected polish for controllable pitch propeller blade. The control system was developed by Microsoft Visual Studio 2015, and a composite platform prototype was developed. Through this prototype, conduct an experiment on the complete process of torque measurement and corrected polish based on a 300kg class controllable pitch propeller blade. The results show that the composite platform can correct the static balance of blade with a correct, efficient and labor-saving operation, and can replace the traditional method on static balance of the blade.

  7. Termovision and electricity capacitance measurements as a evaluation of a helicopter rotor’s blades delamination

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gębura Andrzej

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available The article presents essential elements reached during investigations of heat section of rotor blades which have been done in AFIT. The investigations were related to a valuation of helicopter’s rotor blades delamination. They used a method of thermal field measurement as well as a electricity capacitance between an airframe and a heat element of the installation. A suggestion of such measurements appeared during the disassembly of rotor blade heat sections when some local unglue of heat element’s tape from the structure of blade’s heating pack has seen. Spots nearby separation of adhesive are a potential area of a local temperature increase, both the electric heating element and the mechanical structure of the blade. This is especially dangerous for composite structures. Overheated composite structures characterized by reduced flexibility and becomes prone to cracking. Therefore, the possibility of non-invasive monitoring adhesive spots, without removing the blades would be particularly useful.

  8. Design optimization and uncertainty quantification for aeromechanics forced response of a turbomachinery blade

    Science.gov (United States)

    Modgil, Girish A.

    Gas turbine engines for aerospace applications have evolved dramatically over the last 50 years through the constant pursuit for better specific fuel consumption, higher thrust-to-weight ratio, lower noise and emissions all while maintaining reliability and affordability. An important step in enabling these improvements is a forced response aeromechanics analysis involving structural dynamics and aerodynamics of the turbine. It is well documented that forced response vibration is a very critical problem in aircraft engine design, causing High Cycle Fatigue (HCF). Pushing the envelope on engine design has led to increased forced response problems and subsequently an increased risk of HCF failure. Forced response analysis is used to assess design feasibility of turbine blades for HCF using a material limit boundary set by the Goodman Diagram envelope that combines the effects of steady and vibratory stresses. Forced response analysis is computationally expensive, time consuming and requires multi-domain experts to finalize a result. As a consequence, high-fidelity aeromechanics analysis is performed deterministically and is usually done at the end of the blade design process when it is very costly to make significant changes to geometry or aerodynamic design. To address uncertainties in the system (engine operating point, temperature distribution, mistuning, etc.) and variability in material properties, designers apply conservative safety factors in the traditional deterministic approach, which leads to bulky designs. Moreover, using a deterministic approach does not provide a calculated risk of HCF failure. This thesis describes a process that begins with the optimal aerodynamic design of a turbomachinery blade developed using surrogate models of high-fidelity analyses. The resulting optimal blade undergoes probabilistic evaluation to generate aeromechanics results that provide a calculated likelihood of failure from HCF. An existing Rolls-Royce High Work Single

  9. Analysis of impact resistance of composite fan blade. Fukugozai fan blade no taishogekisei no kaiseki

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Miyachi, T; Okumura, H; Otake, K; Sofue, Y [Japan Society for Aeronautical and Space Sciences, Tokyo (Japan)

    1992-01-05

    Numerical analysis of impact response was carried out when a bird strike was simulated to study the applicability of fiber reinforced composite material to fan blades for turbo-fan engines. The validity of the numerical analysis was verified by comparing the analyzed results with impact tested results of a fan-blade model of Ti-alloy. The impact resistance was studied by applying this method to fan blades of composite materials such as carbon fiber, epoxy resin and carbon-silicate fiber reinforced Ti-alloy. The finite element method was used for the analysis by dividing the model into triangular flat elements. The relation between the impact load, the deformation of blade and the strain, the natural frequency characteristics, the elastic modulus and hetrogeneity of blade were considered to analyze the impact response. The impact load by the strike of 1.5 lbs bird is very severe to the fan blades for turbo-fan engines having the thrust of 5 ton class. 23 refs., 23 figs., 3 tabs.

  10. Impact force identification for composite helicopter blades using minimal sensing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Budde, Carson N.

    In this research a method for online impact identification using minimal sensors is developed for rotor hubs with composite blades. Modal impact data and the corresponding responses are recorded at several locations to develop a frequency response function model for each composite blade on the rotor hub. The frequency response model for each blade is used to develop an impact identification algorithm which can be used to identify the location and magnitude of impacts. Impacts are applied in two experimental setups, including a four-blade spin test rig and a cantilevered full-sized composite blade. The impacts are estimated to have been applied at the correct location 92.3% of the time for static fiberglass blades, 97.4% of the time for static carbon fiber blades and 99.2% of the time for a full sized-static blade. The estimated location is assessed further and determined to have been estimated in the correct chord position 96.1% of the time for static fiberglass, 100% of the time for carbon fiber blades and 99.2% of the time for the full-sized blades. Projectile impacts are also applied statically and during rotation to the carbon fiber blades on the spin test rig at 57 and 83 RPM. The applied impacts can be located to the correct position 63.9%, 41.7% and 33.3% for the 0, 57 and 83 RPM speeds, respectively, while the correct chord location is estimated 100% of the time. The impact identification algorithm also estimates the force of an impact with an average percent difference of 4.64, 2.61 and 1.00 for static fiberglass, full sized, and carbon fiber blades, respectively. Using a load cell and work equations, the force of impact for a projectile fired from a dynamic firing setup is estimated at about 400 N. The average force measured for applied projectile impacts to the carbon fiber blades, rotating at 0, 57 and 83 RPM, is 368.8, 373.7 and 432.4 N, respectively.

  11. Effects of Mistuning on the Forced Response of Bladed Discs with Friction Dampers

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Petrov, E. P; Ewins, D. J

    2005-01-01

    A method recently developed by the authors allows efficient calculation of the periodic forced response to be performed for bladed discs with arbitrary nonlinearities, including friction contacts and gaps...

  12. Combining Unsteady Blade Pressure Measurements and a Free-Wake Vortex Model to Investigate the Cycle-to-Cycle Variations in Wind Turbine Aerodynamic Blade Loads in Yaw

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Moutaz Elgammi

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Prediction of the unsteady aerodynamic flow phenomenon on wind turbines is challenging and still subject to considerable uncertainty. Under yawed rotor conditions, the wind turbine blades are subjected to unsteady flow conditions as a result of the blade advancing and retreating effect and the development of a skewed vortical wake created downstream of the rotor plane. Blade surface pressure measurements conducted on the NREL Phase VI rotor in yawed conditions have shown that dynamic stall causes the wind turbine blades to experience significant cycle-to-cycle variations in aerodynamic loading. These effects were observed even though the rotor was subjected to a fixed speed and a uniform and steady wind flow. This phenomenon is not normally predicted by existing dynamic stall models integrated in wind turbine design codes. This paper couples blade pressure measurements from the NREL Phase VI rotor to a free-wake vortex model to derive the angle of attack time series at the different blade sections over multiple rotor rotations and three different yaw angles. Through the adopted approach it was possible to investigate how the rotor self-induced aerodynamic load fluctuations influence the unsteady variations in the blade angles of attack and induced velocities. The hysteresis loops for the normal and tangential load coefficients plotted against the angle of attack were plotted over multiple rotor revolutions. Although cycle-to-cycle variations in the angles of attack at the different blade radial locations and azimuth positions are found to be relatively small, the corresponding variations in the normal and tangential load coefficients may be significant. Following a statistical analysis, it was concluded that the load coefficients follow a normal distribution at the majority of blade azimuth angles and radial locations. The results of this study provide further insight on how existing engineering models for dynamic stall may be improved through

  13. Genetic fuzzy system for online structural health monitoring of composite helicopter rotor blades

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pawar, Prashant M.; Ganguli, Ranjan

    2007-07-01

    A structural health monitoring (SHM) methodology is developed for composite rotor blades. An aeroelastic analysis of composite rotor blades based on the finite element method in space and time and with implanted matrix cracking and debonding/delamination damage is used to obtain measurable system parameters such as blade response, loads and strains. A rotor blade with a two-cell airfoil section and [0/±45/90]s family of laminates is used for numerical simulations. The model based measurements are contaminated with noise to simulate real data. Genetic fuzzy systems (GFS) are developed for global online damage detection using displacement and force-based measurement deviations between damaged and undamaged conditions and for local online damage detection using strains. It is observed that the success rate of the GFS depends on number of measurements, type of measurements and training and testing noise level. The GFS work quite well with noisy data and is recommended for online SHM of composite helicopter rotor blades.

  14. Turbine-blade tip clearance and tip timing measurements using an optical fiber bundle sensor

    Science.gov (United States)

    Garcia, Iker; Beloki, Josu; Zubia, Joseba; Durana, Gaizka; Aldabaldetreku, Gotzon

    2013-04-01

    Traditional limitations of capacitive, inductive or discharging probe sensor for tip timing and tip clearance measurements are overcome by reflective intensity modulated optical fiber sensors. This paper presents the signals and results corresponding to a one stage turbine rig which rotor has 146 blades, obtained from a transonic wind-tunnel test. The probe is based on a trifurcated bundle of optical fibers that is mounted on turbine casing. It is composed of a central illuminating fiber that guides the light from a laser to the turbine blade, and two concentric rings of receiving fibers that collect the reflected light. Two photodetectors turn this reflected light signal from the receiving rings into voltage. The electrical signals are acquired and saved by a high-sample-rate oscilloscope. In tip clearance calculations the ratio of the signals provided by each ring of receiving fibers is evaluated and translated into distance. In the case of tip timing measurements, only one of the signals is considered to get the arrival time of the blade. The differences between the real and theoretical arrival times of the blades are used to obtain the deflections amplitude. The system provides the travelling wave spectrum, which presents the average vibration amplitude of the blades at a certain nodal diameter. The reliability of the results in the turbine rig testing facilities suggests the possibility of performing these measurements in real turbines under real working conditions.

  15. Design and construction of a simple blade pitch measurement system for small wind turbines

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Whale, Jonathan [Research Institute of Sustainable Energy, Murdoch University, Perth, WA 6150 (Australia)

    2009-02-15

    For small wind turbines to be reliable they must have in place good mechanisms to protect themselves against very high winds or sudden removal of load. One common protection method in small wind turbines is that of blade feathering. It is important that the blade feathering mechanism of a small wind turbine is tested before the turbine is installed in the field. This paper presents a simple system for monitoring the blade feathering of a turbine with an overall component cost that small wind turbine manufacturers can afford. The Blade Pitch Measurement System (BPMS) has been designed and constructed by the Research Institute of Sustainable Energy (RISE) and aids small wind turbine manufacturers in testing and optimising the settings of the blade feathering mechanisms on their machines. The results show that the BPMS was successful in recording the behaviour of the blade feathering mechanism in field trials with a 20 kW and a 30 kW wind turbine. The BPMS displays significant potential as an effective, inexpensive system for small wind turbine manufacturers to ensure the reliability of their pitch regulating over-speed protection mechanisms. (author)

  16. Instrumented figure skating blade for measuring on-ice skating forces

    Science.gov (United States)

    Acuña, S. A.; Smith, D. M.; Robinson, J. M.; Hawks, J. C.; Starbuck, P.; King, D. L.; Ridge, S. T.; Charles, S. K.

    2014-12-01

    Competitive figure skaters experience substantial, repeated impact loading during jumps and landings. Although these loads, which are thought to be as high as six times body weight, can lead to overuse injuries, it is not currently possible to measure these forces on-ice. Consequently, efforts to improve safety for skaters are significantly limited. Here we present the development of an instrumented figure skating blade for measuring forces on-ice. The measurement system consists of strain gauges attached to the blade, Wheatstone bridge circuit boards, and a data acquisition device. The system is capable of measuring forces in the vertical and horizontal directions (inferior-superior and anterior-posterior directions, respectively) in each stanchion with a sampling rate of at least 1000 Hz and a resolution of approximately one-tenth of body weight. The entire system weighs 142 g and fits in the space under the boot. Calibration between applied and measured force showed excellent agreement (R > 0.99), and a preliminary validation against a force plate showed good predictive ability overall (R ≥ 0.81 in vertical direction). The system overestimated the magnitude of the first and second impact peaks but detected their timing with high accuracy compared to the force plate.

  17. Active load reduction using individual pitch, based on local blade flow measurements

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Larsen, Torben J.; Aagaard Madsen, H.; Thomsen, K.

    2005-01-01

    -of-the-art load-reducing concepts. Since the new flow-based concept deviates significantly from previous published load-reducing strategies, a comparison of the performance based on aeroelastic simulations is included. Advantages and drawbacks of the systems are discussed. Copyright (C) 2004 John Wiley Sons, Ltd.......A new load-reducing control strategy for individual blade control of large pitch-controlled wind turbines is presented This control concept is based on local blade inflow measurements and offers the possibility of larger load reductions, without loss of power production, than seen in other state...

  18. A blade deflection monitoring system

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    2017-01-01

    A wind turbine blade comprising a system for monitoring the deflection of a wind turbine blade is described. The system comprises a wireless range-measurement system, having at least one wireless communication device located towards the root end of the blade and at least one wireless communication...

  19. Operational Measurement of Stationary Characteristics and Positions of Shrouded Steam Turbine Blades

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Procházka, Pavel; Vaněk, František

    2016-01-01

    Roč. 65, č. 5 (2016), s. 1079-1086 ISSN 0018-9456 Institutional support: RVO:61388998 Keywords : displacement measurement * turbomachine blades * steam turbines Subject RIV: BI - Acoustics Impact factor: 2.456, year: 2016

  20. Flapping inertia for selected rotor blades

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berry, John D.; May, Matthew J.

    1991-01-01

    Aerodynamics of helicopter rotor systems cannot be investigated without consideration for the dynamics of the rotor. One of the principal properties of the rotor which affects the rotor dynamics is the inertia of the rotor blade about its root attachment. Previous aerodynamic investigation have been performed on rotor blades with a variety of planforms to determine the performance differences due to blade planform. The blades tested for this investigation have been tested on the U.S. Army 2 meter rotor test system (2MRTS) in the NASA Langley 14 by 22 foot subsonic tunnel for hover performance. This investigation was intended to provide fundamental information on the flapping inertia of five rotor blades with differing planforms. The inertia of the bare cuff and the cuff with a blade extension were also measured for comparison with the inertia of the blades. Inertia was determined using a swing testing technique, using the period of oscillation to determine the effective flapping inertia. The effect of damping in the swing test was measured and described. A comparison of the flapping inertials for rectangular and tapered planform blades of approximately the same mass showed the tapered blades to have a lower inertia, as expected.

  1. Effect of number of blades on aerodynamic forces on a straight-bladed Vertical Axis Wind Turbine

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Li, Qing'an; Maeda, Takao; Kamada, Yasunari; Murata, Junsuke; Furukawa, Kazuma; Yamamoto, Masayuki

    2015-01-01

    Small wind turbine performance and safety standard for straight-bladed Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT) have not been developed in the world because of the lack of fundament experimental data. This paper focuses on the evaluation of aerodynamic forces depending on several numbers of blades in wind tunnel experiment. In the present study, the test airfoil of blade is symmetry airfoil of NACA 0021 and the number of blades is from two to five. Pressure acting on the surface of rotor blade is measured during rotation by multiport pressure devices and transmitted to a stationary system through wireless LAN. And then, the aerodynamic forces (tangential force, normal force et al.) are discussed as a function of azimuth angle, achieving a quantitative analysis of the effect of numbers of blades. Finally, the loads are compared with the experimental data of six-component balance. As a result, it is clarified that the power coefficient decreases with the increase of numbers of blades. Furthermore, the power which is absorbed from wind by wind turbine mainly depends on upstream region of azimuth angle of θ = 0°∼180°. In this way, these results are very important for developing the simple design equations and applications for straight-bladed VAWT. - Highlights: • Aerodynamic forces are measured by not only torque meter but also six-component balance. • The pressure distribution on the surface of rotor blade is directly measured by multiport pressure devices. • The power coefficient decreases with the increase of numbers of blades. • The fluctuation amplitudes from six-component balance show larger value than the results of pressure distribution.

  2. blades

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shashishekara S. Talya

    1999-01-01

    Full Text Available Design optimization of a gas turbine blade geometry for effective film cooling toreduce the blade temperature has been done using a multiobjective optimization formulation. Three optimization formulations have been used. In the first, the average blade temperature is chosen as the objective function to be minimized. An upper bound constraint has been imposed on the maximum blade temperature. In the second, the maximum blade temperature is chosen as the objective function to be minimized with an upper bound constraint on the average blade temperature. In the third formulation, the blade average and maximum temperatures are chosen as objective functions. Shape optimization is performed using geometric parameters associated with film cooling and blade external shape. A quasi-three-dimensional Navier–Stokes solver for turbomachinery flows is used to solve for the flow field external to the blade with appropriate modifications to incorporate the effect of film cooling. The heat transfer analysis for temperature distribution within the blade is performed by solving the heat diffusion equation using the finite element method. The multiobjective Kreisselmeier–Steinhauser function approach has been used in conjunction with an approximate analysis technique for optimization. The results obtained using both formulations are compared with reference geometry. All three formulations yield significant reductions in blade temperature with the multiobjective formulation yielding largest reduction in blade temperature.

  3. NedWind 25 Blade Testing at NREL for the European Standards Measurement and Testing Program

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Larwood, S.; Musial, W.; Freebury, G.; Beattie, A.G.

    2001-04-19

    In the mid-90s the European community initiated the Standards, Measurements, and Testing (SMT) program to harmonize testing and measurement procedures in several industries. Within the program, a project was carried out called the European Wind Turbine Testing Procedure Development. The second part of that project, called Blade Test Methods and Techniques, included the United States and was devised to help blade-testing laboratories harmonize their testing methods. This report provides the results of those tests conducted by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

  4. Applied modal analysis of wind turbine blades

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Broen Pedersen, H.; Dahl Kristensen, O.J.

    2003-02-01

    In this project modal analysis has been used to determine the natural frequencies, damping and the mode shapes for wind turbine blades. Different methods to measure the position and adjust the direction of the measuring points are discussed. Different equipment for mounting the accelerometers are investigated and the most suitable are chosen. Different excitation techniques are tried during experimental campaigns. After a discussion the pendulum hammer were chosen, and a new improved hammer was manufactured. Some measurement errors are investigated. The ability to repeat the measured results is investigated by repeated measurement on the same wind turbine blade. Furthermore the flexibility of the test set-up is investigated, by use of accelerometers mounted on the flexible adapter plate during the measurement campaign. One experimental campaign investigated the results obtained from a loaded and unloaded wind turbine blade. During this campaign the modal analysis are performed on a blade mounted in a horizontal and a vertical position respectively. Finally the results obtained from modal analysis carried out on a wind turbine blade are compared with results obtained from the Stig Oeyes blade{sub E}V1 program. (au)

  5. Study of the capacitance technique for measuring high-temperature blade tip clearance on ceramic rotors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barranger, John P.

    1993-01-01

    Higher operating temperatures required for increased engine efficiency can be achieved by using ceramic materials for engine components. Ceramic turbine rotors are subject to the same limitations with regard to gas path efficiency as their superalloy predecessors. In this study, a modified frequency-modulation system is proposed for the measurement of blade tip clearance on ceramic rotors. It is expected to operate up to 1370 C (2500 F), the working temperature of present engines with ceramic turbine rotors. The design of the system addresses two special problems associated with nonmetallic blades: the capacitance is less than that of a metal blade and the effects of temperature may introduce uncertainty with regard to the blade tip material composition. To increase capacitance and stabilize the measurement, a small portion of the rotor is modified by the application of 5-micron-thick platinum films. The platinum surfaces on the probe electrodes and rotor that are exposed to the high-velocity gas stream are coated with an additional 10-micron-thick protective ceramic topcoat. A finite-element method is applied to calculate the capacitance as a function of clearance.

  6. Turbine blade tip clearance measurement using a skewed dual-beam fiber optic sensor

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ye, De-chao; Duan, Fa-jie; Guo, Hao-tian; Li, Yangzong; Wang, Kai

    2012-08-01

    Optimization and active control of the tip clearance of turbine blades has been identified as a key to improve fuel efficiency, reduce emission, and increase service life of the engine. However, reliable and real-time tip clearance measurement is difficult due to the adverse environmental conditions that are typically found in a turbine. We describe a dual-beam fiber optic measurement system that can measure the tip timing and tip clearance simultaneously. Because the tip timing information is used to calculate the tip clearance, the method is insensitive to the signal intensity variation caused by fluctuations in environmental conditions such as light source instability, contamination, and blade tip imperfection. The system was calibrated and tested using experimental rotors. The test results indicated a high resolution of 4.5 μm and measurement accuracy of ±20 μm over the rotation speed range of 2000 to 10,000 rpm.

  7. Applied modal analysis of wind turbine blades

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pedersen, H.B.; Kristensen, O.J.D.

    2003-01-01

    In this project modal analysis has been used to determine the natural frequencies, damping and the mode shapes for wind turbine blades. Different methods to measure the position and adjust the direction of the measuring points are discussed. Differentequipment for mounting the accelerometers...... is investigated by repeated measurement on the same wind turbine blade. Furthermore the flexibility of the test set-up is investigated, by use ofaccelerometers mounted on the flexible adapter plate during the measurement campaign. One experimental campaign investigated the results obtained from a loaded...... and unloaded wind turbine blade. During this campaign the modal analysis are performed on ablade mounted in a horizontal and a vertical position respectively. Finally the results obtained from modal analysis carried out on a wind turbine blade are compared with results obtained from the Stig Øyes blade_EV1...

  8. Blade Surface Pressure Distributions in a Rocket Engine Turbine: Experimental Work With On-Blade Pressure Transducers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hudson, Susan T.; Zoladz, Thomas F.; Griffin, Lisa W.; Turner, James E. (Technical Monitor)

    2000-01-01

    Understanding the unsteady aspects of turbine rotor flowfields is critical to successful future turbine designs. A technology program was conducted at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center to increase the understanding of unsteady environments for rocket engine turbines. The experimental program involved instrumenting turbine rotor blades with surface-mounted high frequency response pressure transducers. The turbine model was then tested to measure the unsteady pressures on the rotor blades. The data obtained from the experimental program is unique in three respects. First, much more unsteady data was obtained (several minutes per set point) than has been possible in the past. Also, two independent unsteady data acquisition systems and fundamental signal processing approaches were used. Finally, an extensive steady performance database existed for the turbine model. This allowed an evaluation of the effect of the on-blade instrumentation on the turbine's performance. This unique data set, the lessons learned for acquiring this type of data, and the improvements made to the data analysis and prediction tools will contribute to future turbine programs such as those for reusable launch vehicles.

  9. Effect of linear and non-linear blade modelling techniques on simulated fatigue and extreme loads using Bladed

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beardsell, Alec; Collier, William; Han, Tao

    2016-09-01

    There is a trend in the wind industry towards ever larger and more flexible turbine blades. Blade tip deflections in modern blades now commonly exceed 10% of blade length. Historically, the dynamic response of wind turbine blades has been analysed using linear models of blade deflection which include the assumption of small deflections. For modern flexible blades, this assumption is becoming less valid. In order to continue to simulate dynamic turbine performance accurately, routine use of non-linear models of blade deflection may be required. This can be achieved by representing the blade as a connected series of individual flexible linear bodies - referred to in this paper as the multi-part approach. In this paper, Bladed is used to compare load predictions using single-part and multi-part blade models for several turbines. The study examines the impact on fatigue and extreme loads and blade deflection through reduced sets of load calculations based on IEC 61400-1 ed. 3. Damage equivalent load changes of up to 16% and extreme load changes of up to 29% are observed at some turbine load locations. It is found that there is no general pattern in the loading differences observed between single-part and multi-part blade models. Rather, changes in fatigue and extreme loads with a multi-part blade model depend on the characteristics of the individual turbine and blade. Key underlying causes of damage equivalent load change are identified as differences in edgewise- torsional coupling between the multi-part and single-part models, and increased edgewise rotor mode damping in the multi-part model. Similarly, a causal link is identified between torsional blade dynamics and changes in ultimate load results.

  10. Blade dynamic stress analysis of rotating bladed disks

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kellner J.

    2007-10-01

    Full Text Available The paper deals with mathematical modelling of steady forced bladed disk vibrations and with dynamic stress calculation of the blades. The blades are considered as 1D kontinuum elastic coupled with three-dimensional elastic disk centrally clamped into rotor rotating with constant angular speed. The steady forced vibrations are generated by the aerodynamic forces acting along the blade length. By using modal synthesis method the mathematical model of the rotating bladed disk is condensed to calculate steady vibrations. Dynamic stress analysis of the blades is based on calculation of the time dependent reduced stress in blade cross-sections by using Hubert-Misses-Hencky stress hypothesis. The presented method is applied to real turbomachinery rotor with blades connected on the top with shroud.

  11. A Study of Active Rotor-Blade Vibration Control using Electro-Magnetic Actuation - Part II: Experiment

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Christensen, Rene Hardam; Santos, Ilmar

    2004-01-01

    . The remaining two sets of actuators are applied to act directly onto the hub, working as an active radial bearing controlling the rotor lateral movement. The rig is equipped with sensors measuring blade and rotor vibrations. Actuators and sensors are connected to a digital signal processor running the control......This is the second paper in a two-part study on active rotor-blade vibration control. This part presents an experimental contribution into the work of active controller design for rotor-blade systems. The primary aim is to give an experimental validation and show the applicability...... algorithm. Measurement signals and actuator control signals from the sensors and actuators fixed in the rotating disc are transmitted to the control unit through a slip-ring device. Various measured responses of both the controlled and the non-controlled system with identical blades and with deliberately...

  12. Ultimate strength of a large wind turbine blade

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Moelholt Jensen, Find

    2008-05-15

    The present PhD project contains a study of the structural static strength of wind turbine blades loaded in flap-wise direction. A combination of experimental and numerical work has been used to address the most critical failure mechanisms and to get an understanding of the complex structural behaviour of wind turbine blades. Four failure mechanisms observed during the fullscale tests and the corresponding FE-analysis are presented. Elastic mechanisms associated with failure, such as buckling, localized bending and the Brazier effect, are studied. Six different types of structural reinforcements helping to prevent undesired structural elastic mechanisms are presented. The functionality of two of the suggested structural reinforcements was demonstrated in full-scale tests and the rest trough FE-studies. The blade design under investigation consisted of an aerodynamic airfoil and a load carrying box girder. In total, five full-scale tests have been performed involving one complete blade and two shortened box girders. The second box girder was submitted to three independent tests covering different structural reinforcement alternatives. The advantages and disadvantages of testing a shortened load carrying box girder vs. an entire blade are discussed. Changes in the boundary conditions, loads and additional reinforcements, which were introduced in the box girder tests in order to avoid undesired structural elastic mechanisms, are presented. New and advanced measuring equipment was used in the fullscale tests to detect the critical failure mechanisms and to get an understanding of the complex structural behaviour. Traditionally, displacement sensors and strain gauges in blade tests are arranged based on an assumption of a Bernoulli-Euler beam structural response. In the present study it is shown that when following this procedure important information about distortions of the cross sections is lost. In the tests presented here, one of the aims was to measure distortion

  13. Wind turbine blades condition assessment based on vibration measurements and the level of an empirically decomposed feature

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Abouhnik, Abdelnasser; Albarbar, Alhussein

    2012-01-01

    Highlights: ► We used finite element method to model wind turbine induced vibration characteristics. ► We developed a technique for eliminating wind turbine’s vibration modulation problems. ► We use empirical mode decomposition to decompose the vibration into its fundamental elements. ► We show the area under shaft speed is a good indicator for assessing wind blades condition. ► We validate the technique under different wind turbine speeds and blade (cracks) conditions. - Abstract: Vibration based monitoring techniques are well understood and widely adopted for monitoring the condition of rotating machinery. However, in the case of wind turbines the measured vibration is complex due to the high number of vibration sources and modulation phenomenon. Therefore, extracting condition related information of a specific element e.g. blade condition is very difficult. In the work presented in this paper wind turbine vibration sources are outlined and then a three bladed wind turbine vibration was simulated by building its model in the ANSYS finite element program. Dynamic analysis was performed and the fundamental vibration characteristics were extracted under two healthy blades and one blade with one of four cracks introduced. The cracks were of length (10 mm, 20 mm, 30 mm and 40 mm), all had a consistent 3 mm width and 2 mm depth. The tests were carried out for three rotation speeds; 150, 250 and 360 r/min. The effects of the seeded faults were revealed by using a novel approach called empirically decomposed feature intensity level (EDFIL). The developed EDFIL algorithm is based on decomposing the measured vibration into its fundamental components and then determines the shaft rotational speed amplitude. A real model of the simulated wind turbine was constructed and the simulation outcomes were compared with real-time vibration measurements. The cracks were seeded sequentially in one of the blades and their presence and severity were determined by decomposing

  14. Rotorcraft On-Blade Pressure and Strain Measurements Using Wireless Optical Sensor System, Phase I

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Experimental measurements of rotor blades are important for understanding the aerodynamics and dynamics of a rotorcraft. This understanding can help in solving...

  15. Probabilistic analysis of bladed turbine disks and the effect of mistuning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shah, Ashwin; Nagpal, V. K.; Chamis, C. C.

    1990-01-01

    Probabilistic assessment of the maximum blade response on a mistuned rotor disk is performed using the computer code NESSUS. The uncertainties in natural frequency, excitation frequency, amplitude of excitation and damping have been included to obtain the cumulative distribution function (CDF) of blade responses. Advanced mean value first order analysis is used to compute CDF. The sensitivities of different random variables are identified. Effect of the number of blades on a rotor on mistuning is evaluated. It is shown that the uncertainties associated with the forcing function parameters have significant effect on the response distribution of the bladed rotor.

  16. Experimental measurements and analytical analysis related to gas turbine heat transfer. Part 1: Time-averaged heat-flux and surface-pressure measurements on the vanes and blades of the SSME fuel-side turbine and comparison with prediction. Part 2: Phase-resolved surface-pressure and heat-flux measurements on the first blade of the SSME fuel-side turbine

    Science.gov (United States)

    1994-01-01

    Time averaged Stanton number and surface-pressure distributions are reported for the first-stage vane row, the first stage blade row, and the second stage vane row of the Rocketdyne Space Shuttle Main Engine two-stage fuel-side turbine. Unsteady pressure envelope measurements for the first blade are also reported. These measurements were made at 10 percent, 50 percent, and 90 percent span on both the pressure and suction surfaces of the first stage components. Additional Stanton number measurements were made on the first stage blade platform blade tip, and shroud, and at 50 percent span on the second vane. A shock tube was used as a short duration source of heated and pressurized air to which the turbine was subjected. Platinum thin-film heat flux gages were used to obtain the heat flux measurements, while miniature silicon-diaphragm flush-mounted pressure transducers were used to obtain the pressure measurements. The first stage vane Stanton number distributions are compared with predictions obtained using a version of STAN5 and a quasi-3D Navier-Stokes solution. This same quasi-3D N-S code was also used to obtain predictions for the first blade and the second vane.

  17. 3X-100 blade field test.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zayas, Jose R.; Johnson, Wesley D.

    2008-03-01

    In support of a Work-For-Other (WFO) agreement between the Wind Energy Technology Department at Sandia National Laboratories and 3TEX, one of the three Micon 65/13M wind turbines at the USDA Agriculture Research Service (ARS) center in Bushland, Texas, has been used to test a set of 9 meter wind turbine blades, manufactured by TPI composites using the 3TEX carbon material for the spar cap. Data collected from the test has been analyzed to evaluate both the aerodynamic performance and the structural response from the blades. The blades aerodynamic and structural performance, the meteorological inflow and the wind turbine structural response has been monitored with an array of 57 instruments: 15 to characterize the blades, 13 to characterize inflow, and 15 to characterize the time-varying state of the turbine. For the test, data was sampled at a rate of 40 Hz using the ATLAS II (Accurate GPS Time-Linked Data Acquisition System) data acquisition system. The system features a time-synchronized continuous data stream and telemetered data from the turbine rotor. This paper documents the instruments and infrastructure that have been developed to monitor these blades, turbines and inflow, as well as both modeling and field testing results.

  18. Effect of control activity on blade fatigue damage rate for a small horizontal axis wind turbine

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Riddle, A F; Freris, L L; Graham, J M.R. [Imperial College, London (United Kingdom)

    1996-09-01

    An experiment into the effect of control activity on blade fatigue damage rate for a 5 kW, two bladed, teetered HAWT has been performed. It has been shown that control activity influences the distribution of strain in the blade but that in a high rotor speed, high cycle fatigue regime this has little influence on damage rate. The experiment was conducted on a small test turbine by implementing variable speed stall, pitch and yaw control strategies and measuring blade flapwise strain response at root and midspan locations. A full description of the investigation is provided. (au)

  19. Compressor blade setting angle accuracy study, volume 1

    Science.gov (United States)

    Holman, F. F.; Kidwell, J. R.

    1976-01-01

    The aerodynamic test of a small, single stage, highly loaded, axial flow transonic compressor is covered. The stage was modified by fabricating a 24 blade rotor with mis-set blades in a repeating pattern - two degrees closed from nominal, two degrees open from nominal and nominal. The unit was instrumented to determine overall performance and average blade element data. High-response, dynamic pressure probes were installed to record pressure patterns at selected points in the flowpath. Testing was conducted at speeds from 70 to 94% of design equivalent speed with a conventional casing and also with circumferential grooves over the rotor tip. Testing indicated severe performance penalties were incurred as a result of the mis-set blading. Lower flow, pressure ratio, and efficiency were observed for the stage with or without casing treatment. Periodic pressure variations were detected at every location where high response pressure sensors were located and were directly related to blading geometry.

  20. Massachusetts Large Blade Test Facility Final Report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rahul Yarala; Rob Priore

    2011-09-02

    Project Objective: The Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (CEC) will design, construct, and ultimately have responsibility for the operation of the Large Wind Turbine Blade Test Facility, which is an advanced blade testing facility capable of testing wind turbine blades up to at least 90 meters in length on three test stands. Background: Wind turbine blade testing is required to meet international design standards, and is a critical factor in maintaining high levels of reliability and mitigating the technical and financial risk of deploying massproduced wind turbine models. Testing is also needed to identify specific blade design issues that may contribute to reduced wind turbine reliability and performance. Testing is also required to optimize aerodynamics, structural performance, encourage new technologies and materials development making wind even more competitive. The objective of this project is to accelerate the design and construction of a large wind blade testing facility capable of testing blades with minimum queue times at a reasonable cost. This testing facility will encourage and provide the opportunity for the U.S wind industry to conduct more rigorous testing of blades to improve wind turbine reliability.

  1. Calculation of blade-data for the Hamilton standard structural analysis of the composite blade for the 18 meter diameter rotor and a comparison with FFA-calculation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lundemo, C

    1979-04-01

    Section property data for the composite blade manufactured by Karlskronavarvet was calculated for the analysis performed by Hamilton Standard. The HS investigation was carried out for various operating conditions, including dynamic response loads, stresses, frequencies and dynamic stability. The Hamilton Standard results has been compared with the FFA (The Aeronautical Research Institute of Sweden) calculation. The results show that the stresses and moments calculated by HS never exceed the allowable levels for the hinged hub configuration. The natural frequencies seem to agree quite well with the measured frequencies. In the input data of the Hamilton Standard dynamic response analysis a too far aft position of the cordwise center of gravity of the outher third of the blade was used. Correct position will give lower stresses.

  2. Deflection estimation of a wind turbine blade using FBG sensors embedded in the blade bonding line

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Sang-Woo; Kang, Woo-Ram; Jeong, Min-Soo; Lee, In; Kwon, Il-Bum

    2013-01-01

    Estimating the deflection of flexible composite wind turbine blades is very important to prevent the blades from hitting the tower. Several researchers have used fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors—a type of optical fiber sensor (OFS)—to monitor the structural behavior of the blades. They can be installed on the surface and/or embedded in the interior of composites. However, the typical installation positions of OFSs present several problems, including delamination of sensing probes and a higher risk of fiber breakage during installation. In this study, we proposed using the bonding line between the shear web and spar cap as a new installation position of embedded OFSs for estimating the deflection of the blades. Laboratory coupon tests were undertaken preliminarily to confirm the strain measuring capability of embedded FBG sensors in adhesive layers, and the obtained values were verified by comparison with results obtained by electrical strain gauges and finite element analysis. We performed static loading tests on a 100 kW composite wind turbine blade to evaluate its deflections using embedded FBG sensors positioned in the bonding line. The deflections were estimated by classical beam theory considering a rigid body rotation near the tip of the blade. The evaluated tip deflections closely matched those measured by a linear variable differential transformer. Therefore, we verified the capability of embedded FBG sensors for evaluating the deflections of wind turbine blades. In addition, we confirmed that the bonding line between the shear web and spar cap is a practical location to embed the FBG sensors. (paper)

  3. Gas Turbine Blade Damper Optimization Methodology

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    R. K. Giridhar

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available The friction damping concept is widely used to reduce resonance stresses in gas turbines. A friction damper has been designed for high pressure turbine stage of a turbojet engine. The objective of this work is to find out effectiveness of the damper while minimizing resonant stresses for sixth and ninth engine order excitation of first flexure mode. This paper presents a methodology that combines three essential phases of friction damping optimization in turbo-machinery. The first phase is to develop an analytical model of blade damper system. The second phase is experimentation and model tuning necessary for response studies while the third phase is evaluating damper performance. The reduced model of blade is developed corresponding to the mode under investigation incorporating the friction damper then the simulations were carried out to arrive at an optimum design point of the damper. Bench tests were carried out in two phases. Phase-1 deals with characterization of the blade dynamically and the phase-2 deals with finding optimal normal load at which the blade resonating response is minimal for a given excitation. The test results are discussed, and are corroborated with simulated results, are in good agreement.

  4. Flow characteristics in nuclear steam turbine blade passage

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ahn, H.J.; Yoon, W.H.; Kwon, S.B.

    1995-01-01

    The rapid expansion of condensable gas such as moist air or steam gives rise to nonequilibrium condensation. As a result of irreversibility of condensation process in the nuclear steam turbine blade passage, the entropy of the flow increases, and the efficiency of the turbine decreases. In the present study, in order to investigate the flow characteristics of moist air in two-dimensional turbine blade passage which is made from the configuration of the last stage tip section of the actual nuclear steam turbine moving blade, the static pressures along both pressure and suction sides of blade are measured by static pressure taps and the distribution of Mach number on both sides of the blade are obtained by using the measured static pressure. Also, the flow field is visualized by a Schlieren system. From the experimental results, the effects of the stagnation temperature and specific humidity on the flow properties in the two dimensional steam turbine blade passage are clearly identified

  5. Probabilistic Structural Analysis of SSME Turbopump Blades: Probabilistic Geometry Effects

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nagpal, V. K.

    1985-01-01

    A probabilistic study was initiated to evaluate the precisions of the geometric and material properties tolerances on the structural response of turbopump blades. To complete this study, a number of important probabilistic variables were identified which are conceived to affect the structural response of the blade. In addition, a methodology was developed to statistically quantify the influence of these probabilistic variables in an optimized way. The identified variables include random geometric and material properties perturbations, different loadings and a probabilistic combination of these loadings. Influences of these probabilistic variables are planned to be quantified by evaluating the blade structural response. Studies of the geometric perturbations were conducted for a flat plate geometry as well as for a space shuttle main engine blade geometry using a special purpose code which uses the finite element approach. Analyses indicate that the variances of the perturbations about given mean values have significant influence on the response.

  6. Detection of Delamination in Laminate Wind Turbine Blades Using One-Dimensional Wavelet Analysis of Modal Responses

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Łukasz Doliński

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper demonstrates the effectiveness of a nondestructive diagnostic technique used to determine the location and size of delamination in laminated coatings of wind turbine blades. This is realized based on results of numerical and experimental investigations obtained by the use of the finite element method (FEM and laser scanning vibrometry (LSV. The proposed method is based on the one-dimensional continuous wavelet transform of vibration parameters of a wind turbine blade. The investigations were conducted for a 1 : 10 scaled-down blade of a 36 m rotor wind turbine. Glass fibres and epoxy resin were used as laminate components. For numerical studies, a simple delamination model was proposed. The results obtained by the authors were used to determine the optimal set of parameters of the continuous wavelet transform. The application of high-quality LSV for experimental measurements allowed determining the optimal conditions of measuring procedures. At the same time the capabilities and limitations, resulting from the nature of the measurement method, were identified. In order to maximize the effectiveness of the detection method, preliminary signal processing was performed. Beside base wavelets also different waveform families were tested. The results obtained by the authors showed that it is possible to identify and localize even relatively small damage.

  7. Turbulent wind at the equatorial segment of an operating Darrieus wind turbine blade

    Science.gov (United States)

    Connell, J. R.; Morris, V. R.

    1989-09-01

    Six turbulent wind time series, measured at equally spaced equator-height locations on a circle 3 m outside a 34-m Darrieus rotor, are analyzed to approximate the wind fluctuations experienced by the rotor. The flatwise lower root-bending stress of one blade was concurrently recorded. The wind data are analyzed in three ways: wind components that are radial and tangential to the rotation of a blade were rotationally sampled; induction and wake effects of the rotor were estimated from the six Eulerian time series; and turbulence spectra of both the measured wind and the modeled wind from the PNL theory of rotationally sampled turbulence. The wind and the rotor response are related by computing the spectral response function of the flatwise lower root-bending stress. Two bands of resonant response that surround the first and second flatwise modal frequencies shift with the rotor rotation rate.

  8. Comprehensive Forced Response Analysis of J2X Turbine Bladed-Discs with 360 Degree Variation in CFD Loading

    Science.gov (United States)

    Elrod, David; Christensen, Eric; Brown, Andrew

    2011-01-01

    The temporal frequency content of the dynamic pressure predicted by a 360 degree computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis of a turbine flow field provides indicators of forcing function excitation frequencies (e.g., multiples of blade pass frequency) for turbine components. For the Pratt and Whitney Rocketdyne J-2X engine turbopumps, Campbell diagrams generated using these forcing function frequencies and the results of NASTRAN modal analyses show a number of components with modes in the engine operating range. As a consequence, forced response and static analyses are required for the prediction of combined stress, high cycle fatigue safety factors (HCFSF). Cyclically symmetric structural models have been used to analyze turbine vane and blade rows, not only in modal analyses, but also in forced response and static analyses. Due to the tortuous flow pattern in the turbine, dynamic pressure loading is not cyclically symmetric. Furthermore, CFD analyses predict dynamic pressure waves caused by adjacent and non-adjacent blade/vane rows upstream and downstream of the row analyzed. A MATLAB script has been written to calculate displacements due to the complex cyclically asymmetric dynamic pressure components predicted by CFD analysis, for all grids in a blade/vane row, at a chosen turbopump running speed. The MATLAB displacements are then read into NASTRAN, and dynamic stresses are calculated, including an adjustment for possible mistuning. In a cyclically symmetric NASTRAN static analysis, static stresses due to centrifugal, thermal, and pressure loading at the mode running speed are calculated. MATLAB is used to generate the HCFSF at each grid in the blade/vane row. When compared to an approach assuming cyclic symmetry in the dynamic flow field, the current approach provides better assurance that the worst case safety factor has been identified. An extended example for a J-2X turbopump component is provided.

  9. Local measurement and numerical modeling of mass/heat transfer from a turbine blade in a linear cascade with tip clearance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jin, Peitong

    2000-11-01

    Local mass/heat transfer measurements from the turbine blade near-tip and the tip surfaces are performed using the naphthalene sublimation technique. The experiments are conducted in a linear cascade consisting of five high-pressure blades with a central test-blade configuration. The incoming flow conditions are close to those of the gas turbine engine environment (boundary layer displacement thickness is about 0.01 of chord) with an exit Reynolds number of 6.2 x 105. The effects of tip clearance level (0.86%--6.90% of chord), mainstream Reynolds number and turbulence intensity (0.2 and 12.0%) are investigated. Two methods of flow visualization---oil and lampblack, laser light sheet smoke wire---as well as static pressure measurement on the blade surface are used to study the tip leakage flow and vortex in the cascade. In addition, numerical modeling of the flow and heat transfer processes in the linear cascade with different tip clearances is conducted using commercial software incorporating advanced turbulence models. The present study confirms many important results on the tip leakage flow and vortex from the literature, contributes to the current understanding in the effects of tip leakage flow and vortex on local heat transfer from the blade near-tip and the tip surfaces, and provides detailed local and average heat/mass transfer data applicable to turbine blade tip cooling design.

  10. UWB Wind Turbine Blade Deflection Sensing for Wind Energy Cost Reduction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Shuai; Jensen, Tobias Lindstrøm; Franek, Ondrej; Eggers, Patrick C F; Olesen, Kim; Byskov, Claus; Pedersen, Gert Frølund

    2015-08-12

    A new application of utilizing ultra-wideband (UWB) technology to sense wind turbine blade deflections is introduced in this paper for wind energy cost reduction. The lower UWB band of 3.1-5.3 GHz is applied. On each blade, there will be one UWB blade deflection sensing system, which consists of two UWB antennas at the blade root and one UWB antenna at the blade tip. The detailed topology and challenges of this deflection sensing system are addressed. Due to the complexity of the problem, this paper will first realize the on-blade UWB radio link in the simplest case, where the tip antenna is situated outside (and on the surface of) a blade tip. To investigate this case, full-blade time-domain measurements are designed and conducted under different deflections. The detailed measurement setups and results are provided. If the root and tip antenna locations are properly selected, the first pulse is always of sufficient quality for accurate estimations under different deflections. The measured results reveal that the blade tip-root distance and blade deflection can be accurately estimated in the complicated and lossy wireless channels around a wind turbine blade. Some future research topics on this application are listed finally.

  11. Test Rig for Evaluating Active Turbine Blade Tip Clearance Control Concepts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lattime, Scott B.; Steinetz, Bruce M.; Robbie, Malcolm G.

    2003-01-01

    Improved blade tip sealing in the high pressure compressor and high pressure turbine can provide dramatic improvements in specific fuel consumption, time-on-wing, compressor stall margin and engine efficiency as well as increased payload and mission range capabilities of both military and commercial gas turbine engines. The preliminary design of a mechanically actuated active clearance control (ACC) system for turbine blade tip clearance management is presented along with the design of a bench top test rig in which the system is to be evaluated. The ACC system utilizes mechanically actuated seal carrier segments and clearance measurement feedback to provide fast and precise active clearance control throughout engine operation. The purpose of this active clearance control system is to improve upon current case cooling methods. These systems have relatively slow response and do not use clearance measurement, thereby forcing cold build clearances to set the minimum clearances at extreme operating conditions (e.g., takeoff, re-burst) and not allowing cruise clearances to be minimized due to the possibility of throttle transients (e.g., step change in altitude). The active turbine blade tip clearance control system design presented herein will be evaluated to ensure that proper response and positional accuracy is achievable under simulated high-pressure turbine conditions. The test rig will simulate proper seal carrier pressure and temperature loading as well as the magnitudes and rates of blade tip clearance changes of an actual gas turbine engine. The results of these evaluations will be presented in future works.

  12. Piezoelectric Vibration Damping Study for Rotating Composite Fan Blades

    Science.gov (United States)

    Min, James B.; Duffy, Kirsten P.; Choi, Benjamin B.; Provenza, Andrew J.; Kray, Nicholas

    2012-01-01

    Resonant vibrations of aircraft engine blades cause blade fatigue problems in engines, which can lead to thicker and aerodynamically lower performing blade designs, increasing engine weight, fuel burn, and maintenance costs. In order to mitigate undesirable blade vibration levels, active piezoelectric vibration control has been investigated, potentially enabling thinner blade designs for higher performing blades and minimizing blade fatigue problems. While the piezoelectric damping idea has been investigated by other researchers over the years, very little study has been done including rotational effects. The present study attempts to fill this void. The particular objectives of this study were: (a) to develop and analyze a multiphysics piezoelectric finite element composite blade model for harmonic forced vibration response analysis coupled with a tuned RLC circuit for rotating engine blade conditions, (b) to validate a numerical model with experimental test data, and (c) to achieve a cost-effective numerical modeling capability which enables simulation of rotating blades within the NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) Dynamic Spin Rig Facility. A numerical and experimental study for rotating piezoelectric composite subscale fan blades was performed. It was also proved that the proposed numerical method is feasible and effective when applied to the rotating blade base excitation model. The experimental test and multiphysics finite element modeling technique described in this paper show that piezoelectric vibration damping can significantly reduce vibrations of aircraft engine composite fan blades.

  13. Vibration and flutter of mistuned bladed-disk assemblies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kaza, K. R. V.; Kielb, R. E.

    1984-01-01

    An analytical model for investigating vibration and flutter of mistuned bladed disk assemblies is presented. This model accounts for elastic, inertial and aerodynamic coupling between bending and torsional motions of each individual blade, elastic and inertial couplings between the blades and the disk, and aerodynamic coupling among the blades. The disk was modeled as a circular plate with constant thickness and each blade was represented by a twisted, slender, straight, nonuniform, elastic beam with a symmetric cross section. The elastic axis, inertia axis, and the tension axis were taken to be noncoincident and the structural warping of the section was explicitly considered. The blade aerodynamic loading in the subsonic and supersonic flow regimes was obtained from two-dimensional unsteady, cascade theories. All the possible standing wave modes of the disk and traveling wave modes of the blades were included. The equations of motion were derived by using the energy method in conjunction with the assumed mode shapes for the disk and the blades. Continuities of displacement and slope at the blade-disk junction were maintained. The equations were solved to investigate the effects of blade-disk coupling and blade frequency mistuning on vibration and flutter. Results showed that the flexibility of practical disks such as those used for current generation turbofans did not have a significant influence on either the tuned or mistuned flutter characteristics. However, the disk flexibility may have a strong influence on some of the system frequencies and on forced response.

  14. Static/dynamic fluid-structure interaction analysis for 3-D rotary blade model

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Dong Hyun; Kim, Yu Sung; Kim, Dong Man; Park, Kang Kyun

    2009-01-01

    In this study, static/dynamic fluid-structure interaction analyses have been conducted for a 3D rotary blade model like a turbo-machinery or wind turbine blade. Advanced computational analysis system based on Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and Computational Structural Dynamics (CSD) has been developed in order to investigate detailed dynamic responses of rotary type models. Fluid domains are modeled using the computational grid system with local grid deforming techniques. Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations with various turbulence model are solved for unsteady flow problems of the rotating blade model. Detailed static/dynamic responses and instantaneous pressure contours on the blade surfaces considering flow-separation effects are presented to show the multi-physical phenomenon of the rotating blades.

  15. Large-area photogrammetry based testing of wind turbine blades

    Science.gov (United States)

    Poozesh, Peyman; Baqersad, Javad; Niezrecki, Christopher; Avitabile, Peter; Harvey, Eric; Yarala, Rahul

    2017-03-01

    An optically based sensing system that can measure the displacement and strain over essentially the entire area of a utility-scale blade leads to a measurement system that can significantly reduce the time and cost associated with traditional instrumentation. This paper evaluates the performance of conventional three dimensional digital image correlation (3D DIC) and three dimensional point tracking (3DPT) approaches over the surface of wind turbine blades and proposes a multi-camera measurement system using dynamic spatial data stitching. The potential advantages for the proposed approach include: (1) full-field measurement distributed over a very large area, (2) the elimination of time-consuming wiring and expensive sensors, and (3) the need for large-channel data acquisition systems. There are several challenges associated with extending the capability of a standard 3D DIC system to measure entire surface of utility scale blades to extract distributed strain, deflection, and modal parameters. This paper only tries to address some of the difficulties including: (1) assessing the accuracy of the 3D DIC system to measure full-field distributed strain and displacement over the large area, (2) understanding the geometrical constraints associated with a wind turbine testing facility (e.g. lighting, working distance, and speckle pattern size), (3) evaluating the performance of the dynamic stitching method to combine two different fields of view by extracting modal parameters from aligned point clouds, and (4) determining the feasibility of employing an output-only system identification to estimate modal parameters of a utility scale wind turbine blade from optically measured data. Within the current work, the results of an optical measurement (one stereo-vision system) performed on a large area over a 50-m utility-scale blade subjected to quasi-static and cyclic loading are presented. The blade certification and testing is typically performed using International

  16. WhalePower tubercle blade power performance test report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2008-07-15

    Toronto-based WhalePower Corporation has developed turbine blades that are modeled after humpback whale flippers. The blades, which incorporate tubercles along the leading edge of the blade, have been fitted to a Wenvor 25 kW turbine installed in North Cape, Prince Edward Island at a test site for the Wind Energy Institute of Canada (WEICan). A test was conducted to characterize the power performance of the prototype wind turbine. This report described the wind turbine configuration with particular reference to turbine information, power rating, blade information, tower information, control systems and grid connections. The test site was also described along with test equipment and measurement procedures. Information regarding power output as a function of wind speed was included along with power curves, power coefficient and annual energy production. The results for the power curve and annual energy production contain a level of uncertainty. While measurements for this test were collected and analyzed in accordance with International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) standards for performance measurements of electricity producing wind turbines (IEC 61400-12-1), the comparative performance data between the prototype WhalePower wind turbine blade and the Wenvor standard blade was not gathered to IEC data standards. Deviations from IEC-61400-12-1 procedures were listed. 6 tabs., 16 figs., 3 appendices.

  17. Comprehensive Forced Response Analysis of J2X Turbine Bladed-Discs with 36- Degree Variation in CFD Loading

    Science.gov (United States)

    Elrod, David; Christensen, Eric; Brown, Andrew

    2011-01-01

    At NASA/MSFC, Structural Dynamics personnel continue to perform advanced analysis for the turbomachinery in the J2X Rocket Engine, which is under consideration for the new Space Launch System. One of the most challenging analyses in the program is predicting turbine blade structural capability. Resonance was predicted by modal analysis, so comprehensive forced response analyses using high fidelity cyclic symmetric finite element models were initiated as required. Analysis methodologies up to this point have assumed the flow field could be fully described by a sector, so the loading on every blade would be identical as it travelled through it. However, in the J2X the CFD flow field varied over the 360 deg of a revolution because of the flow speeds and tortuous axial path. MSFC therefore developed a complex procedure using Nastran Dmap's and Matlab scripts to apply this circumferentially varying loading onto the cyclically symmetric structural models to produce accurate dynamic stresses for every blade on the disk. This procedure is coupled with static, spin, and thermal loading to produce high cycle fatigue safety factors resulting in much more accurate analytical assessments of the blades.

  18. Antenna Gain Impact on UWB Wind Turbine Blade Deflection Sensing

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Zhang, Shuai; Franek, Ondrej; Byskov, Claus

    2018-01-01

    effective (or equivalent) isotropic radiated power (EIRP), an HG tip antenna inside a blade gives stronger direct pulse amplitudes and better pulse waveforms for accurate and reliable distance estimations than the LG. Moreover, the direct pulse with the HG antenna is also closer to the blade surface, which...... in free space have similar realized gain when allocated inside blades, so that the emission power for the HG and LG antennas in blades can be the same. The antenna gain impacts on time-domain pulse waveforms and power distributions around a blade are carefully investigated (with the tip antenna inside...... a blade). Higher antenna gain enlarges both direct pulse and multipath but in different levels. To verify the simulations, time-domain measurements are performed with a full 37-meter blade. Pulse waveforms and power delay profiles are measured. From all the studies, it follows that: with the similar...

  19. Contactless Diagnostics of Turbine Blade Vibration and Damage

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Prochazka, Pavel; Vanek, Frantisek

    2011-01-01

    The study deals with the contactless diagnostic method used for the identification of steam turbine blade strain, vibration and damage. The tip-timing method based on the evaluation of time differences of blade passages in different rotor revolutions has been modified and improved to provide more precise and reliable results. A new approach to the analysis of the amplitude and time differences of impulse signals generated by a blade passage has been applied. Amplitudes and frequencies of vibrations and static position of blades ascertained by the diagnostic process are used to establish the state of blade damage. A contactless diagnostic system VDS-UT based on magneto-resistive sensors was developed in the Institute of Thermomechanics Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic. The system provides on-line monitoring of vibration amplitudes and frequencies of all blades and notification of possible blade damage. Evaluation of the axial and circumferential components of the deflections by measuring the amplitude of blade impulse signals results in an overall improvement of the method. Using magneto-resistive sensors, blade elongation and untwisting can be determined as well.

  20. A deflection monitoring system for a wind turbine blade

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    2017-01-01

    A wind turbine blade comprising a system for monitoring the deflection of a wind turbine blade is described. The system comprises a wireless range-measurement system, having at least one wireless communication device located towards the root end of the blade and at least one wireless communication...

  1. Aeroelasticity and structural optimization of composite helicopter rotor blades with swept tips

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yuan, K. A.; Friedmann, P. P.

    1995-01-01

    This report describes the development of an aeroelastic analysis capability for composite helicopter rotor blades with straight and swept tips, and its application to the simulation of helicopter vibration reduction through structural optimization. A new aeroelastic model is developed in this study which is suitable for composite rotor blades with swept tips in hover and in forward flight. The hingeless blade is modeled by beam type finite elements. A single finite element is used to model the swept tip. Arbitrary cross-sectional shape, generally anisotropic material behavior, transverse shears and out-of-plane warping are included in the blade model. The nonlinear equations of motion, derived using Hamilton's principle, are based on a moderate deflection theory. Composite blade cross-sectbnal properties are calculated by a separate linear, two-dimensional cross section analysis. The aerodynamic loads are obtained from quasi-steady, incompressible aerodynamics, based on an implicit formulation. The trim and steady state blade aeroelastic response are solved in a fully coupled manner. In forward flight, where the blade equations of motion are periodic, the coupled trim-aeroelastic response solution is obtained from the harmonic balance method. Subsequently, the periodic system is linearized about the steady state response, and its stability is determined from Floquet theory.

  2. A New Hoe Blade for Inter-Row Weeding

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Green, O.; Znova, L.; Melander, Bo

    2016-01-01

    and weeds are relatively small. The term ‘Ducksfoot’ covers a range of hoe blade configurations where all have some resemblance with the shape of a ducks foot. However, the ‘Ducksfoot’ blade is not an optimal solution for weed control in narrow inter-row spaces. Several disadvantages have been encountered...... and the draft forces needed to pull it were approx. half those measured for a ‘Ducksfoot’ blade. The weeding features of the new L-blade will be further studied under field conditions....

  3. Interaction of Atmospheric Turbulence with Blade Boundary Layer Dynamics on a 5MW Wind Turbine using Blade-Boundary-Layer-Resolved CFD with hybrid URANS-LES.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Vijayakumar, Ganesh [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA (United States); Brasseur, James [Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA (United States); Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States); Lavely, Adam; Jayaraman, Balaji; Craven, Brent

    2016-01-04

    We describe the response of the NREL 5 MW wind turbine blade boundary layer to the passage of atmospheric turbulence using blade-boundary-layer-resolved computational fluid dynamics with hybrid URANS-LES modeling.

  4. Strain gauge measurement uncertainties on hydraulic turbine runner blade

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Arpin-Pont, J; Gagnon, M; Tahan, S A; Coutu, A; Thibault, D

    2012-01-01

    Strains experimentally measured with strain gauges can differ from those evaluated using the Finite Element (FE) method. This difference is due mainly to the assumptions and uncertainties inherent to each method. To circumvent this difficulty, we developed a numerical method based on Monte Carlo simulations to evaluate measurement uncertainties produced by the behaviour of a unidirectional welded gauge, its position uncertainty and its integration effect. This numerical method uses the displacement fields of the studied part evaluated by an FE analysis. The paper presents a study case using in situ data measured on a hydraulic turbine runner. The FE analysis of the turbine runner blade was computed, and our numerical method used to evaluate uncertainties on strains measured at five locations with welded strain gauges. Then, measured strains and their uncertainty ranges are compared to the estimated strains. The uncertainty ranges obtained extended from 74 με to 165 με. Furthermore, the biases observed between the median of the uncertainty ranges and the FE strains varied from −36 to 36 με. Note that strain gauge measurement uncertainties depend mainly on displacement fields and gauge geometry.

  5. Simple method for thick blade calculation. Part 2. Application to a thin blade; Kanbenna ichiatsuyoku keisanho (zokuho). Usui tsubasa eno tekiyo

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Maita, S; Ando, J; Nakatake, K [Kyushu University, Fukuoka (Japan). Faculty of Engineering

    1996-04-10

    A source and QCM (SQCM) method has been developed, by which the blade performance can be calculated in a short time with satisfying the Kutta`s condition without repeating calculations even for the three-dimensional blade. Performances were calculated for the two-dimensional and three-dimensional blades. The SQCM has provided appropriate results. However, it was found that there are some problems for thin blades. In this study, the SQCM has been applied to a thin blade. The conventional eddy model equation of SQCM is not a continuous distribution in the strict sense. In this study, this problem has been modified. When point eddies with constant strength are in line continuously within the interval, the induced velocity at an arbitrary position can be expressed by the integral equation using a position of marginal point of the interval. This equation can be analyzed by the integral of influence coefficient. The position of marginal point of the interval is a position of control point determined by the QCM theory. As a result of the modification, it was found that the SQCM in response to a thin blade has provided precise calculation results stably even for an ultra thin blade with the blade thickness ratio of 0.001. 1 ref., 8 figs.

  6. Resonant vibration control of three-bladed wind turbine rotors

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Krenk, Steen; Svendsen, Martin Nymann; Høgsberg, Jan Becker

    2012-01-01

    Rotors with blades, as in wind turbines, are prone to vibrations due to the flexibility of the blades and the support. In the present paper a theory is developed for active control of a combined set of vibration modes in three-bladed rotors. The control system consists of identical collocated...... to influence of other nonresonant modes. The efficiency of the method isdemonstrated byapplication to a rotor with 42 m blades, where the sensor/actuator system is implemented in the form of an axial extensible strut near the root of each blade. The load is provided by a simple but fully threedimensional...... correlated wind velocity field. It is shown by numerical simulations that the active damping system can provide a significant reduction in the response amplitude of the targeted modes, while applying control moments to the blades that are about 1 order of magnitude smaller than the moments from the external...

  7. Crack of a first stage blade in a steam turbine

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. Nurbanasari

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available The failure of the first stage blade in a steam turbine of 55 MW was investigated. The blade was made of 17-4 PH stainless steel and has been used for 12 years before failure. The current work aims to find out the main cause of the first stage blade failure. The methods for investigation were metallurgical analysis, chemical composition test, and hardness measurement. The result showed that there was no evidence the blade failure was due to material. The damage found on the blade namely crack on the blade root. Two locations of the crack observed at the blade root, which was at the tang and the fillet, with different failure modes. In general, the damage of the blade was started by the corrosion occurred on the blade root. The crack at the blade root tang was due to corrosion fatigue and the crack occurred at the blade root fillet owing to stress corrosion cracking.

  8. An aerodynamic study on flexed blades for VAWT applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Micallef, Daniel; Farrugia, Russell; Sant, Tonio; Mollicone, Pierluigi

    2014-12-01

    There is renewed interest in aerodynamics research of VAWT rotors. Lift type, Darrieus designs sometimes use flexed blades to have an 'egg-beater shape' with an optimum Troposkien geometry to minimize the structural stress on the blades. While straight bladed VAWTs have been investigated in depth through both measurements and numerical modelling, the aerodynamics of flexed blades has not been researched with the same level of detail. Two major effects may have a substantial impact on blade performance. First, flexing at the equator causes relatively strong trailing vorticity to be released. Secondly, the blade performance at each station along the blade is influenced by self-induced velocities due to bound vorticity. The latter is not present in a straight bladed configuration. The aim of this research is to investigate these effects in relation to an innovative 4kW wind turbine concept being developed in collaboration with industry known as a self-adjusting VAWT (or SATVAWT). The approach used in this study is based on experimental and numerical work. A lifting line free-wake vortex model was developed. Wind tunnel power and hot-wire velocity measurements were performed on a scaled down, 60cm high, three bladed model in a closed wind tunnel. Results show a substantial axial wake induction at the equator resulting in a lower power generation at this position. This induction increases with increasing degree of flexure. The self-induced velocities caused by blade bound vorticity at a particular station was found to be relatively small.

  9. An aerodynamic study on flexed blades for VAWT applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Micallef, Daniel; Farrugia, Russell; Sant, Tonio; Mollicone, Pierluigi

    2014-01-01

    There is renewed interest in aerodynamics research of VAWT rotors. Lift type, Darrieus designs sometimes use flexed blades to have an 'egg-beater shape' with an optimum Troposkien geometry to minimize the structural stress on the blades. While straight bladed VAWTs have been investigated in depth through both measurements and numerical modelling, the aerodynamics of flexed blades has not been researched with the same level of detail. Two major effects may have a substantial impact on blade performance. First, flexing at the equator causes relatively strong trailing vorticity to be released. Secondly, the blade performance at each station along the blade is influenced by self-induced velocities due to bound vorticity. The latter is not present in a straight bladed configuration. The aim of this research is to investigate these effects in relation to an innovative 4kW wind turbine concept being developed in collaboration with industry known as a self-adjusting VAWT (or SATVAWT). The approach used in this study is based on experimental and numerical work. A lifting line free-wake vortex model was developed. Wind tunnel power and hot-wire velocity measurements were performed on a scaled down, 60cm high, three bladed model in a closed wind tunnel. Results show a substantial axial wake induction at the equator resulting in a lower power generation at this position. This induction increases with increasing degree of flexure. The self-induced velocities caused by blade bound vorticity at a particular station was found to be relatively small

  10. Aeroelastic response and stability of tiltrotors with elastically-coupled composite rotor blades. Ph.D. Thesis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nixon, Mark W.

    1993-01-01

    There is a potential for improving the performance and aeroelastic stability of tiltrotors through the use of elastically-coupled composite rotor blades. To study the characteristics of tiltrotors with these types of rotor blades it is necessary to formulate a new analysis which has the capabilities of modeling both a tiltrotor configuration and an anisotropic rotor blade. Background for these formulations is established in two preliminary investigations. In the first, the influence of several system design parameters on tiltrotor aeroelastic stability is examined for the high-speed axial flight mode using a newly-developed rigid-blade analysis with an elastic wing finite element model. The second preliminary investigation addresses the accuracy of using a one-dimensional beam analysis to predict frequencies of elastically-coupled highly-twisted rotor blades. Important aspects of the new aeroelastic formulations are the inclusion of a large steady pylon angle which controls tilt of the rotor system with respect to the airflow, the inclusion of elastic pitch-lag coupling terms related to rotor precone, the inclusion of hub-related degrees of freedom which enable modeling of a gimballed rotor system and engine drive-train dynamics, and additional elastic coupling terms which enable modeling of the anisotropic features for both the rotor blades and the tiltrotor wing. Accuracy of the new tiltrotor analysis is demonstrated by a comparison of the results produced for a baseline case with analytical and experimental results reported in the open literature. Two investigations of elastically tailored blades on a baseline tiltrotor are then conducted. One investigation shows that elastic bending-twist coupling of the rotor blade is a very effective means for increasing the flutter velocity of a tiltrotor, and the magnitude of coupling required does not have an adverse effect on performance or blade loads. The second investigation shows that passive blade twist control via

  11. Structural dynamics of shroudless, hollow fan blades with composite in-lays

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aiello, R. A.; Hirschbein, M. S.; Chamis, C. C.

    1982-01-01

    Structural and dynamic analyses are presented for a shroudless, hollow titanium fan blade proposed for future use in aircraft turbine engines. The blade was modeled and analyzed using the composite blade structural analysis computer program (COBSTRAN); an integrated program consisting of mesh generators, composite mechanics codes, NASTRAN, and pre- and post-processors. Vibration and impact analyses are presented. The vibration analysis was conducted with COBSTRAN. Results show the effect of the centrifugal force field on frequencies, twist, and blade camber. Bird impact analysis was performed with the multi-mode blade impact computer program. This program uses the geometric model and modal analysis from the COBSTRAN vibration analysis to determine the gross impact response of the fan blades to bird strikes. The structural performance of this blade is also compared to a blade of similar design but with composite in-lays on the outer surface. Results show that the composite in-lays can be selected (designed) to substantially modify the mechanical performance of the shroudless, hollow fan blade.

  12. Modal analysis of wind turbine blades

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Larsen, G.C.; Hansen, M.H.; Baumgart, A.; Carlen, I.

    2002-02-01

    The modal analysis technique has been used to identify essential dynamic properties of wind turbine blades like natural frequencies, damping characteristics and mode shapes. Different experimental procedures have been considered, and the most appropriate of these has been selected. Although the comparison is based on measurements on a LM 19 m blade, the recommendations given are believed to be valid for other wind turbine blades as well. The reliability of the selected experimental analysis has been quantified by estimating the unsystematic variations in the experimental findings. Satisfactory results have been obtained for natural frequencies, damping characteristics and for the dominating deflection direction of the investigated mode shapes. For the secondary deflection directions, the observed experimental uncertainty may be considerable - especially for the torsional deflection. The experimental analysis of the LM 19 m blade has been compared with results from a state-of-the-art FE-modeling of the same blade. For some of the higher modes substantial discrepancies between the natural frequencies originating from the FE-modeling and the modal analysis, respectively, are observed. In general the qualitative features of measured and computed modes shapes are in good agreement. However, for the secondary deflection directions, substantial deviations in the absolute values may occur (when normalizing with respect to the primary deflection direction). Finally, suggestions of potential future improvements of the experimental procedure are discussed. (au)

  13. Unobstructed particle image velocimetry measurements within an axial turbo-pump using liquid and blades with matched refractive indices

    Science.gov (United States)

    Uzol, O.; Chow, Y.-C.; Katz, J.; Meneveau, C.

    2002-08-01

    Performing PIV measurements within complex turbomachinery with multiple blade rows is difficult due to the optical obstruction to the illuminating sheet and to the camera caused by the blades. This paper introduces a refractive index matched facility that overcomes this problem. The rotor and stator blades are made of transparent acrylic, and the working fluid has the same optical refractive index as the blades. A 64% by weight solution of sodium iodide in water is used for this purpose. This liquid has a kinematic viscosity of about 1.1×10-6 m2/s, which is almost the same as that of water enabling operation at high Reynolds numbers. Issues related to operating with this fluid such as chemical stability, variations in transmittance and solutions to these problems are discussed. This setup allows full optical access to the entire rotor and stator passages both to the laser sheet and the camera. The experiments are conducted at different streamwise locations covering the entire flow fields around the rotor, the stator, the gap between them, and the wakes behind. Vector maps of the instantaneous and phase-averaged flow fields as well as the distribution of turbulent kinetic energy are obtained. Measurements at different magnifications enable us to obtain an overview of the flow structure, as well as detailed velocity distributions in the boundary layers and in the wakes.

  14. Study on temperature measurement of gas turbine blade based on analysis of error caused by the reflected radiation and emission angle

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Dong; Feng, Chi; Gao, Shan; Chen, Liwei; Daniel, Ketui

    2018-06-01

    Accurate measurement of gas turbine blade temperature is of great significance as far as blade health monitoring is concerned. An important method for measuring this temperature is the use of a radiation pyrometer. In this research, error of the pyrometer caused by reflected radiation from the surfaces surrounding the target and the emission angle of the target was analyzed. Important parameters for this analysis were the view factor between interacting surfaces, spectral directional emissivity, pyrometer operating wavelength and the surface temperature distribution on the blades and the vanes. The interacting surface of the rotor blade and the vane models used were discretized using triangular surface elements from which contour integral was used to calculate the view factor between the surface elements. Spectral directional emissivities were obtained from an experimental setup of Ni based alloy samples. A pyrometer operating wavelength of 1.6 μm was chosen. Computational fluid dynamics software was used to simulate the temperature distribution of the rotor blade and the guide vane based on the actual gas turbine input parameters. Results obtained in this analysis show that temperature error introduced by reflected radiation and emission angle ranges from  ‑23 K to 49 K.

  15. KNOW-BLADE, task-3.2 report, tip shape study

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Soerensen, N.N.; Johansen, J.; Conway, S.; Voutsinas, S.; Hansen, M.O.L.; Stuermer, A.

    2005-01-01

    For modern rotor blades with their very large aspect ratio, the blade tip is a very limited part of the overall rotor, and as such of limited importance for the overall aerodynamics of the rotor. Even though they may not be very important for the overall power production, the tip noise can be very important for the acoustics of the rotor [15], and the blade tips can as well be important for the aerodynamic damping properties of the rotor blades [13]. Unfortunately, not many options exists for predicting the aerodynamic behavior of blade tips using computational methods. Experimentally it is dicult to perform detailed measurements in the form of pressure and velocity measurements in natural wind conditions on modern large scale turbines due to the inherent unsteadiness in the natural wind. The present study describes the application of four different Navier-Stokes solvers to tip shape studies, and shows that these codes are well suited to study the flow around different tip shape geometries, and can predict the pressure distributions at the blade tip quite accurately. (au)

  16. Performance of Savonius Blade Waterwheel with Variation of Blade Number

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sule, L.; Rompas, P. T. D.

    2018-02-01

    The utilization of water energy source is mainly used as a provider of electrical energy through hydroelectric power. The potential utilization of water flow energy is relatively small. The objective of this study is to know the best blade of Savonius waterwheel with various variables such as water discharge, blade number, and loading. The data used the efficiency of waterwheel, variation of blade number, variable water discharge, and loading in the shaft. The test results have shown that the performances of a top-water mill with the semicircular curve where the variation in the number of blades are 4, 6, and 8 at discharge and loading of 0.01587 m3/s and 1000 grams respectively were 9.945%, 13.929%, and 17.056% respectively. The blades number of 8 obtained the greatest performance. The more number of blades the greater the efficiency of the waterwheel Savonius.

  17. Experimental investigation on ultimate strength and failure response of composite box beams used in wind turbine blades

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Tang, Jing; Chen, Xiao

    2018-01-01

    This study focuses on the ultimate strength and failure response of composite box beams under three-point bending. The box beams consist of spar caps and shear webs and they are typically used in wind turbine blades as load-carrying members. Different spar cap configurations and loading directions...

  18. Structural Testing of the Blade Reliability Collaborative Effect of Defect Wind Turbine Blades

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Desmond, M. [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Hughes, S. [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Paquette, J. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

    2015-06-08

    Two 8.3-meter (m) wind turbine blades intentionally constructed with manufacturing flaws were tested to failure at the National Wind Technology Center (NWTC) at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) south of Boulder, Colorado. Two blades were tested; one blade was manufactured with a fiberglass spar cap and the second blade was manufactured with a carbon fiber spar cap. Test loading primarily consisted of flap fatigue loading of the blades, with one quasi-static ultimate load case applied to the carbon fiber spar cap blade. Results of the test program were intended to provide the full-scale test data needed for validation of model and coupon test results of the effect of defects in wind turbine blade composite materials. Testing was part of the Blade Reliability Collaborative (BRC) led by Sandia National Laboratories (SNL). The BRC seeks to develop a deeper understanding of the causes of unexpected blade failures (Paquette 2012), and to develop methods to enable blades to survive to their expected operational lifetime. Recent work in the BRC includes examining and characterizing flaws and defects known to exist in wind turbine blades from manufacturing processes (Riddle et al. 2011). Recent results from reliability databases show that wind turbine rotor blades continue to be a leading contributor to turbine downtime (Paquette 2012).

  19. Rotor blade online monitoring and fault diagnosis technology research

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Tesauro, Angelo; Pavese, Christian; Branner, Kim

    Rotor blade online monitoring and fault diagnosis technology is an important way to find blade failure mechanisms and thereby improve the blade design. Condition monitoring of rotor blades is necessary in order to ensure the safe operation of the wind turbine, make the maintenance more economical...... of the rotor, icing and lightning. Research is done throughout the world in order to develop and improve such measurement systems. Commercial hardware and software available for the described purpose is presented in the report....

  20. A new gaseous detector for tracking: The blade chamber

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ambrosi, G.; Battiston, R.; Levi, G.; Barillari, T.; Susinno, G.; Bergsma, F.; Contin, A.; Labbe, J.C.; Laurenti, G.; Mattern, D.; Simonet, G.; Williams, M.C.S.; Zichichi, A.; Boscherini, D.; Bruni, G.; De Pasquale, S.; Giusti, P.; Maccarrone, G.; Nania, R.; O'Shea, V.; Castro, H.; Galvez, J.; Rivera, F.; Schioppa, M.; Sharma, A.

    1990-01-01

    As part of the LAA project at CERN a prototype of a streamer-chamber in which a blade, instead of a wire, is used as the amplification electrode has been built. A big advantage is that the blade can be bent to follow a curve so that a chamber can be built with cells ideally matched to the geometry of the experiment. Moreover, a blade is very rugged, it can withstand severe mechanical shocks and it is also resistant to damage by sparks. The drift time has been measured and a spatial resolution of 250μm has been achieved. Left-right ambiguity can be solved by measuring the charge asymmetry on the walls. The coordinate along the blade is read by external pickup strips. (orig.)

  1. Measurement and Modelling of Multicopter UAS Rotor Blades in Hover

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nowicki, Nathalie

    2016-01-01

    Multicopters are becoming one of the more common and popular type of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) which have both civilian and military applications. One example being the concept of drone deliveries proposed by the distribution company Amazon [1]. The electrical propulsion is considered to have both faster and easier deliveries and also environmental benefits compared to other vehicles that still use fossil fuel. Other examples include surveillance and just simple entertainment. The reason behind their success is often said to be due to their small size, relatively low cost, simple structure and finally simple usage. With an increase in the UAS market comes challenges in terms of security, as both people and other aircrafts could be harmed if not used correctly. Therefore further studies and regulations are needed to ensure that future use of drones, especially in the civilian and public sectors, are safe and efficient. Thorough research has been done on full scale, man or cargo transporting, helicopters so that most parts of flight and performance are fairly well understood. Yet not much of it have been verified for small multicopters. Until today many studies and research projects have been done on the control systems, navigation and aerodynamics of multicopters. Many of the methods used today for building multicopters involve a process of trial an error of what will work well together, and once that is accomplished some structural analysis of the multicopter bodies might be done to verify that the product will be strong enough and have a decent aerodynamic performance. However, not much has been done on the research of the rotor blades, especially in terms of structural stress analyses and ways to ensure that the commonly used parts are indeed safe and follow safety measures. Some producers claim that their propellers indeed have been tested, but again that usually tends towards simple fluid dynamic analyses and even simpler stress analyses. There is no real

  2. Wind Turbine Blade

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    2010-01-01

    The invention relates to a blade for a wind turbine, particularly to a blade that may be produced by an advanced manufacturing process for producing a blade with high quality structural components. Particularly, the structural components, which are preferably manufactured from fibre reinforced...

  3. Design and fabrication of a wind turbine blade | Laryea | Ghana ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Dimensions and weights were measured to determine the possibilities of its performance. Factors that affect the spinning of the blade include the weight, blade count and its aerodynamic features. The new blades are assumed to be more reliable and efficient than wholly wood design. The calculated wind speed and power ...

  4. Bladed disc crack diagnostics using blade passage signals

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hanachi, Houman; Liu, Jie; Banerjee, Avisekh; Koul, Ashok; Liang, Ming; Alavi, Elham

    2012-12-01

    One of the major potential faults in a turbo fan engine is the crack initiation and propagation in bladed discs under cyclic loads that could result in the breakdown of the engines if not detected at an early stage. Reliable fault detection techniques are therefore in demand to reduce maintenance cost and prevent catastrophic failures. Although a number of approaches have been reported in the literature, it remains very challenging to develop a reliable technique to accurately estimate the health condition of a rotating bladed disc. Correspondingly, this paper presents a novel technique for bladed disc crack detection through two sequential signal processing stages: (1) signal preprocessing that aims to eliminate the noises in the blade passage signals; (2) signal postprocessing that intends to identify the crack location. In the first stage, physics-based modeling and interpretation are established to help characterize the noises. The crack initiation can be determined based on the calculated health monitoring index derived from the sinusoidal effects. In the second stage, the crack is located through advanced detrended fluctuation analysis of the preprocessed data. The proposed technique is validated using a set of spin rig test data (i.e. tip clearance and time of arrival) that was acquired during a test conducted on a bladed military engine fan disc. The test results have demonstrated that the developed technique is an effective approach for identifying and locating the incipient crack that occurs at the root of a bladed disc.

  5. Blade size and weight effects in shovel design.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Freivalds, A; Kim, Y J

    1990-03-01

    The shovel is a basic tool that has undergone only nominal systematic design changes. Although previous studies found shovel-weight and blade-size effects of shovelling, the exact trade-off between the two has not been quantified. Energy expenditure, heart rate, ratings of perceived exertion and shovelling performance were measured on five subjects using five shovels with varying blade sizes and weights to move sand. Energy expenditure, normalised to subject weight and load handled, varied quadratically with the blade-size/shovel-weight (B/W) ratio. Minimum energy cost was at B/W = 0.0676 m2/kg, which for an average subject and average load would require an acceptable 5.16 kcal/min of energy expenditure. Subjects, through the ratings of perceived exertion, also strongly preferred the lighter shovels without regard to blade size. Too large a blade or too heavy a shovel increased energy expenditure beyond acceptable levels, while too small a blade reduced efficiency of the shovelling.

  6. Intubation of prehospital patients with curved laryngoscope blade is more successful than with straight blade.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alter, Scott M; Haim, Eithan D; Sullivan, Alex H; Clayton, Lisa M

    2018-02-17

    Direct laryngoscopy can be performed using curved or straight blades, and providers usually choose the blade they are most comfortable with. However, curved blades are anecdotally thought of as easier to use than straight blades. We seek to compare intubation success rates of paramedics using curved versus straight blades. Design: retrospective chart review. hospital-based suburban ALS service with 20,000 annual calls. prehospital patients with any direct laryngoscopy intubation attempt over almost 9years. First attempt and overall success rates were calculated for attempts with curved and straight blades. Differences between the groups were calculated. 2299 patients were intubated by direct laryngoscopy. 1865 had attempts with a curved blade, 367 had attempts with a straight blade, and 67 had attempts with both. Baseline characteristics were similar between groups. First attempt success was 86% with a curved blade and 73% with a straight blade: a difference of 13% (95% CI: 9-17). Overall success was 96% with a curved blade and 81% with a straight blade: a difference of 15% (95% CI: 12-18). There was an average of 1.11 intubation attempts per patient with a curved blade and 1.13 attempts per patient with a straight blade (2% difference, 95% CI: -3-7). Our study found a significant difference in intubation success rates between laryngoscope blade types. Curved blades had higher first attempt and overall success rates when compared to straight blades. Paramedics should consider selecting a curved blade as their tool of choice to potentially improve intubation success. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  7. Structural damage identification in wind turbine blades using piezoelectric active sensing with ultrasonic validation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Claytor, Thomas N [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Ammerman, Curtt N [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Park, Gyu Hae [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Farinholt, Kevin M [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Farrar, Charles R [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Atterbury, Marie K [Los Alamos National Laboratory

    2010-01-01

    This paper gives a brief overview of a new project at LANL in structural damage identification for wind turbines. This project makes use of modeling capabilities and sensing technology to understand realistic blade loading on large turbine blades, with the goal of developing the technology needed to automatically detect early damage. Several structural health monitoring (SHM) techniques using piezoelectric active materials are being investigated for the development of wireless, low power sensors that interrogate sections of the wind turbine blade using Lamb wave propagation data, frequency response functions (FRFs), and time-series analysis methods. The modeling and sensor research will be compared with extensive experimental testing, including wind tunnel experiments, load and fatigue tests, and ultrasonic scans - on small- to mid-scale turbine blades. Furthermore, this study will investigate the effect of local damage on the global response of the blade by monitoring low-frequency response changes.

  8. An Architecture for On-Line Measurement of the Tip Clearance and Time of Arrival of a Bladed Disk of an Aircraft Engine

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    José Miguel Gil-García

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available Safety and performance of the turbo-engine in an aircraft is directly affected by the health of its blades. In recent years, several improvements to the sensors have taken place to monitor the blades in a non-intrusive way. The parameters that are usually measured are the distance between the blade tip and the casing, and the passing time at a given point. Simultaneously, several techniques have been developed that allow for the inference—from those parameters and under certain conditions—of the amplitude and frequency of the blade vibration. These measurements are carried out on engines set on a rig, before being installed in an airplane. In order to incorporate these methods during the regular operation of the engine, signal processing that allows for the monitoring of those parameters at all times should be developed. This article introduces an architecture, based on a trifurcated optic sensor and a hardware processor, that fulfills this need. The proposed architecture is scalable and allows several sensors to be simultaneously monitored at different points around a bladed disk. Furthermore, the results obtained by the electronic system will be compared with the results obtained by the validation of the optic sensor.

  9. Active Control of Parametric Vibrations in Coupled Rotor-Blade Systems

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Christensen, Rene Hardam; Santos, Ilmar

    2003-01-01

    of modes. The designed control scheme is applied to a coupled rotor-blade system and dynamic responses are numerically evaluated. Such responses show that the vibrations are efficiently reduced. Frequency response diagrams demonstrate that both basis and parametric vibration modes are significantly...... the model becomes periodic-variant. In order to reduce basis as well as parametric vibrations by means of active control in such systems a time-variant control strategy has to be adopted. This paper presents a methodology for designing an active controller to reduce vibrations in a coupled rotor......-blade system. The main aim is to control blade as well as hub vibrations in such a system by means of active control with focus on reducing the parametric vibration. A periodic state feedback controller is designed by transforming the system into a linear time-invariant form. Using this a controller...

  10. Vortex-induced vibrations on a modern wind turbine blade

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Heinz, Joachim Christian; Sørensen, Niels N.; Zahle, Frederik

    2016-01-01

    This article investigates the aero-elastic response of the DTU 10-MW RWT blade in deep stall conditions with angles of attack in the vicinity of 90 degrees. The simulations were conducted with the high-fidelity fluid–structure interaction simulation tool HAWC2CFD employing the multi......-body-based structural model of HAWC2 and the incompressible computational fluid dynamics solver EllipSys3D. The study utilizes detached eddy simulation computations and considers the three-dimensional blade geometry including blade twist and taper. A preliminary frequency analysis of the load variations on a stiff....... Aero-elastic computations of the elastic blade confirmed the findings of the frequency analysis. Inflow conditions with inclination angles between Ψ = 20° and Ψ = 55° and relatively low to moderate wind speeds between V = 16 and V = 26 m s-1 were sufficient to trigger severe edgewise blade vibrations...

  11. Stiffness Characteristics of Composite Rotor Blades With Elastic Couplings

    Science.gov (United States)

    Piatak, David J.; Nixon, Mark W.; Kosmatka, John B.

    1997-01-01

    Recent studies on rotor aeroelastic response and stability have shown the beneficial effects of incorporating elastic couplings in composite rotor blades. However, none of these studies have clearly identified elastic coupling limits and the effects of elastic couplings on classical beam stiffnesses of representative rotor blades. Knowledge of these limits and effects would greatly enhance future aeroelastic studies involving composite rotor blades. The present study addresses these voids and provides a preliminary design database for investigators who may wish to study the effects of elastic couplings on representative blade designs. The results of the present study should provide a basis for estimating the potential benefits associated with incorporating elastic couplings without the need for first designing a blade cross section and then performing a cross-section analysis to obtain the required beam section properties as is customary in the usual one-dimensional beam-type approach.

  12. Turbomachine blade reinforcement

    Science.gov (United States)

    Garcia Crespo, Andres Jose

    2016-09-06

    Embodiments of the present disclosure include a system having a turbomachine blade segment including a blade and a mounting segment coupled to the blade, wherein the mounting segment has a plurality of reinforcement pins laterally extending at least partially through a neck of the mounting segment.

  13. A laser-optical sensor system for blade vibration detection of high-speed compressors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Neumann, Mathias; Dreier, Florian; Günther, Philipp; Wilke, Ulrich; Fischer, Andreas; Büttner, Lars; Holzinger, Felix; Schiffer, Heinz-Peter; Czarske, Jürgen

    2015-12-01

    Improved efficiency as well as increased lifetime of turbines and compressors are important goals in turbomachinery development. A significant enhancement to accomplish these aims can be seen in online monitoring of the operating parameters of the machines. During the operation of compressors it is of high interest to predict critical events like flutter or stall which can be achieved by observing blade deformations and vibrations. We have developed a laser Doppler distance sensor (LDDS), which is capable of simultaneously measuring the radial blade expansions, the circumferential blade deflections as well as the circumferential velocities of the rotor blade tips. As a result, an increase of blade vibrations is measured before stall at characteristic frequencies. While the detected vibration frequencies and the vibration increase are in agreement with the measurement results of a commercial capacitive blade tip timing system, the measured values of the vibration amplitudes differ by a factor of three. This difference can be mainly attributed to the different measurement locations and to the different measurement approaches. Since the LDDS is applicable to metal as well as ceramic, carbon-fiber and glass-fiber reinforced composite blades, a universally applicable sensor system for stall prediction and status monitoring is presented.

  14. UWB Wind Turbine Blade Deflection Sensing for Wind Energy Cost Reduction

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Zhang, Shuai; Jensen, Tobias Lindstrøm; Franek, Ondrej

    2015-01-01

    A new application of utilizing ultra-wideband (UWB) technology to sense wind turbine blade deflections is introduced in this paper for wind energy cost reduction. The lower UWB band of 3.1–5.3 GHz is applied. On each blade, there will be one UWB blade deflection sensing system, which consists...... is always of sufficient quality for accurate estimations under different deflections. The measured results reveal that the blade tip-root distance and blade deflection can be accurately estimated in the complicated and lossy wireless channels around a wind turbine blade. Some future research topics...

  15. Estimation of internal heat transfer coefficients and detection of rib positions in gas turbine blades from transient surface temperature measurements

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Heidrich, P; Wolfersdorf, J v; Schmidt, S; Schnieder, M

    2008-01-01

    This paper describes a non-invasive, non-destructive, transient inverse measurement technique that allows one to determine internal heat transfer coefficients and rib positions of real gas turbine blades from outer surface temperature measurements after a sudden flow heating. The determination of internal heat transfer coefficients is important during the design process to adjust local heat transfer to spatial thermal load. The detection of rib positions is important during production to fulfill design and quality requirements. For the analysis the one-dimensional transient heat transfer problem inside of the turbine blade's wall was solved. This solution was combined with the Levenberg-Marquardt method to estimate the unknown boundary condition by an inverse technique. The method was tested with artificial data to determine uncertainties with positive results. Then experimental testing with a reference model was carried out. Based on the results, it is concluded that the presented inverse technique could be used to determine internal heat transfer coefficients and to detect rib positions of real turbine blades.

  16. Methodology for wind turbine blade geometry optimization

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Perfiliev, D.

    2013-11-01

    Nowadays, the upwind three bladed horizontal axis wind turbine is the leading player on the market. It has been found to be the best industrial compromise in the range of different turbine constructions. The current wind industry innovation is conducted in the development of individual turbine components. The blade constitutes 20-25% of the overall turbine budget. Its optimal operation in particular local economic and wind conditions is worth investigating. The blade geometry, namely the chord, twist and airfoil type distributions along the span, responds to the output measures of the blade performance. Therefore, the optimal wind blade geometry can improve the overall turbine performance. The objectives of the dissertation are focused on the development of a methodology and specific tool for the investigation of possible existing wind blade geometry adjustments. The novelty of the methodology presented in the thesis is the multiobjective perspective on wind blade geometry optimization, particularly taking simultaneously into account the local wind conditions and the issue of aerodynamic noise emissions. The presented optimization objective approach has not been investigated previously for the implementation in wind blade design. The possibilities to use different theories for the analysis and search procedures are investigated and sufficient arguments derived for the usage of proposed theories. The tool is used for the test optimization of a particular wind turbine blade. The sensitivity analysis shows the dependence of the outputs on the provided inputs, as well as its relative and absolute divergences and instabilities. The pros and cons of the proposed technique are seen from the practical implementation, which is documented in the results, analysis and conclusion sections. (orig.)

  17. Damage Detection Based on Static Strain Responses Using FBG in a Wind Turbine Blade.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tian, Shaohua; Yang, Zhibo; Chen, Xuefeng; Xie, Yong

    2015-08-14

    The damage detection of a wind turbine blade enables better operation of the turbines, and provides an early alert to the destroyed events of the blade in order to avoid catastrophic losses. A new non-baseline damage detection method based on the Fiber Bragg grating (FBG) in a wind turbine blade is developed in this paper. Firstly, the Chi-square distribution is proven to be an effective damage-sensitive feature which is adopted as the individual information source for the local decision. In order to obtain the global and optimal decision for the damage detection, the feature information fusion (FIF) method is proposed to fuse and optimize information in above individual information sources, and the damage is detected accurately through of the global decision. Then a 13.2 m wind turbine blade with the distributed strain sensor system is adopted to describe the feasibility of the proposed method, and the strain energy method (SEM) is used to describe the advantage of the proposed method. Finally results show that the proposed method can deliver encouraging results of the damage detection in the wind turbine blade.

  18. Reactivity worth measurement of the control blades of the University of Florida training reactor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Quintero-Leyva, Barbaro

    1997-01-01

    A series of experiments were carried out in order to measure the reactivity worth of the safety and regulating blades of the University of Florida Training Reactor (UFTR) using the Inverse Kinetics, the Inverse Kinetics-Rod Drop method and the Power Ratio. The reactor's own instrumentation (compensated ion chamber) and an independent counting system (fission chamber) were used. A very smooth exponential decay of the flux was observed after 6s of the beginning of the transients using the reading of the reactor detector. The results of the measurements of the reactivity using both detectors were consistent and in good agreement. The compensated ion chamber showed a very smooth exponential behavior; this suggests that if we could record the power for a small sample time, say 0.1 s from the beginning of the transient, several additional research projects could be accomplished. First, precise intercomparison of the methods could be achieved if the statistics level is acceptable. Second, a precise description of the bouncing of the blades and its effects on the reactivity could be achieved. Finally, the design of a reactivity-meter could be based on such study. (author)

  19. On damage diagnosis for a wind turbine blade using pattern recognition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dervilis, N.; Choi, M.; Taylor, S. G.; Barthorpe, R. J.; Park, G.; Farrar, C. R.; Worden, K.

    2014-03-01

    With the increased interest in implementation of wind turbine power plants in remote areas, structural health monitoring (SHM) will be one of the key cards in the efficient establishment of wind turbines in the energy arena. Detection of blade damage at an early stage is a critical problem, as blade failure can lead to a catastrophic outcome for the entire wind turbine system. Experimental measurements from vibration analysis were extracted from a 9 m CX-100 blade by researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) throughout a full-scale fatigue test conducted at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and National Wind Technology Center (NWTC). The blade was harmonically excited at its first natural frequency using a Universal Resonant EXcitation (UREX) system. In the current study, machine learning algorithms based on Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs), including an Auto-Associative Neural Network (AANN) based on a standard ANN form and a novel approach to auto-association with Radial Basis Functions (RBFs) networks are used, which are optimised for fast and efficient runs. This paper introduces such pattern recognition methods into the wind energy field and attempts to address the effectiveness of such methods by combining vibration response data with novelty detection techniques.

  20. Pitched Blade Turbine Efficiency at Particle Suspension

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    D. Ceres

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available Mixing suspensions is a very important hydraulic operation. The pitched six-blade turbine is a widely-used axial-flow impeller. This paper deals with effect relative impeller size and particle content on theefficiency of a pitched six-blade turbine at particle suspension. Two pitched six-blade turbines were used in model measurements of just suspension impeller speed. The ratios of the vessel to agitator diameter D/d were 3 and 4.5. The measurements were carried out in a dish-bottomed vessel 300 mm in diameter. The just suspension impeller speeds were measured using an electrochemical method, and were checked visually. A 2.5 % NaCl water solution was used as the liquid phase, and glass particles with four equivalent diameters between 0.18 and 0.89 mmand volumetric concentration from 2.5 % to 40% were usedasthesolid phase. The criterion values πs=Po√Fr'3(d/D7 were calculated from the particle suspension and power consumption measurements. The dependencies of πs on particle content cv show that larger agitators are more efficient for higher particle content.

  1. Rocket Engine Turbine Blade Surface Pressure Distributions Experiment and Computations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hudson, Susan T.; Zoladz, Thomas F.; Dorney, Daniel J.; Turner, James (Technical Monitor)

    2002-01-01

    Understanding the unsteady aspects of turbine rotor flow fields is critical to successful future turbine designs. A technology program was conducted at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center to increase the understanding of unsteady environments for rocket engine turbines. The experimental program involved instrumenting turbine rotor blades with miniature surface mounted high frequency response pressure transducers. The turbine model was then tested to measure the unsteady pressures on the rotor blades. The data obtained from the experimental program is unique in two respects. First, much more unsteady data was obtained (several minutes per set point) than has been possible in the past. Also, an extensive steady performance database existed for the turbine model. This allowed an evaluation of the effect of the on-blade instrumentation on the turbine's performance. A three-dimensional unsteady Navier-Stokes analysis was also used to blindly predict the unsteady flow field in the turbine at the design operating conditions and at +15 degrees relative incidence to the first-stage rotor. The predicted time-averaged and unsteady pressure distributions show good agreement with the experimental data. This unique data set, the lessons learned for acquiring this type of data, and the improvements made to the data analysis and prediction tools are contributing significantly to current Space Launch Initiative turbine airflow test and blade surface pressure prediction efforts.

  2. A Long-Period Grating Sensor for Wind Turbine Blades

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Glavind, Lars

    This PhD project concerns the applied research for providing a novel sensor for measurements on wind turbine blades, based on Long-Period Gratings. The idea is based on the utilization of a special asymmetrical optical fibre with Long-Period Gratings for directional sensitive bend sensing...... blade material, where a suitable process and recoating material were investigated. The sensor was implemented and tested on a full scale wind turbine blade placed on a test rig. This first prototype has demonstrated the capability of the sensor for wind turbine blade monitoring, particular...... the possibility to distinguish between the flap- and edge-wise bend directions on the wind turbine blade, providing a selective sensor. The sensor has proven to be very robust and suitable for this application....

  3. Turbomachine blade assembly

    Science.gov (United States)

    Garcia Crespo, Andres Jose

    2016-11-01

    Embodiments of the present disclosure include a system comprising a turbomachine blade assembly having a blade portion, a shank portion, and a mounting portion, wherein the blade portion, the shank portion, and the mounting portion comprise a first plurality of plies extending from a tip of the airfoil to a base of the dovetail.

  4. Contact Versus Non-Contact Measurement of a Helicopter Main Rotor Composite Blade

    Science.gov (United States)

    Luczak, Marcin; Dziedziech, Kajetan; Vivolo, Marianna; Desmet, Wim; Peeters, Bart; Van der Auweraer, Herman

    2010-05-01

    The dynamic characterization of lightweight structures is particularly complex as the impact of the weight of sensors and instrumentation (cables, mounting of exciters…) can distort the results. Varying mass loading or constraint effects between partial measurements may determine several errors on the final conclusions. Frequency shifts can lead to erroneous interpretations of the dynamics parameters. Typically these errors remain limited to a few percent. Inconsistent data sets however can result in major processing errors, with all related consequences towards applications based on the consistency assumption, such as global modal parameter identification, model-based damage detection and FRF-based matrix inversion in substructuring, load identification and transfer path analysis [1]. This paper addresses the subject of accuracy in the context of the measurement of the dynamic properties of a particular lightweight structure. It presents a comprehensive comparative study between the use of accelerometer, laser vibrometer (scanning LDV) and PU-probe (acoustic particle velocity and pressure) measurements to measure the structural responses, with as final aim the comparison of modal model quality assessment. The object of the investigation is a composite material blade from the main rotor of a helicopter. The presented results are part of an extensive test campaign performed with application of SIMO, MIMO, random and harmonic excitation, and the use of the mentioned contact and non-contact measurement techniques. The advantages and disadvantages of the applied instrumentation are discussed. Presented are real-life measurement problems related to the different set up conditions. Finally an analysis of estimated models is made in view of assessing the applicability of the various measurement approaches for successful fault detection based on modal parameters observation as well as in uncertain non-deterministic numerical model updating.

  5. Contact Versus Non-Contact Measurement of a Helicopter Main Rotor Composite Blade

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Luczak, Marcin; Dziedziech, Kajetan; Peeters, Bart; Van der Auweraer, Herman; Vivolo, Marianna; Desmet, Wim

    2010-01-01

    The dynamic characterization of lightweight structures is particularly complex as the impact of the weight of sensors and instrumentation (cables, mounting of exciters...) can distort the results. Varying mass loading or constraint effects between partial measurements may determine several errors on the final conclusions. Frequency shifts can lead to erroneous interpretations of the dynamics parameters. Typically these errors remain limited to a few percent. Inconsistent data sets however can result in major processing errors, with all related consequences towards applications based on the consistency assumption, such as global modal parameter identification, model-based damage detection and FRF-based matrix inversion in substructuring, load identification and transfer path analysis [1]. This paper addresses the subject of accuracy in the context of the measurement of the dynamic properties of a particular lightweight structure. It presents a comprehensive comparative study between the use of accelerometer, laser vibrometer (scanning LDV) and PU-probe (acoustic particle velocity and pressure) measurements to measure the structural responses, with as final aim the comparison of modal model quality assessment. The object of the investigation is a composite material blade from the main rotor of a helicopter. The presented results are part of an extensive test campaign performed with application of SIMO, MIMO, random and harmonic excitation, and the use of the mentioned contact and non-contact measurement techniques. The advantages and disadvantages of the applied instrumentation are discussed. Presented are real-life measurement problems related to the different set up conditions. Finally an analysis of estimated models is made in view of assessing the applicability of the various measurement approaches for successful fault detection based on modal parameters observation as well as in uncertain non-deterministic numerical model updating.

  6. Metallurgy of gas turbine blades with integral shroud and its influence on blades performance

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mazur, Z.; Marino, C.; Kubiak, J.

    1999-01-01

    The influence of the microstructure of the gas turbine blades with integral shroud on the blades performance is presented. The analysis of the solidification process of the gas turbine blades during conventionally casting process (equiaxed grains) with all elements which has influence on the mode of its solidification and variation of the microstructure is carried out. Also, the evaluation of the failure of the gas turbine blade is present. A detailed analysis of the blade tip shroud microstructure (presence of the equiaxed and columnar grains) and its influence on the failure initiation and propagation is carried out. Finally, conclusions and some necessary improvements of the blades casting process to prevent blades failures are presented. (Author) 2 refs

  7. Accelerated fatigue testing of LM 19.1 blades

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kristensen, Ole Jesper Dahl; Jørgensen, E.

    2003-01-01

    A series of 19.1 metre wind turbine blades manufactured by LM Glasfiber A/S of Lunderskov, Denmark were subjected to a series of flapwise fatigue tests. The object of these fatigue tests is to evaluate the impact of an increased load on the blade in afatigue test and to give information...... if it is possible to increase the load in fatigue test to shorten test time. The tests were carried out as a part of a project financed by the Danish Energy Agency. During the fatigue tests the blades have beensurveyed with thermal imaging equipment to determine how an increase in fatigue load affects the blade...... material. In addition to the thermal imaging surveillance the blades were instrumented with strain gauges. This report presents the temperature duringtest, calibration test results, moment range measurements, strain statistics, thermal imaging registrations and a determination of the size and cause...

  8. BWR control blade replacement strategies

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kennard, M W [Stoller Nuclear Fuel, NAC International, Pleasantville, NY (United States); Harbottle, J E [Stoller Nuclear Fuel, NAC International, Thornbury, Bristol (United Kingdom)

    2000-02-01

    The reactivity control elements in a BWR, the control blades, perform three significant functions: provide shutdown margin during normal and accident operating conditions; provide overall core reactivity control; and provide axial power shaping control. As such, the blades are exposed to the core's neutron flux, resulting in irradiation of blade structural and absorber materials. Since the absorber depletes with time (if B{sub 4}C is used, it also swells) and the structural components undergo various degradation mechanisms (e.g., embrittlement, corrosion), the blades have limits on their operational lifetimes. Consequently, BWR utilities have implemented strategies that aim to maximize blade lifetimes while balancing operational costs, such as extending a refuelling outage to shuffle high exposure blades. This paper examines the blade replacement strategies used by BWR utilities operating in US, Europe and Asia by assembling information related to: the utility's specific blade replacement strategy; the impact the newer blade designs and changes in core operating mode were having on those strategies; the mechanical and nuclear limits that determined those strategies; the methods employed to ensure that lifetime limits were not exceeded during operation; and blade designs used (current and replacement blades). (author)

  9. BWR control blade replacement strategies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kennard, M.W.; Harbottle, J.E.

    2000-01-01

    The reactivity control elements in a BWR, the control blades, perform three significant functions: provide shutdown margin during normal and accident operating conditions; provide overall core reactivity control; and provide axial power shaping control. As such, the blades are exposed to the core's neutron flux, resulting in irradiation of blade structural and absorber materials. Since the absorber depletes with time (if B 4 C is used, it also swells) and the structural components undergo various degradation mechanisms (e.g., embrittlement, corrosion), the blades have limits on their operational lifetimes. Consequently, BWR utilities have implemented strategies that aim to maximize blade lifetimes while balancing operational costs, such as extending a refuelling outage to shuffle high exposure blades. This paper examines the blade replacement strategies used by BWR utilities operating in US, Europe and Asia by assembling information related to: the utility's specific blade replacement strategy; the impact the newer blade designs and changes in core operating mode were having on those strategies; the mechanical and nuclear limits that determined those strategies; the methods employed to ensure that lifetime limits were not exceeded during operation; and blade designs used (current and replacement blades). (author)

  10. Modal properties and stability of bend–twist coupled wind turbine blades

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. R. Stäblein

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available Coupling between bending and twist has a significant influence on the aeroelastic response of wind turbine blades. The coupling can arise from the blade geometry (e.g. sweep, prebending, or deflection under load or from the anisotropic properties of the blade material. Bend–twist coupling can be utilized to reduce the fatigue loads of wind turbine blades. In this study the effects of material-based coupling on the aeroelastic modal properties and stability limits of the DTU 10 MW Reference Wind Turbine are investigated. The modal properties are determined by means of eigenvalue analysis around a steady-state equilibrium using the aero-servo-elastic tool HAWCStab2 which has been extended by a beam element that allows for fully coupled cross-sectional properties. Bend–twist coupling is introduced in the cross-sectional stiffness matrix by means of coupling coefficients that introduce twist for flapwise (flap–twist coupling or edgewise (edge–twist coupling bending. Edge–twist coupling can increase or decrease the damping of the edgewise mode relative to the reference blade, depending on the operational condition of the turbine. Edge–twist to feather coupling for edgewise deflection towards the leading edge reduces the inflow speed at which the blade becomes unstable. Flap–twist to feather coupling for flapwise deflections towards the suction side increase the frequency and reduce damping of the flapwise mode. Flap–twist to stall reduces frequency and increases damping. The reduction of blade root flapwise and tower bottom fore–aft moments due to variations in mean wind speed of a flap–twist to feather blade are confirmed by frequency response functions.

  11. Wireless Inductive Power Device Suppresses Blade Vibrations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morrison, Carlos R.; Provenza, Andrew J.; Choi, Benjamin B.; Bakhle, Milind A.; Min, James B.; Stefko, George L.; Duffy, Kirsten P.; Fougers, Alan J.

    2011-01-01

    Vibration in turbomachinery can cause blade failures and leads to the use of heavier, thicker blades that result in lower aerodynamic efficiency and increased noise. Metal and/or composite fatigue in the blades of jet engines has resulted in blade destruction and loss of lives. Techniques for suppressing low-frequency blade vibration, such as gtuned circuit resistive dissipation of vibratory energy, h or simply "passive damping," can require electronics incorporating coils of unwieldy dimensions and adding unwanted weight to the rotor. Other approaches, using vibration-dampening devices or damping material, could add undesirable weight to the blades or hub, making them less efficient. A wireless inductive power device (WIPD) was designed, fabricated, and developed for use in the NASA Glenn's "Dynamic Spin Rig" (DSR) facility. The DSR is used to simulate the functionality of turbomachinery. The relatively small and lightweight device [10 lb (approx.=4.5 kg)] replaces the existing venerable and bulky slip-ring. The goal is the eventual integration of this technology into actual turbomachinery such as jet engines or electric power generators, wherein the device will facilitate the suppression of potentially destructive vibrations in fan blades. This technology obviates slip rings, which require cooling and can prove unreliable or be problematic over time. The WIPD consists of two parts: a remote element, which is positioned on the rotor and provides up to 100 W of electrical power to thin, lightweight piezoelectric patches strategically placed on/in fan blades; and a stationary base unit that wirelessly communicates with the remote unit. The base unit supplies inductive power, and also acts as an input and output corridor for wireless measurement, and active control command to the remote unit. Efficient engine operation necessitates minimal disturbance to the gas flow across the turbine blades in any effort to moderate blade vibration. This innovation makes it

  12. CX-100 and TX-100 blade field tests.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Holman, Adam (USDA-Agriculture Research Service, Bushland, TX); Jones, Perry L.; Zayas, Jose R.

    2005-12-01

    In support of the DOE Low Wind Speed Turbine (LWST) program two of the three Micon 65/13M wind turbines at the USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) center in Bushland, Texas will be used to test two sets of experimental blades, the CX-100 and TX-100. The blade aerodynamic and structural characterization, meteorological inflow and wind turbine structural response will be monitored with an array of 75 instruments: 33 to characterize the blades, 15 to characterize the inflow, and 27 to characterize the time-varying state of the turbine. For both tests, data will be sampled at a rate of 30 Hz using the ATLAS II (Accurate GPS Time-Linked Data Acquisition System) data acquisition system. The system features a time-synchronized continuous data stream and telemetered data from the turbine rotor. This paper documents the instruments and infrastructure that have been developed to monitor these blades, turbines and inflow.

  13. Demonstration of partial pitch 2-bladed wind turbine

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kim, Taeseong; Zahle, Frederik; Troldborg, Niels

    -sections on the blade as well as fully resolved rotor simulations, and finally simulations coupling HAWC2 with EllipSys3D, investigating the behaviors of the rotor at standstill, has been performed. For the WP3, the state-of-the art aeroelastic analysis tool, HAWC2, has been updated in order to consider the partial......This is the final report for the EUDP project performed from January 2012 to December 2015. The main objective for the project was to demonstrate the potential of the partial pitch two-bladed (PP-2B) technology. DTU Wind Energy took a responsibility for three workpackages (WPs) among 6 WPs which...... were aerodynamic evaluation of partial pitch technology (WP2), aeroelastic analysis of two-bladed turbine (WP3) and On-site testing (WP4). For the WP2, a comprehensive set of 3D CFD simulations including the gap between inner and outer part of the blade and vortex generators (VGs) of both cross...

  14. Database about blade faults

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Branner, Kim; Ghadirian, Amin

    This report deals with the importance of measuring the reliability of the rotor blades and describing how they can fail. The Challenge is that very little non-confidential data is available and that the quality and detail in the data is limited....

  15. Influence of pitch, twist, and taper on a blade`s performance loss due to roughness

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tangler, J.L. [National Renewable Energy Lab., Golden, CO (United States)

    1996-12-31

    The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of blade geometric parameters such as pitch, twist, and taper on a blade`s sensitivity to leading edge roughness. The approach began with an evaluation of available test data of performance degradation due to roughness effects for several rotors. In addition to airfoil geometry, this evaluation suggested that a rotor`s sensitivity to roughness was also influenced by the blade geometric parameters. Parametric studies were conducted using the PROP computer code with wind-tunnel airfoil characteristics for smooth and rough surface conditions to quantify the performance loss due to roughness for tapered and twisted blades relative to a constant-chord, non-twisted blade at several blade pitch angles. The results indicate that a constant-chord, non-twisted blade pitched toward stall will have the greatest losses due to roughness. The use of twist, taper, and positive blade pitch angles all help reduce the angle-of-attack distribution along the blade for a given wind speed and the associated performance degradation due to roughness. 8 refs., 6 figs.

  16. Influence of pitch, twist, and taper on a blade`s performance loss due to roughness

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tangler, J.L. [National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, Colorado (United States)

    1997-08-01

    The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of blade geometric parameters such as pitch, twist, and taper on a blade`s sensitivity to leading edge roughness. The approach began with an evaluation of available test data of performance degradation due to roughness effects for several rotors. In addition to airfoil geometry, this evaluation suggested that a rotor`s sensitivity to roughness was also influenced by the blade geometric parameters. Parametric studies were conducted using the PROP computer code with wind-tunnel airfoil characteristics for smooth and rough surface conditions to quantify the performance loss due to roughness for tapered and twisted blades relative to a constant-chord, non-twisted blade at several blade pitch angles. The results indicate that a constant-chord, non-twisted blade pitched toward stall will have the greatest losses due to roughness. The use of twist, taper, and positive blade pitch angles all help reduce the angle-of-attack distribution along the blade for a given wind speed and the associated performance degradation due to roughness. (au)

  17. Online monitoring of dynamic tip clearance of turbine blades in high temperature environments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Han, Yu; Zhong, Chong; Zhu, Xiaoliang; Zhe, Jiang

    2018-04-01

    Minimized tip clearance reduces the gas leakage over turbine blade tips and improves the thrust and efficiency of turbomachinery. An accurate tip clearance sensor, measuring the dynamic clearances between blade tips and the turbine case, is a critical component for tip clearance control. This paper presents a robust inductive tip clearance sensor capable of monitoring dynamic tip clearances of turbine machines in high-temperature environments and at high rotational speeds. The sensor can also self-sense the temperature at a blade tip in situ such that temperature effect on tip clearance measurement can be estimated and compensated. To evaluate the sensor’s performance, the sensor was tested for measuring the tip clearances of turbine blades under various working temperatures ranging from 700 K to 1300 K and at turbine rotational speeds ranging from 3000 to 10 000 rpm. The blade tip clearance was varied from 50 to 2000 µm. The experiment results proved that the sensor can accurately measure the blade tip clearances with a temporal resolution of 10 µm. The capability of accurately measuring the tip clearances at high temperatures (~1300 K) and high turbine rotation speeds (~30 000 rpm), along with its compact size, makes it promising for online monitoring and active control of blade tip clearances of high-temperature turbomachinery.

  18. Aeroelastic Analysis of Helicopter Rotor Blades Incorporating Anisotropic Piezoelectric Twist Actuation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wilkie, W. Keats; Belvin, W. Keith; Park, K. C.

    1996-01-01

    A simple aeroelastic analysis of a helicopter rotor blade incorporating embedded piezoelectric fiber composite, interdigitated electrode blade twist actuators is described. The analysis consists of a linear torsion and flapwise bending model coupled with a nonlinear ONERA based unsteady aerodynamics model. A modified Galerkin procedure is performed upon the rotor blade partial differential equations of motion to develop a system of ordinary differential equations suitable for dynamics simulation using numerical integration. The twist actuation responses for three conceptual fullscale blade designs with realistic constraints on blade mass are numerically evaluated using the analysis. Numerical results indicate that useful amplitudes of nonresonant elastic twist, on the order of one to two degrees, are achievable under one-g hovering flight conditions for interdigitated electrode poling configurations. Twist actuation for the interdigitated electrode blades is also compared with the twist actuation of a conventionally poled piezoelectric fiber composite blade. Elastic twist produced using the interdigitated electrode actuators was found to be four to five times larger than that obtained with the conventionally poled actuators.

  19. Helicopter Rotor Blade Computation in Unsteady Flows Using Moving Overset Grids

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ahmad, Jasim; Duque, Earl P. N.

    1996-01-01

    An overset grid thin-layer Navier-Stokes code has been extended to include dynamic motion of helicopter rotor blades through relative grid motion. The unsteady flowfield and airloads on an AH-IG rotor in forward flight were computed to verify the methodology and to demonstrate the method's potential usefulness towards comprehensive helicopter codes. In addition, the method uses the blade's first harmonics measured in the flight test to prescribe the blade motion. The solution was impulsively started and became periodic in less than three rotor revolutions. Detailed unsteady numerical flow visualization techniques were applied to the entire unsteady data set of five rotor revolutions and exhibited flowfield features such as blade vortex interaction and wake roll-up. The unsteady blade loads and surface pressures compare well against those from flight measurements. Details of the method, a discussion of the resulting predicted flowfield, and requirements for future work are presented. Overall, given the proper blade dynamics, this method can compute the unsteady flowfield of a general helicopter rotor in forward flight.

  20. Experimental Study of under-platform Damper Kinematics in Presence of Blade Dynamics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Botto, D.; Gastaldi, C.; Gola, M. M.; Umer, M.

    2018-01-01

    Among the different devices used in the aerospace industries under-platform dampers are widely used in turbo engines to mitigate the blade vibration. Nevertheless, the damper behaviour is not easy to simulate and engineers have been working in order to improve the accuracy with which theoretical contact models predict the damper behaviour. Majority of the experimental setups collect experimental data in terms of blade amplitude reduction which do not increase the knowledge about the damper dynamics and therefore the uncertainty on the damper behaviour remains a big issue. In this paper, a novel test rig has been purposely designed to accommodate a single blade and two under-platform dampers to deeply investigate the damper-blade interactions. In this test bench, a contact force measuring system was designed to extensively measure the damper contact forces. Damper kinematics is rebuilt by using the relative displacement measured between damper and blade. This paper describes the concept behind the new approach, shows the details of new test rig and discusses experimental results by comparing with previously measured results on an old experimental setup.

  1. Vibration-based SHM System: Application to Wind Turbine Blades

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Tcherniak, D.; Mølgaard, Lasse Lohilahti

    2015-01-01

    propagate along the blade and are measured by an array of accelerometers. Unsupervised learning is applied to the data: the vibration patterns corresponding to the undamaged blade are used to create a statistical model of the reference state. During the detection stage, the current vibration pattern...

  2. Blade attachment assembly

    Science.gov (United States)

    Garcia-Crespo, Andres Jose; Delvaux, John McConnell; Miller, Diane Patricia

    2016-05-03

    An assembly and method for affixing a turbomachine rotor blade to a rotor wheel are disclosed. In an embodiment, an adaptor member is provided disposed between the blade and the rotor wheel, the adaptor member including an adaptor attachment slot that is complementary to the blade attachment member, and an adaptor attachment member that is complementary to the rotor wheel attachment slot. A coverplate is provided, having a coverplate attachment member that is complementary to the rotor wheel attachment slot, and a hook for engaging the adaptor member. When assembled, the coverplate member matingly engages with the adaptor member, and retains the blade in the adaptor member, and the assembly in the rotor wheel.

  3. Observations of dynamic stall on Darrieus wind turbine blades

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Fujisawa, N.; Shibuya, S. [Department of Mechanical and Production Engineering, Niigata University, 8050 Ikarashi 2, 950-2181 Niigata (Japan)

    2001-02-01

    Flow field around a Darrieus wind turbine blade in dynamic stall is studied by flow visualization and particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurement in stationary and rotating frames of reference. The experiment is carried out using the small-scale Darrieus wind turbine in a water tunnel. The unsteady nature of the dynamic stall observed by the flow visualization is quantitatively reproduced in the instantaneous velocity distributions by PIV measurement, which describes the successive shedding of two pairs of stall vortices from the blade moving upstream. The mechanism of dynamic stall is due to the successive generation of separation on the inner surface of the blade followed by the formation of roll-up vortices from the outer surface. Although the qualitative nature of the dynamic stall is independent of the tip-speed ratios, the blade angle for stall appearance and the growth rate of the stall vortices are influenced by the change in tip-speed ratios.

  4. Full scale test SSP 34m blade, combined load. Data report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nielsen, Per H.; Nielsen, Magda; Jensen, Find M. (and others)

    2010-11-15

    This report is part of the research project where a 34m wind turbine blade from SSP-Technology A/S was tested in combined flap and edgewise load. The applied load is 55% of an imaginary extreme event based on the certification load of the blade. This report describes the reason for choosing the loads and the load direction and the method of applying the loads to the blade. A novel load introduction allows the blade to deform in a more realistic manner, allowing the observation of e.g. transverse shear distortion. The global and local deformation of the blade as well as the blades' respond to repeated tests has been studied and the result from these investigations are presented, including the measurements performed. (Author)

  5. In-flight measurements of propeller blade deformation on a VUT100 cobra aeroplane using a co-rotating camera system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boden, F.; Stasicki, B.; Szypuła, M.; Ružička, P.; Tvrdik, Z.; Ludwikowski, K.

    2016-07-01

    Knowledge of propeller or rotor blade behaviour under real operating conditions is crucial for optimizing the performance of a propeller or rotor system. A team of researchers, technicians and engineers from Avia Propeller, DLR, EVEKTOR and HARDsoft developed a rotating stereo camera system dedicated to in-flight blade deformation measurements. The whole system, co-rotating with the propeller at its full speed and hence exposed to high centrifugal forces and strong vibration, had been successfully tested on an EVEKTOR VUT 100 COBRA aeroplane in Kunovice (CZ) within the project AIM2—advanced in-flight measurement techniques funded by the European Commission (contract no. 266107). This paper will describe the work, starting from drawing the first sketch of the system up to performing the successful flight test. Apart from a description of the measurement hardware and the applied IPCT method, the paper will give some impressions of the flight test activities and discuss the results obtained from the measurements.

  6. Effect of Number of Blades on Performance of Ceiling Fans

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Adeeb Ehsan

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, the effect of number of blades on ceiling fan performance is discussed. This approach helps to satisfy tradeoff between high air flow (performance and power consumption (energy efficiency. Specifically, variation from two to six blades is considered with nonlinear forward sweep profile. Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS technique is used to model the flow field induced by the ceiling fan inside a generic room. The performance is gauged through response parameters namely volumetric flow rate, mass flow rate, torque and energy efficiency. The results indicate that mass and volumetric flow rates are maximized for six blade configuration and energy efficiency is maximized for two blade configuration. The study indicates the importance of tradeoff between high air flow through ceiling fan and associated energy efficiency.

  7. Numerical Investigation of the Tip Vortex of a Straight-Bladed Vertical Axis Wind Turbine with Double-Blades

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yanzhao Yang

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available Wind velocity distribution and the vortex around the wind turbine present a significant challenge in the development of straight-bladed vertical axis wind turbines (VAWTs. This paper is intended to investigate influence of tip vortex on wind turbine wake by Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD simulations. In this study, the number of blades is two and the airfoil is a NACA0021 with chord length of c = 0.265 m. To capture the tip vortex characteristics, the velocity fields are investigated by the Q-criterion iso-surface (Q = 100 with shear-stress transport (SST k-ω turbulence model at different tip speed ratios (TSRs. Then, mean velocity, velocity deficit and torque coefficient acting on the blade in the different spanwise positions are compared. The wind velocities obtained by CFD simulations are also compared with the experimental data from wind tunnel experiments. As a result, we can state that the wind velocity curves calculated by CFD simulations are consistent with Laser Doppler Velocity (LDV measurements. The distribution of the vortex structure along the spanwise direction is more complex at a lower TSR and the tip vortex has a longer dissipation distance at a high TSR. In addition, the mean wind velocity shows a large value near the blade tip and a small value near the blade due to the vortex effect.

  8. The SNL100-03 Blade: Design Studies with Flatback Airfoils for the Sandia 100-meter Blade.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Griffith, Daniel; Richards, Phillip William

    2014-09-01

    A series of design studies were performed to inv estigate the effects of flatback airfoils on blade performance and weight for large blades using the Sandi a 100-meter blade designs as a starting point. As part of the study, the effects of varying the blade slenderness on blade structural performance was investigated. The advantages and disadvantages of blad e slenderness with respect to tip deflection, flap- wise & edge-wise fatigue resistance, panel buckling capacity, flutter speed, manufacturing labor content, blade total weight, and aerodynamic design load magn itude are quantified. Following these design studies, a final blade design (SNL100-03) was prod uced, which was based on a highly slender design using flatback airfoils. The SNL100-03 design with flatback airfoils has weight of 49 tons, which is about 16% decrease from its SNL100-02 predecessor that used conventional sharp trailing edge airfoils. Although not systematically optimized, the SNL100 -03 design study provides an assessment of and insight into the benefits of flatback airfoils for la rge blades as well as insights into the limits or negative consequences of high blade slenderness resulting from a highly slender SNL100-03 planform as was chosen in the final design definition. This docum ent also provides a description of the final SNL100-03 design definition and is intended to be a companion document to the distribution of the NuMAD blade model files for SNL100-03, which are made publicly available. A summary of the major findings of the Sandia 100-meter blade development program, from the initial SNL100-00 baseline blade through the fourth SNL100-03 blade study, is provided. This summary includes the major findings and outcomes of blade d esign studies, pathways to mitigate the identified large blade design drivers, and tool development that were produced over the course of this five-year research program. A summary of large blade tec hnology needs and research opportunities is also presented.

  9. On the Cutting Performance of Segmented Diamond Blades when Dry-Cutting Concrete.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sánchez Egea, A J; Martynenko, V; Martínez Krahmer, D; López de Lacalle, L N; Benítez, A; Genovese, G

    2018-02-09

    The objective of the present study is to analyze and compare the cutting performance of segmented diamond blades when dry-cutting concrete. A cutting criteria is proposed to characterize the wear of the blades by measuring the variation of the external diameter and the weight loss of the blade. The results exhibit the cutting blade SB-A, which has twice the density of diamonds and large contact area, exhibits less wear even though the material removal rate is higher compared with the other two cutting blades. Additionally, the surface topography of the different blades is evaluated to examine the impact of wear depending on the surface profile and the distribution of the diamonds in the blade's matrix. Large number of diamonds pull-out are found in blades type SB-C, which additionally shows the worst wear resistant capability. As a conclusion, the cutting efficiency of the blade is found to be related to the density of embedded diamonds and the type of the surface profile of the cutting blade after reaching the stop criteria.

  10. CFD computations of wind turbine blade loads during standstill operation KNOW-BLADE, Task 3.1 report

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sørensen, Niels N.; Johansen, Jeppe; Conway, S.

    2004-01-01

    Two rotors blades are computed during standstill conditions, using two different Navier-Stokes solvers EDGE and EllipSys3D. Both steady and transient linear k-? RANS turbulence models are applied, along with steady non-linear RANS and transient DESsimulations. The STORK 5.0 WPX blade is computed...... be explained by the difference in the applied turbulence models and the fact that the results from one of the solvers are presented as instantaneous valuesinstead of averaged values. The comparison of steady and transient RANS results show that the gain of using time true computations are very limited...... a three different tip pitch angles, 0, 26 and 50 degrees tip pitch angle, while the NREL Phase-VI blade is computed at 90 degrees tip pitch angle. Generally the CFD codes reproduce the measured trends quitewell and the two involved CFD codes give very similar results. The discrepancies observed can...

  11. Multipath Suppression with an Absorber for UWB Wind Turbine Blade Deflection Sensing Systems

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Zhang, Shuai; Franek, Ondrej; Eggers, Patrick Claus F.

    2017-01-01

    The deflection of a wind turbine blade can be monitored with an ultra-wideband (UWB) deflection sensing system which consists of one transmitting antenna at the blade tip and two receiving antennas at the blade root. The blade deflection is calculated by two estimated tip-root antenna distances...... verifications of the proposed method are carried out with different full-blade measurements. From all the results, it is found that the proposed technique can efficiently suppress multipath for the in-blade tip antenna, and improve the pulse wave front fidelity, so that the UWB sensing system can also...

  12. Design Optimization of An Axial Flow Fan Blade Considering Airfoil Shape and Stacking Line

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lee, Ki Sang; Kim, Kwang Yong; Samad, Abdus [Inha Univ., Incheon (Korea, Republic of)

    2007-07-01

    This work presents a numerical optimization procedure for a low-speed axial flow fan blade with polynomial response surface approximation model. Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations with Shear Stress Turbulence (SST) model are discretized by finite volume approximations and solved on hexahedral grids for flow analyses. The airfoil shape as well as stacking line is modified to enhance blade total efficiency, i.e., the objective function. The design variables of blade lean, maximum thickness and location of maximum thickness are selected, and a design of experiments technique produces design points where flow analyses are performed to obtain values of the objective function. A gradient-based search algorithm is used to find the optimal design in the design space from the constructed response surface model for the objective function. As a main result, the efficiency is increased effectively by the present optimization procedure. And, it is also shown that the modification of blade lean is more effective to improve the efficiency rather than modifying blade profile.

  13. Vibration Characteristics of a Mistuned Bladed Disk considering the Effect of Coriolis Forces

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xuanen Kan

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available To investigate the influence of Coriolis force on vibration characteristics of mistuned bladed disk, a bladed disk with 22 blades is employed and the effects of different rotational speeds and excitation engine orders on the maximum forced response are discussed considering the effects of Coriolis forces. The results show that if there are frequency veering regions, the largest split of double natural frequencies of each modal family considering the effects of Coriolis forces appears at frequency veering region. In addition, the amplitude magnification factor considering the Coriolis effects is increased by 1.02% compared to the system without considering the Coriolis effects as the rotating speed is 3000 rpm, while the amplitude magnification factor is increased by 2.76% as the rotating speed is 10000 rpm. The results indicate that the amplitude magnification factor may be moderately enhanced with the increasing of rotating speed. Moreover, the position of the maximum forced response of bladed disk may shift from one blade to another with the increasing of the rotational speed, when the effects of Coriolis forces are considered.

  14. Active Blade Pitch Control for Straight Bladed Darrieus Vertical Axis Wind Turbine of New Design

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Chougule, Prasad; Nielsen, Søren R.K.; Basu, Biswajit

    2013-01-01

    in a previous publication. Further, it is well know that the variation of the blade pitch angle during the rotation improves the power efficiency. A blade pitch variation is implemented by active blade pitch control, which operates as per wind speed and position of the blade with respect to the rotor. A double...

  15. Estimation of the energy loss at the blades in rowing: common assumptions revisited.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hofmijster, Mathijs; De Koning, Jos; Van Soest, A J

    2010-08-01

    In rowing, power is inevitably lost as kinetic energy is imparted to the water during push-off with the blades. Power loss is estimated from reconstructed blade kinetics and kinematics. Traditionally, it is assumed that the oar is completely rigid and that force acts strictly perpendicular to the blade. The aim of the present study was to evaluate how reconstructed blade kinematics, kinetics, and average power loss are affected by these assumptions. A calibration experiment with instrumented oars and oarlocks was performed to establish relations between measured signals and oar deformation and blade force. Next, an on-water experiment was performed with a single female world-class rower rowing at constant racing pace in an instrumented scull. Blade kinematics, kinetics, and power loss under different assumptions (rigid versus deformable oars; absence or presence of a blade force component parallel to the oar) were reconstructed. Estimated power losses at the blades are 18% higher when parallel blade force is incorporated. Incorporating oar deformation affects reconstructed blade kinematics and instantaneous power loss, but has no effect on estimation of power losses at the blades. Assumptions on oar deformation and blade force direction have implications for the reconstructed blade kinetics and kinematics. Neglecting parallel blade forces leads to a substantial underestimation of power losses at the blades.

  16. Damage Identification of Wind Turbine Blades Using Piezoelectric Transducers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Seong-Won Choi

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents the experimental results of active-sensing structural health monitoring (SHM techniques, which utilize piezoelectric transducers as sensors and actuators, for determining the structural integrity of wind turbine blades. Specifically, Lamb wave propagations and frequency response functions at high frequency ranges are used to estimate the condition of wind turbine blades. For experiments, a 1 m section of a CX-100 blade is used. The goal of this study is to assess and compare the performance of each method in identifying incipient damage with a consideration given to field deployability. Overall, these methods yielded a sufficient damage detection capability to warrant further investigation. This paper also summarizes the SHM results of a full-scale fatigue test of a 9 m CX-100 blade using piezoelectric active sensors. This paper outlines considerations needed to design such SHM systems, experimental procedures and results, and additional issues that can be used as guidelines for future investigations.

  17. Section curve reconstruction and mean-camber curve extraction of a point-sampled blade surface.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wen-long Li

    Full Text Available The blade is one of the most critical parts of an aviation engine, and a small change in the blade geometry may significantly affect the dynamics performance of the aviation engine. Rapid advancements in 3D scanning techniques have enabled the inspection of the blade shape using a dense and accurate point cloud. This paper proposes a new method to achieving two common tasks in blade inspection: section curve reconstruction and mean-camber curve extraction with the representation of a point cloud. The mathematical morphology is expanded and applied to restrain the effect of the measuring defects and generate an ordered sequence of 2D measured points in the section plane. Then, the energy and distance are minimized to iteratively smoothen the measured points, approximate the section curve and extract the mean-camber curve. In addition, a turbine blade is machined and scanned to observe the curvature variation, energy variation and approximation error, which demonstrates the availability of the proposed method. The proposed method is simple to implement and can be applied in aviation casting-blade finish inspection, large forging-blade allowance inspection and visual-guided robot grinding localization.

  18. Study of Pumping Capacity of Pitched Blade Impellers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    I. Fořt

    2002-01-01

    Full Text Available A study was made of the pumping capacity of pitched blade impellers in a cylindrical pilot plant vessel with four standard radial baffles at the wall under a turbulent regime of flow. The pumping capacity was calculated from the radial profile of the axial flow, under the assumption of axial symmetry of the discharge flow. The mean velocity was measured using laser Doppler anemometry in a transparent vessel of diameter T = 400 mm, provided with a standard dished bottom. Three and six blade pitched blade impellers (the pitch angle varied within the interval a Îá24°; 45°ń of impeller/vessel diameter ratio D/T = 0.36, as well as a three blade pitched blade impeller with folded blades of the same diameter, were tested. The calculated results were compared with the results of experiments mentioned in the literature, above all in cylindrical vessels with a flat bottom. Both arrangements of the agitated system were described by the impeller energetic efficiency, i.e, a criterion including in dimensionless form both the impeller energy consumption (impeller power input and the impeller pumping effect (impeller pumping capacity. It follows from the results obtained with various geometrical configurations that the energetic efficiency of pitched blade impellers is significantly lower for configurations suitable for mixing solid-liquid suspensions (low impeller off bottom clearances than for blending miscible liquids in mixing (higher impeller off bottom clearances.

  19. Investigation of Blade-row Flow Distributions in Axial-flow-compressor Stage Consisting of Guide Vanes and Rotor-blade Row

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mahoney, John J; Dugan, Paul D; Budinger, Raymond E; Goelzer, H Fred

    1950-01-01

    A 30-inch tip-diameter axial-flow compressor stage was investigated with and without rotor to determine individual blade-row performance, interblade-row effects, and outer-wall boundary-layer conditions. Velocity gradients at guide-vane outlet without rotor approximated design assumptions, when the measured variation of leaving angle was considered. With rotor in operation, Mach number and rotor-blade effects changed flow distribution leaving guide vanes and invalidated design assumption of radial equilibrium. Rotor-blade performance correlated interpolated two-dimensional results within 2 degrees, although tip stall was indicated in experimental and not two-dimensional results. Boundary-displacement thickness was less than 1.0 and 1.5 percent of passage height after guide vanes and after rotor, respectively, but increased rapidly after rotor when tip stall occurred.

  20. Active twist of model rotor blades with D-spar design

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. Kovalovs

    2007-03-01

    Full Text Available The design methodology based on the planning of experiments and response surface technique has been developed for an optimum placement of Macro Fiber Composite (MFC actuators in the helicopter rotor blades. The baseline helicopter rotor blade consists of D-spar made of UD GFRP, skin made of +45o/–45o GFRP, foam core, MFC actuators placement on the skin and balance weight. 3D finite element model of the rotor blade has been built by ANSYS, where the rotor blade skin and spar “moustaches” are modeled by the linear layered structural shell elements SHELL99, and the spar and foam - by 3D 20-node structural solid elements SOLID186. The thermal analyses of 3D finite element model have been developed to investigate an active twist of the helicopter rotor blade. Strain analogy between piezoelectric strains and thermally induced strains is used to model piezoelectric effects. The optimisation results have been obtained for design solutions, connected with the application of active materials, and checked by the finite element calculations.

  1. A combined piezoelectric composite actuator and its application to wing/blade tips

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ha, Kwangtae

    A novel combined piezoelectric-composite actuator configuration is proposed and analytically modeled in this work. The actuator is a low complexity, active compliant mechanism obtained by coupling a modified star cross sectional configuration composite beam with a helicoidal bimorph piezoelectric actuator coiled around it. This novel actuator is a good candidate as a hinge tension-torsion bar actuator for a helicopter rotor blade flap or blade tip and mirror rotational positioning. In the wing tip case, the tip deflection angle is different only according to the aerodynamic moment depending on the hinge position of the actuator along the chord and applied voltage because there is no centrifugal force. For an active blade tip subject to incompressible flow and 2D quasi steady airloads, its twist angle is related not only to aerodynamic moment and applied voltage but also to coupling terms, such as the trapeze effect and the tennis racquet effect. Results show the benefit of hinge position aft of the aerodynamic center, such that the blade tip response is amplified by airloads. Contrary to this effect, results also show that the centrifugal effects and inertial effect cause an amplitude reduction in the response. Summation of these effects determines the overall blade tip response. The results for a certain hinge position of Xh=1.5% chord aft of the quarter chord point proves that the tip deflection target design range of beta ∈ [-2,+2] can be achieved for all pitch angle configurations chosen.

  2. Three-dimensional blade coating of complex fluid

    Science.gov (United States)

    Singh, Vachitar; Grimaldi, Emma; Sauret, Alban; Dressaire, Emilie

    2015-11-01

    The application of a layer of non-newtonian fluid on a solid substrate is an important industrial problem involved in polymer or paint coatings, and an everyday life challenge when it comes to spreading peanut butter on a toast. Most experimental and theoretical work has focused on the two-dimensional situation, i.e. the scraping of a fixed blade on a moving substrate to turn a thick layer of liquid into a thin coat. However the spreading of a finite volume of non-newtonian fluid using a blade has received less attention, despite significant practical and fundamental implications. In this study, we investigate experimentally the spreading of a finite volume of a model non-newtonian fluid, carbopol, initially deposited against the fixed blade. As the substrate is translated at constant speed, we characterize the dynamics of spreading and the final shape of the coated layer. We measure and rationalize the influence of the liquid volume, the height and orientation of the blade, and the speed of the substrate on the spreading.

  3. Flowfield Analysis of Savonius-type Wind Turbine blade

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Noh, Tae Hyun; Chang, Se Myong [Kunsan National Univ., Kunsan (Korea, Republic of); Seo, Hyun Soo [Korea Institute of Energy Research, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

    2007-07-01

    In this paper, we researched flow of 8000 {approx} 24000 Reynolds number around a blade model of Savonius-type wind turbine with experimental and numerical method. For the blade shape of arc, we analyzed flowfield with streak-image flow visualization, measured wake, computed drag coefficients, and compared them for given angle of attacks. The result of research can be used to design aerodynamic performance of Savonius-type turbine rotor directly.

  4. Standard Specification for Steel Blades Used with the Photovoltaic Module Surface Cut Test

    CERN Document Server

    American Society for Testing and Materials. Philadelphia

    2009-01-01

    1.1 This specification specifies the recommended physical characteristics of the steel blades required for the surface cut test described in ANSI/UL 1703 (Section 24) and IEC 61730-2 (Paragraph 10.3). 1.2 ANSI/UL 1703 and IEC 61730-2 are standards for photovoltaic module safety testing. 1.3 This standard provides additional fabrication details for the surface cut test blades that are not provided in ANSI/UL 1703 or IEC 61730-2. Surface cut test blades that have out-of-tolerance corner radii or burrs are known to cause erroneous test results, either passes or failures. 1.4 The values stated in SI units are to be regarded as standard. No other units of measurement are included in this standard. 1.5 This standard does not purport to address all of the safety problems, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety and health practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use.

  5. Investigation of Structural Behavior due to Bend-Twist Couplings in Wind Turbine Blades

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Fedorov, Vladimir; Dimitrov, Nikolay Krasimirov; Berggreen, Christian

    2010-01-01

    for predicting the torsional response of the wind turbine blades with built-in bend-twist couplings. Additionally, a number of improved full-scale tests using an advanced bi-axial servo-hydraulic load control have been performed on a wind turbine blade section provided by Vestas Wind Systems A/S. In the present......One of the problematic issues concerning the design of future large composite wind turbine blades is the prediction of bend-twist couplings and torsion behaviour. The current work is a continuation of a previous work [1,2], and it examines different finite element modelling approaches...... of the blade cross section as the defining surface, off-setting the location of the shell elements according to the specified thickness. The experimental full-scale tests were carried out on an 8 m section of a 23 m wind turbine blade with specially implemented bend-twist coupling. The blade was tested under...

  6. Analysis of improved and original designs of a 16 inch long penultimate stage turbine blade

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Carnero, A.; Kubiak, J.A.; Mendez, R.

    1994-01-01

    A finite element analysis of 16 inch long penultimate stage (L-1) blade was carried out to evaluate the improved and the original designs. The original design of the blade involved the ''blade-tenon-shroud'' system to make blade groups (6 blades per group). The improved design applied the concept of Integral Shroud Blade (ISB). Thus all the blades made a 360 degree group. The paper presents an application of the finite element analysis method to compute the natural frequencies, steady-state and alternating stresses, deformation due to forces acting on the blades and modal shapes of the blade group. In the case of the improved design it was also necessary to carry out computation of the dynamic response of a 360 degree blade-disk arc. This was to include the effect of the flexible disk fastening where blade and disk interaction were important to identify certain resonant conditions. It was concluded from the finite element results, that the steady-state stresses in the improved blade were lower, and the tangential mode shapes were eliminated. This was a great advantage since in the original design the first tangential mode shape and the higher steady-state stresses in the tenon contributed to the frequent failure of the ''blade-tenon-shroud'' system

  7. Design of Linear Control System for Wind Turbine Blade Fatigue Testing

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Toft, Anders; Roe-Poulsen, Bjarke Nørskov; Christiansen, Rasmus

    2016-01-01

    This paper proposes a linear method for wind turbine blade fatigue testing at Siemens Wind Power. The setup consists of a blade, an actuator (motor and load mass) that acts on the blade with a sinusoidal moment, and a distribution of strain gauges to measure the blade flexure. Based...... difficult to control. To make a linear controller, a different approach has been chosen, namely making a controller which is not regulating on the input frequency, but on the input amplitude. A non-linear mechanical model for the blade and the motor has been constructed. This model has been simplified based...... on the desired output, namely the amplitude of the blade. Furthermore, the model has been linearised to make it suitable for linear analysis and control design methods.\\\\ The controller is designed based on a simplified and linearised model, and its gain parameter determined using pole placement. The model...

  8. Effect of Turbulence on Power for Bend-Twist Coupled Blades

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Stäblein, Alexander; Hansen, Morten Hartvig

    2016-01-01

    that it might be related to the dynamic response of bend-twist coupled blades in turbulent flow. This paper contains estimations of the power curve from nonlinear time simulations, a linear frequency domain based method and a normal distribution weighted average method. It is shown that the frequency domain...... that changes in power due to turbulence are similar for coupled and uncoupled blades. Power gains at low wind speeds are related to the curvature of the steady state power curve. Losses around rated wind speed are caused by the effects of controller switching between partial and full power operation.......Bend-twist coupling of wind turbine blades reduces the structural loads of the turbine but it also results in a decrease of the annual energy production. The main part of the power loss can be mitigated by pretwisting the blade, but some power loss remains and previous studies indicate...

  9. The SNL100-01 blade :

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Griffith, Daniel

    2013-02-01

    A series of design studies to investigate the effect of carbon on blade weight and performance for large blades was performed using the Sandia 100-meter All-glass Baseline Blade design as a starting point. This document provides a description of the final carbon blade design, which is termed as SNL100-01. This report includes a summary of the design modifications applied to the baseline all-glass 100-meter design and a description of the NuMAD model files that are made publicly available. This document is intended primarily to be a companion document to the distribution of the NuMAD blade model files for SNL100-01.

  10. Comprehensive Structural Dynamic Analysis of the SSME/AT Fuel Pump First-Stage Turbine Blade

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brown, A. M.

    1998-01-01

    A detailed structural dynamic analysis of the Pratt & Whitney high-pressure fuel pump first-stage turbine blades has been performed to identify the cause of the tip cracking found in the turbomachinery in November 1997. The analysis was also used to help evaluate potential fixes for the problem. Many of the methods available in structural dynamics were applied, including modal displacement and stress analysis, frequency and transient response to tip loading from the first-stage Blade Outer Gas Seals (BOGS), fourier analysis, and shock spectra analysis of the transient response. The primary findings were that the BOGS tip loading is impulsive in nature, thereby exciting many modes of the blade that exhibit high stress at the tip cracking location. Therefore, a proposed BOGS count change would not help the situation because a clearly identifiable resonance situation does not exist. The recommendations for the resolution of the problem are to maintain the existing BOGS count, eliminate the stress concentration in the blade due to its geometric design, and reduce the applied load on the blade by adding shiplaps in the BOGS.

  11. A Blade Tip Timing Method Based on a Microwave Sensor

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jilong Zhang

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available Blade tip timing is an effective method for blade vibration measurements in turbomachinery. This method is increasing in popularity because it is non-intrusive and has several advantages over the conventional strain gauge method. Different kinds of sensors have been developed for blade tip timing, including optical, eddy current and capacitance sensors. However, these sensors are unsuitable in environments with contaminants or high temperatures. Microwave sensors offer a promising potential solution to overcome these limitations. In this article, a microwave sensor-based blade tip timing measurement system is proposed. A patch antenna probe is used to transmit and receive the microwave signals. The signal model and process method is analyzed. Zero intermediate frequency structure is employed to maintain timing accuracy and dynamic performance, and the received signal can also be used to measure tip clearance. The timing method uses the rising and falling edges of the signal and an auto-gain control circuit to reduce the effect of tip clearance change. To validate the accuracy of the system, it is compared experimentally with a fiber optic tip timing system. The results show that the microwave tip timing system achieves good accuracy.

  12. Structural damage and chemical contaminants on reprocessed arthroscopic shaver blades.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kobayashi, Masahiko; Nakagawa, Yasuaki; Okamoto, Yukihiro; Nakamura, Shinichiro; Nakamura, Takashi

    2009-02-01

    In response to socioeconomic pressure to cut budgets in medicine, single-use surgical instruments are often reprocessed despite potential biological hazard. To evaluate the quality and contaminants of reprocessed shaver blades. Reprocessed shaver blades have mechanical damage and chemical contamination. Controlled laboratory study. Seven blades and 3 abraders were reprocessed 1 time or 3 times and then were assessed. In the first part of the study, structural damage on the blades after 3 reprocessings was compared to that after 1 reprocessing using optical microscopy. In the second part, surface damage was observed using optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy; elemental and chemical analyses of contaminants found by the microscopy were performed using scanning electron microscopy/energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy, scanning Auger microscopy, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Optical microscopic examination revealed abrasion on the surface of the inner blade and cracks on the inner tube after 1 reprocessing. These changes were more evident after 3 reprocessings. Scanning electron microscopy/energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy of the inner cutter of the blade reprocessed once showed contaminants containing calcium, carbon, oxygen, and silicon, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy demonstrated biological protein consisting mainly of collagen, some type of salts, and polycarbonate used in plastic molding. Scanning electron microscopy/energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy of the inner cutter of the reprocessed abrader revealed contaminants containing carbon, calcium, phosphorous, and oxygen, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy showed H2O, hydroxyapatite, and hydroxyl proteins. Scanning Auger microscopy showed that the tin-nickel plating on the moving blade and abrader was missing in some locations. This is the first study to evaluate both mechanical damage and chemical contaminants containing collagen, hydroxyapatite, and salts

  13. An aeroelastic analysis of helicopter rotor blades incorporating piezoelectric fiber composite twist actuation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wilkie, W. Keats; Park, K. C.

    1996-01-01

    A simple aeroelastic analysis of a helicopter rotor blade incorporating embedded piezoelectric fiber composite, interdigitated electrode blade twist actuators is described. The analysis consist of a linear torsion and flapwise bending model coupled with a nonlinear ONERA based unsteady aerodynamics model. A modified Galerkin procedure is performed upon the rotor blade partial differential equations of motion to develop a system of ordinary differential equations suitable for numerical integration. The twist actuation responses for three conceptual full-scale blade designs with realistic constraints on blade mass are numerically evaluated using the analysis. Numerical results indicate that useful amplitudes of nonresonant elastic twist, on the order of one to two degrees, are achievable under one-g hovering flight conditions for interdigitated electrode poling configurations. Twist actuation for the interdigitated electrode blades is also compared with the twist actuation of a conventionally poled piezoelectric fiber composite blade. Elastic twist produced using the interdigitated electrode actuators was found to be four to five times larger than that obtained with the conventionally poled actuators.

  14. New morphing blade section designs and structural solutions for smart blades

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Karakalas, Anargyros A.; Machairas, Theodore; Solomou, Alexandros

    2015-01-01

    Within INNWIND.EU new concepts are investigated having the ultimate goal to reduce the cost per kilowatt-hour of the produced energy. With increasing size of wind turbines, new approaches to load control are required to reduce the stresses in blades. Experimental and numerical studies in the fields...... of helicopter and wind turbine blade research have shown the potential of shape morphing in reducing blade loads. Morphing technologies, along with other control concepts, are investigated under Task 2.3 of WP “Lightweight Rotor”, against aerodynamic compliance and requirements of the complete wind turbine...... the efforts performed within Task 2.2 “Lightweight structural design” of INNWIND.Eu work-package WP2 “Lightweight Rotor” regarding the structural solutions necessary to accommodate the requirements of smart blades developed within work-package WP2 Task 2.3 “Active and passive loads control and alleviation...

  15. Full scale wind turbine test of vortex generators mounted on the entire blade

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bak, Christian; Skrzypinski, Witold Robert; Gaunaa, Mac

    2016-01-01

    Measurements on a heavily instrumented pitch regulated variable speed Vestas V52 850 kW wind turbine situated at the DTU Risø Campus are carried out, where the effect of vortex generators mounted on almost the entire blade is tested with and without leading edge roughness. The measurements...... are compared to the predictions carried out by a developed design tool, where the effect of vortex generators and leading edge roughness is simulated using engineering models. The measurements showed that if vortex generators are mounted there is an increase in flapwise blade moments if the blades are clean...

  16. Ceramic blade attachment system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Frey, G.A.; Jimenez, O.D.

    1996-12-03

    A turbine blade having a preestablished rate of thermal expansion is attached to a turbine flange having a preestablished rate of thermal expansion being greater than the preestablished rate of thermal expansion of the turbine blade. The turbine flange includes a first upstanding flange and a second upstanding flange having a groove formed between them. The turbine flange further includes a recess. Each of the first and second upstanding flanges have a plurality of bores therein. A turbine blade has a first member and a second member positioned in one of the groove and the recess. Each of the first member and the second member have a plurality of bores therein. A pin is positioned in respective ones of the plurality of bores in the first and second upstanding members and the first and second members and attach the blade to the turbine flange. The pin has a preestablished rate of thermal expansion being substantially equal to the rate of thermal expansion of the blade. 4 figs.

  17. Design of a 21 m blade with Risø-A1 airfoils for active stall controlled wind turbines

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Fuglsang, Peter; Sangill, O.; Hansen, P.

    2002-01-01

    This is the final report, from the project, "Design of a Rotor/Airfoil Family for Active Stall-regulated Wind Turbines by Use of Multi-point Optimization". It describes the full scale testing of a 21 m wind turbine blade specially designed for active stallregulation. Design objectives were...... increased ratio of produced energy to turbine loads and more stable power control characteristics. Both were taken directly into account during the design of the blade using numerical optimization. The blade used theRisø-A1 airfoil family, which was specially designed for operation on wind turbine blades....... The new blade was designed to replace the LM 21.0P blade. A measurement campaign was carried out simultaneously on two identical adjacent wind turbines where onehad the new blades and the other had LM 21.0P blades. Power and loads including blade section moments for the new blades were measured to assess...

  18. Hover Testing of the NASA/Army/MIT Active Twist Rotor Prototype Blade

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wilbur, Matthew L.; Yeager, William T., Jr.; Wilkie, W. Keats; Cesnik, Carlos E. S.; Shin, Sangloon

    2000-01-01

    Helicopter rotor individual blade control promises to provide a mechanism for increased rotor performance and reduced rotorcraft vibrations and noise. Active material methods, such as piezoelectrically actuated trailing-edge flaps and strain-induced rotor blade twisting, provide a means of accomplishing individual blade control without the need for hydraulic power in the rotating system. Recent studies have indicated that controlled strain induced blade twisting can be attained using piezoelectric active fiber composite technology. In order to validate these findings experimentally, a cooperative effort between NASA Langley Research Center, the Army Research Laboratory, and the MIT Active Materials and Structures Laboratory has been developed. As a result of this collaboration an aeroelastically-scaled active-twist model rotor blade has been designed and fabricated for testing in the heavy gas environment of the Langley Transonic Dynamics Tunnel (TDT). The results of hover tests of the active-twist prototype blade are presented in this paper. Comparisons with applicable analytical predictions of active-twist frequency response in hovering flight are also presented.

  19. New blades shape up for dozers

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Chironis, N.P.

    1985-05-01

    This article discusses the design of blades used on dozers for the reclamation work following surface mining. Two blades are described which have led to a 50% reduction in reclamation costs and a 20% reduction in fuel requirements over conventional equipment. These results are from work carried out at the Kayenta mine in Arizona, USA. Design considerations in the development of the blades are described. Descriptions of both the centre flow blades and the universal blades are given.

  20. CFD computations of wind turbine blade loads during standstill operation KNOW-BLADE, Task 3.1 report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Soerensen, N.N.; Johansen, J.; Conway, S.

    2004-06-01

    Two rotors blades are computed during standstill conditions, using two different Navier-Stokes solvers EDGE and EllipSys3D. Both steady and transient linear {kappa} - {omega} RANS turbulence models are applied, along with steady non-linear RANS and transient DES simulations. The STORK 5.0 WPX blade is computed a three different tip pitch angles, 0, 26 and 50 degrees tip pitch angle, while the NREL Phase-VI blade is computed at 90 degrees tip pitch angle. Generally the CFD codes reproduce the measured trends quite well and the two involved CFD codes give very similar results. The discrepancies observed can be explained by the difference in the applied turbulence models and the fact that the results from one of the solvers are presented as instantaneous values instead of averaged values. The comparison of steady and transient RANS results show that the gain of using time true computations are very limited for this case, with respect to mean quantities. The same can be said for the RANS/DES comparison performed for the NREL rotor, even though the DES computation shows improved agreement at the tip and root sections. Finally, it is shown that the DES methodology provides a much more physical representation of the heavily stalled part of the flow over blades at high angles of attack. (au)

  1. Verification of Thermal Models of Internally Cooled Gas Turbine Blades

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Igor Shevchenko

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Numerical simulation of temperature field of cooled turbine blades is a required element of gas turbine engine design process. The verification is usually performed on the basis of results of test of full-size blade prototype on a gas-dynamic test bench. A method of calorimetric measurement in a molten metal thermostat for verification of a thermal model of cooled blade is proposed in this paper. The method allows obtaining local values of heat flux in each point of blade surface within a single experiment. The error of determination of local heat transfer coefficients using this method does not exceed 8% for blades with radial channels. An important feature of the method is that the heat load remains unchanged during the experiment and the blade outer surface temperature equals zinc melting point. The verification of thermal-hydraulic model of high-pressure turbine blade with cooling allowing asymmetrical heat removal from pressure and suction sides was carried out using the developed method. An analysis of heat transfer coefficients confirmed the high level of heat transfer in the leading edge, whose value is comparable with jet impingement heat transfer. The maximum of the heat transfer coefficients is shifted from the critical point of the leading edge to the pressure side.

  2. A smart segmented blade system for reducing weight of the wind turbine rotor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lu, Hongya; Zeng, Pan; Lei, Liping; Yang, Yabin; Xu, Yuejie; Qian, Lingyun

    2014-01-01

    Highlights: • A segmented blade system to light the wind turbine rotor is proposed. • The experiments in the wind tunnel and the numerical calculation are combined to validate the effectiveness of the design. • The moment of the blade below the hinged location are alleviated. • The mounting locations of the hinged rods significantly affect the moment distribution on the blade. • The gross weight of the blade can be reduced by 35.4%. - Abstract: The paper proposes a novel design concept for the wind turbine rotors. The design is composed of the segmented blades and a hinged-rods support structure (SBHR) as a means of reducing weight through alleviating the moment on the blade. A prototype of the design is manufactured. Focusing on the hinged-rods support structure (HRSS), a method combining the experiments and numerical calculation is developed to analyze its feasibility. The experiments in the wind tunnel platform were conducted to measure the loads at the root of the isolated blade and in the rods. A numerical model was developed to describe the designed wind turbine rotor using the measured loads in experiments. In the model, the mounting locations of the hinged rods significantly affected the moment distribution on the blade. Thus, two dimensionless indexes were determined to analyze its influences. The model perfectly explain the characteristics of the novel structure under different configurations. The results demonstrated that the moment of the blade below the hinged location were alleviated, which reduced the requirements for the material. A 43.1% reduction of the maximum moment can be achieved in the design. In addition, the gross reduced weight of the blade was estimated to be 35.4% based on the blade mass distribution along the span

  3. Design Procedure of 4-Bladed Propeller

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    PROF. O. E. OSUAGWU

    2013-09-01

    Sep 1, 2013 ... West African Journal of Industrial and Academic Research Vol.8 No.1 September 2013 ..... Number of blades. 5. Taylor's wake friction (w). The speed of ship (Vs), the number of propeller revolution (n), the blade number (Z) and the blade area ratio.... .... moment of inertia of a blade, the approximate.

  4. Stagger angle dependence of inertial and elastic coupling in bladed disks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Crawley, E. F.; Mokadam, D. R.

    1984-01-01

    Conditions which necessitate the inclusion of disk and shaft flexibility in the analysis of blade response in rotating blade-disk-shaft systems are derived in terms of nondimensional parameters. A simple semianalytical Rayleigh-Ritz model is derived in which the disk possesses all six rigid body degrees of freedom, which are elastically constrained by the shaft. Inertial coupling by the rigid body motion of the disk on a flexible shaft and out-of-plane elastic coupling due to disk flexure are included. Frequency ratios and mass ratios, which depend on the stagger angle, are determined for three typical rotors: a first stage high-pressure core compressor, a high bypass ratio fan, and an advanced turboprop. The stagger angle controls the degree of coupling in the blade-disk system. In the blade-disk-shaft system, the stagger angle determines whether blade-disk motion couples principally to the out-of-plane or in-plane motion of the disk on the shaft. The Ritz analysis shows excellent agreement with experimental results.

  5. Damage detection in carbon composite material typical of wind turbine blades using auto-associative neural networks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dervilis, N.; Barthorpe, R. J.; Antoniadou, I.; Staszewski, W. J.; Worden, K.

    2012-04-01

    The structure of a wind turbine blade plays a vital role in the mechanical and structural operation of the turbine. As new generations of offshore wind turbines are trying to achieve a leading role in the energy market, key challenges such as a reliable Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) of the blades is significant for the economic and structural efficiency of the wind energy. Fault diagnosis of wind turbine blades is a "grand challenge" due to their composite nature, weight and length. The damage detection procedure involves additional difficulties focused on aerodynamic loads, environmental conditions and gravitational loads. It will be shown that vibration dynamic response data combined with AANNs is a robust and powerful tool, offering on-line and real time damage prediction. In this study the features used for SHM are Frequency Response Functions (FRFs) acquired via experimental methods based on an LMS system by which identification of mode shapes and natural frequencies is accomplished. The methods used are statistical outlier analysis which allows a diagnosis of deviation from normality and an Auto-Associative Neural Network (AANN). Both of these techniques are trained by adopting the FRF data for normal and damage condition. The AANN is a method which has not yet been widely used in the condition monitoring of composite materials of blades. This paper is trying to introduce a new scheme for damage detection, localisation and severity assessment by adopting simple measurements such as FRFs and exploiting multilayer neural networks and outlier novelty detection.

  6. The use of an optical data acquisition system for bladed disk vibration analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lawrence, C.; Meyn, E. H.

    1985-01-01

    A new concept in instrumentation was developed by engineers at NASA Lewis Research Center to collect vibration data from multi-bladed rotors. This new concept, known as the optical data acquisition system, uses optical transducers to measure bladed tip deflections by reflection of light beams off the tips of the blades as they pass in front of the optical transducer. By using an array of transducers around the perimeter of the rotor, detailed vibration signals can be obtained. In this study, resonant frequencies and mode shapes were determined for a 56 bladed rotor using the optical system. Frequency data from the optical system was also compared to data obtained from strain gauge measurements and finite element analysis and was found to be in good agreement.

  7. A comparison study of the two-bladed partial pitch turbine during normal operation and an extreme gust conditions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, T; Petersen, M M; Larsen, T J

    2014-01-01

    This paper shows the load comparisons between the numerical simulation and the full-scale load measurement data. First part of this paper includes the comparisons of statistic load in terms of maximum, mean, and minimum values for the selected normal operation cases. The blade root bending moments and tower top bending moments are compared. Second part of this paper introduces the dynamic response comparisons during an extreme wind gust condition where the wind speed changed approximately 10 m/s during three seconds. The rotor speed and blade root flapwise and edgewise bending moment are compared. The nonlinear aeroelastic simulation code HAWC2 is used for the simulations. A very fine agreement between the simulated and the full-scale measured loads is seen for the both comparisons

  8. Structural Design of a Horizontal-Axis Tidal Current Turbine Composite Blade

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bir, G. S.; Lawson, M. J.; Li, Y.

    2011-10-01

    This paper describes the structural design of a tidal composite blade. The structural design is preceded by two steps: hydrodynamic design and determination of extreme loads. The hydrodynamic design provides the chord and twist distributions along the blade length that result in optimal performance of the tidal turbine over its lifetime. The extreme loads, i.e. the extreme flap and edgewise loads that the blade would likely encounter over its lifetime, are associated with extreme tidal flow conditions and are obtained using a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software. Given the blade external shape and the extreme loads, we use a laminate-theory-based structural design to determine the optimal layout of composite laminas such that the ultimate-strength and buckling-resistance criteria are satisfied at all points in the blade. The structural design approach allows for arbitrary specification of the chord, twist, and airfoil geometry along the blade and an arbitrary number of shear webs. In addition, certain fabrication criteria are imposed, for example, each composite laminate must be an integral multiple of its constituent ply thickness. In the present effort, the structural design uses only static extreme loads; dynamic-loads-based fatigue design will be addressed in the future. Following the blade design, we compute the distributed structural properties, i.e. flap stiffness, edgewise stiffness, torsion stiffness, mass, moments of inertia, elastic-axis offset, and center-of-mass offset along the blade. Such properties are required by hydro-elastic codes to model the tidal current turbine and to perform modal, stability, loads, and response analyses.

  9. The SNL100-02 blade :

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Griffith, Daniel

    2013-11-01

    A series of design studies are performed to investigate the effects of advanced core materials and a new core material strategy on blade weight and performance for large blades using the Sandia 100-meter blade designs as a starting point. The initial core material design studies were based on the SNL100-01 100- meter carbon spar design. Advanced core material with improved performance to weight was investigated with the goal to reduce core material content in the design and reduce blade weight. A secondary element of the core study was to evaluate the suitability of core materials from natural, regrowable sources such as balsa and recyclable foam materials. The new core strategy for the SNL100-02 design resulted in a design mass of 59 tons, which is a 20% reduction from the most recent SNL100-01 carbon spar design and over 48% reduction from the initial SNL100-00 all-glass baseline blade. This document provides a description of the final SNL100-02 design, includes a description of the major design modifications, and summarizes the pertinent blade design information. This document is also intended to be a companion document to the distribution of the NuMAD blade model files for SNL100-02 that are made publicly available.

  10. Integral Twist Actuation of Helicopter Rotor Blades for Vibration Reduction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shin, SangJoon; Cesnik, Carlos E. S.

    2001-01-01

    Active integral twist control for vibration reduction of helicopter rotors during forward flight is investigated. The twist deformation is obtained using embedded anisotropic piezocomposite actuators. An analytical framework is developed to examine integrally-twisted blades and their aeroelastic response during different flight conditions: frequency domain analysis for hover, and time domain analysis for forward flight. Both stem from the same three-dimensional electroelastic beam formulation with geometrical-exactness, and axe coupled with a finite-state dynamic inflow aerodynamics model. A prototype Active Twist Rotor blade was designed with this framework using Active Fiber Composites as the actuator. The ATR prototype blade was successfully tested under non-rotating conditions. Hover testing was conducted to evaluate structural integrity and dynamic response. In both conditions, a very good correlation was obtained against the analysis. Finally, a four-bladed ATR system is built and tested to demonstrate its concept in forward flight. This experiment was conducted at NASA Langley Tansonic Dynamics Tunnel and represents the first-of-a-kind Mach-scaled fully-active-twist rotor system to undergo forward flight test. In parallel, the impact upon the fixed- and rotating-system loads is estimated by the analysis. While discrepancies are found in the amplitude of the loads under actuation, the predicted trend of load variation with respect to its control phase correlates well. It was also shown, both experimentally and numerically, that the ATR blade design has the potential for hub vibratory load reduction of up to 90% using individual blade control actuation. Using the numerical framework, system identification is performed to estimate the harmonic transfer functions. The linear time-periodic system can be represented by a linear time-invariant system under the three modes of blade actuation: collective, longitudinal cyclic, and lateral cyclic. A vibration

  11. Wind tunnel study of helical and straight-bladed vertical-axis wind turbine wakes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bagheri, Maryam; Araya, Daniel

    2017-11-01

    It is hypothesized that blade curvature can serve as a passive means to control fluid entrainment and wake recovery in vertical-axis wind turbine (VAWT) arrays. We test this experimentally in a wind tunnel using two different VAWT configurations, one with straight blades and another with helical blades, keeping all other experimental parameters fixed. A small-scale, commercially available VAWT (15W max power) is used as the baseline wind tunnel model in each case. The commercial VAWT blades are replaced with either straight or helical blades that are 3D-printed extrusions of the same airfoil cross-section. Results from smoke flow visualization, three-component wake velocity measurements, and turbine power data are presented. These results give insight into the potential use of VAWTs with curved blades in utility-scale wind farms.

  12. Distribution of defects in wind turbine blades and reliability assessment of blades containing defects

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Stensgaard Toft, Henrik; Branner, Kim; Berring, Peter

    2009-01-01

    on the assumption that one error in the production process tends to trigger several defects. For both models additional information about number, type and size of the defects is included as stochastic variables. The probability of failure for a wind turbine blade will not only depend on variations in the material......In the present paper two stochastic models for the distribution of defects in wind turbine blades are proposed. The first model assumes that the individual defects are completely randomly distributed in the blade. The second model assumes that the defects occur in clusters of different size based...... properties and the load but also on potential defects in the blades. As a numerical example the probability of failure is calculated for the main spar both with and without defects in terms of delaminations. The delaminations increase the probability of failure compared to a perfect blade, but by applying...

  13. Investigation of an Axial Fan—Blade Stress and Vibration Due to Aerodynamic Pressure Field and Centrifugal Effects

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Cheng; Amano, Ryoichi Samuel; Lee, Eng Kwong

    A 1.829m (6ft) diameter industrial large flow-rate axial fan operated at 1770rpm was studied experimentally in laboratory conditions. The flow characteristics on the fan blade surfaces were investigated by measuring the pressure distributions on the blade suction and pressure surfaces and the results were discussed by comparing with analytical formulations and CFD. Flow visualizations were also performed to validate the flow characteristics near the blade surface and it was demonstrated that the flow characteristics near the fan blade surface were dominated by the centrifugal force of the fan rotation which resulted in strong three-dimensional flows. The time-dependent pressure measurement showed that the pressure oscillations on the fan blade were significantly dominated by vortex shedding from the fan blades. It was further demonstrated that the pressure distributions during the fan start-up were highly unsteady, and the main frequency variation of the static pressure was much smaller than the fan rotational frequency. The time-dependent pressure measurement when the fan operated at a constant speed showed that the magnitude of the blade pressure variation with time and the main variation frequency was much smaller than the fan rotational frequency. The pressure variations that were related to the vortex shedding were slightly smaller than the fan rotational frequency. The strain gages were used to measure the blade stress and the results were compared with FEA results.

  14. Anisotropic beam model for analysis and design of passive controlled wind turbine blades

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Branner, Kim; Blasques, José Pedro Albergaria Amaral; Kim, Taeseong

    . The developed fully coupled beam element and cross section analysis tool has been validated against both numerical calculations and experimental measurements. Numerical validation has been performed against beam type calculations including Variational Asymptotical Beam Section Analysis (VABS) and detailed shell...... and solid finite element analyses. Experimental validation included specially designed beams with built-in couplings, a full-scale blade section originally without couplings, which subsequently was modified with extra composite layers in order to obtain measurable couplings. Both static testing and dynamic...... modal analysis tests have been performed. The results from the project now make it possible to use structural couplings in an intelligent manner for the design of future wind turbine blades. The developed beam element is especially developed for wind turbine blades and can be used for modeling blades...

  15. Integrated circuit cooled turbine blade

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Ching-Pang; Jiang, Nan; Um, Jae Y.; Holloman, Harry; Koester, Steven

    2017-08-29

    A turbine rotor blade includes at least two integrated cooling circuits that are formed within the blade that include a leading edge circuit having a first cavity and a second cavity and a trailing edge circuit that includes at least a third cavity located aft of the second cavity. The trailing edge circuit flows aft with at least two substantially 180-degree turns at the tip end and the root end of the blade providing at least a penultimate cavity and a last cavity. The last cavity is located along a trailing edge of the blade. A tip axial cooling channel connects to the first cavity of the leading edge circuit and the penultimate cavity of the trailing edge circuit. At least one crossover hole connects the penultimate cavity to the last cavity substantially near the tip end of the blade.

  16. Turbine blade wear and damage. An overview of advanced characterization techniques

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Schlobohm, Jochen; Li, Yinan; Kaestner, Markus; Poesch, Andreas; Reithmeier, Eduard [Hannover Univ. (Germany). Inst. fuer Mess- und Regelungstechnik; Bruchwald, Oliver; Frackowiak, Wojciech; Reimche, Wilfried; Maier, Hans Juergen [Hannover Univ. (Germany). Inst. fuer Werkstoffkunde

    2016-07-01

    This paper gives an overview of four measurement techniques that allow to extensively characterize the status of a worn turbine blade. In addition to the measurement of geometry and surface properties, the condition of the two protective coatings needs to be monitored. Fringe projection was used to detect and quantify geometric variances. The technique was improved using newly developed algorithms like inverse fringe projection. A Michelson interferometer was employed to further analyze areas with geometric defects and characterize the surface morphology of the blade. Pulsed high frequency induction thermography enabled the scanning of the blade for small cracks at or close to the surface. High frequency eddy current testing was used to determine the protective layers status and their thickness.

  17. Wind turbine rotor blade monitoring using digital image correlation: a comparison to aeroelastic simulations of a multi-megawatt wind turbine

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Winstroth, J; Ernst, B; Seume, J R; Schoen, L

    2014-01-01

    Optical full-field measurement methods such as Digital Image Correlation (DIC) provide a new opportunity for measuring deformations and vibrations with high spatial and temporal resolution. However, application to full-scale wind turbines is not trivial. Elaborate preparation of the experiment is vital and sophisticated post processing of the DIC results essential. In the present study, a rotor blade of a 3.2 MW wind turbine is equipped with a random black-and-white dot pattern at four different radial positions. Two cameras are located in front of the wind turbine and the response of the rotor blade is monitored using DIC for different turbine operations. In addition, a Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) system is used in order to measure the wind conditions. Wind fields are created based on the LiDAR measurements and used to perform aeroelastic simulations of the wind turbine by means of advanced multibody codes. The results from the optical DIC system appear plausible when checked against common and expected results. In addition, the comparison of relative out-ofplane blade deflections shows good agreement between DIC results and aeroelastic simulations

  18. Wind turbine rotor blade monitoring using digital image correlation: a comparison to aeroelastic simulations of a multi-megawatt wind turbine

    Science.gov (United States)

    Winstroth, J.; Schoen, L.; Ernst, B.; Seume, J. R.

    2014-06-01

    Optical full-field measurement methods such as Digital Image Correlation (DIC) provide a new opportunity for measuring deformations and vibrations with high spatial and temporal resolution. However, application to full-scale wind turbines is not trivial. Elaborate preparation of the experiment is vital and sophisticated post processing of the DIC results essential. In the present study, a rotor blade of a 3.2 MW wind turbine is equipped with a random black-and-white dot pattern at four different radial positions. Two cameras are located in front of the wind turbine and the response of the rotor blade is monitored using DIC for different turbine operations. In addition, a Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) system is used in order to measure the wind conditions. Wind fields are created based on the LiDAR measurements and used to perform aeroelastic simulations of the wind turbine by means of advanced multibody codes. The results from the optical DIC system appear plausible when checked against common and expected results. In addition, the comparison of relative out-ofplane blade deflections shows good agreement between DIC results and aeroelastic simulations.

  19. Pressure coefficient evolutions on the blades of a Savonius rotor

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Chauvin, A.; Guignard, S. [UMRR 7343, Marseilles (France). Lab. IUSTI; Kamoun, B. [Faculte des Sciences de Sfax (Tunisia). Lab. de Physique

    2012-07-01

    Measurements of the pressure field distribution on the blades of a vertical axis Savonius wind machine are presented. The rotor used in the wind tunnel is a two blades cylindrical shape with a central gap. Pressure gauges are placed on each side of a blade, so the pressure jumps between intrados and extrados of a blade during a whole rotation are drawn. In the static configuration, the machine is disposed at various incidences. The determination of pressure jumps allows to calculate the static torque of the machine versus the incidence angle. In the dynamic situation the machine is rotating at various frequencies and gauges signals are varying dynamically of course with the incidence. The dynamic torque coefficient is calculated. Evolutions of the starting torque and starting conditions are then described and dynamic effects on torque evolution are presented. (orig.)

  20. Remote Monitoring of the Structural Health of Hydrokinetic Composite Turbine Blades

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    J.L. Rovey

    2012-09-21

    A health monitoring approach is investigated for hydrokinetic turbine blade applications. In-service monitoring is critical due to the difficult environment for blade inspection and the cost of inspection downtime. Composite blade designs have advantages that include long life in marine environments and great control over mechanical properties. Experimental strain characteristics are determined for static loads and free-vibration loads. These experiments are designed to simulate the dynamic characteristics of hydrokinetic turbine blades. Carbon/epoxy symmetric composite laminates are manufactured using an autoclave process. Four-layer composite beams, eight-layer composite beams, and two-dimensional eight-layer composite blades are instrumented for strain. Experimental results for strain measurements from electrical resistance gages are validated with theoretical characteristics obtained from in-house finite-element analysis for all sample cases. These preliminary tests on the composite samples show good correlation between experimental and finite-element strain results. A health monitoring system is proposed in which damage to a composite structure, e.g. delamination and fiber breakage, causes changes in the strain signature behavior. The system is based on embedded strain sensors and embedded motes in which strain information is demodulated for wireless transmission. In-service monitoring is critical due to the difficult environment for blade inspection and the cost of inspection downtime. Composite blade designs provide a medium for embedding sensors into the blades for in-situ health monitoring. The major challenge with in-situ health monitoring is transmission of sensor signals from the remote rotating reference frame of the blade to the system monitoring station. In the presented work, a novel system for relaying in-situ blade health measurements in hydrokinetic systems is described and demonstrated. An ultrasonic communication system is used to transmit

  1. Noise aspects at aerodynamic blade optimisation projects

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schepers, J.G.

    1997-06-01

    The Netherlands Energy Research Foundation (ECN) has often been involved in industrial projects, in which blade geometries are created automatic by means of numerical optimisation. Usually, these projects aim at the determination of the aerodynamic optimal wind turbine blade, i.e. the goal is to design a blade which is optimal with regard to energy yield. In other cases, blades have been designed which are optimal with regard to cost of generated energy. However, it is obvious that the wind turbine blade designs which result from these optimisations, are not necessarily optimal with regard to noise emission. In this paper an example is shown of an aerodynamic blade optimisation, using the ECN-program PVOPT. PVOPT calculates the optimal wind turbine blade geometry such that the maximum energy yield is obtained. Using the aerodynamic optimal blade design as a basis, the possibilities of noise reduction are investigated. 11 figs., 8 refs

  2. Genetic particle swarm parallel algorithm analysis of optimization arrangement on mistuned blades

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhao, Tianyu; Yuan, Huiqun; Yang, Wenjun; Sun, Huagang

    2017-12-01

    This article introduces a method of mistuned parameter identification which consists of static frequency testing of blades, dichotomy and finite element analysis. A lumped parameter model of an engine bladed-disc system is then set up. A bladed arrangement optimization method, namely the genetic particle swarm optimization algorithm, is presented. It consists of a discrete particle swarm optimization and a genetic algorithm. From this, the local and global search ability is introduced. CUDA-based co-evolution particle swarm optimization, using a graphics processing unit, is presented and its performance is analysed. The results show that using optimization results can reduce the amplitude and localization of the forced vibration response of a bladed-disc system, while optimization based on the CUDA framework can improve the computing speed. This method could provide support for engineering applications in terms of effectiveness and efficiency.

  3. Probabilistic structural analysis to quantify uncertainties associated with turbopump blades

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nagpal, Vinod K.; Rubinstein, Robert; Chamis, Christos C.

    1987-01-01

    A probabilistic study of turbopump blades has been in progress at NASA Lewis Research Center for over the last two years. The objectives of this study are to evaluate the effects of uncertainties in geometry and material properties on the structural response of the turbopump blades to evaluate the tolerance limits on the design. A methodology based on probabilistic approach has been developed to quantify the effects of the random uncertainties. The results of this study indicate that only the variations in geometry have significant effects.

  4. Ceramic blade with tip seal

    Science.gov (United States)

    Glezer, B.; Bhardwaj, N.K.; Jones, R.B.

    1997-08-05

    The present gas turbine engine includes a disc assembly defining a disc having a plurality of blades attached thereto. The disc has a preestablished rate of thermal expansion and the plurality of blades have a preestablished rate of thermal expansion being less than the preestablished rate of thermal expansion of the disc. A shroud assembly is attached to the gas turbine engine and is spaced from the plurality of blades a preestablished distance forming an interface there between. Positioned in the interface is a seal having a preestablished rate of thermal expansion being generally equal to the rate of thermal expansion of the plurality of blades. 4 figs.

  5. Structural experiment of wind turbine blades; Fushayo blade no zairyo rikigakuteki jikken kenkyu

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Seki, K; Shimizu, Y; Kuroyanagi, H [Tokai University, Tokyo (Japan)

    1997-11-25

    Aluminum, GFRP and composite of aluminum coated with carbon as structural materials for wind turbine blades were bending-tested, to improve blade bending stiffness, understand stress conditions at each position, and clarify structural dynamic strength by the bending-failure test. It is possible to estimate stress conditions at each position from the test results of displacement and strain at each load. The test results with GFRP are well explained qualitatively by the boundary theory, known as a theory for composite materials. The test gives reasonable material strength data, useful for designing wind turbines of high functions and safety. The results of the blade bending-failure test are in good agreement with the calculated structural blade strength. It is also found that GFRP is a good material of high structural strength for wind turbines. 8 refs., 6 tabs.

  6. Adaptor assembly for coupling turbine blades to rotor disks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Garcia-Crespo, Andres Jose; Delvaux, John McConnell

    2014-09-23

    An adaptor assembly for coupling a blade root of a turbine blade to a root slot of a rotor disk is described. The adaptor assembly includes a turbine blade having a blade root and an adaptor body having an adaptor root. The adaptor body defines a slot having an open end configured to receive the blade root of the turbine blade such that the adaptor root of the adaptor body and the blade root of the turbine blade are adjacent to one another when the blade root of the turbine blade is positioned within the slot. Both the adaptor root of the adaptor body and the blade root of the turbine blade are configured to be received within the root slot of the rotor disk.

  7. Design optimization for active twist rotor blades

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mok, Ji Won

    This dissertation introduces the process of optimizing active twist rotor blades in the presence of embedded anisotropic piezo-composite actuators. Optimum design of active twist blades is a complex task, since it involves a rich design space with tightly coupled design variables. The study presents the development of an optimization framework for active helicopter rotor blade cross-sectional design. This optimization framework allows for exploring a rich and highly nonlinear design space in order to optimize the active twist rotor blades. Different analytical components are combined in the framework: cross-sectional analysis (UM/VABS), an automated mesh generator, a beam solver (DYMORE), a three-dimensional local strain recovery module, and a gradient based optimizer within MATLAB. Through the mathematical optimization problem, the static twist actuation performance of a blade is maximized while satisfying a series of blade constraints. These constraints are associated with locations of the center of gravity and elastic axis, blade mass per unit span, fundamental rotating blade frequencies, and the blade strength based on local three-dimensional strain fields under worst loading conditions. Through pre-processing, limitations of the proposed process have been studied. When limitations were detected, resolution strategies were proposed. These include mesh overlapping, element distortion, trailing edge tab modeling, electrode modeling and foam implementation of the mesh generator, and the initial point sensibility of the current optimization scheme. Examples demonstrate the effectiveness of this process. Optimization studies were performed on the NASA/Army/MIT ATR blade case. Even though that design was built and shown significant impact in vibration reduction, the proposed optimization process showed that the design could be improved significantly. The second example, based on a model scale of the AH-64D Apache blade, emphasized the capability of this framework to

  8. A Non-Uniformly Under-Sampled Blade Tip-Timing Signal Reconstruction Method for Blade Vibration Monitoring

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zheng Hu

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available High-speed blades are often prone to fatigue due to severe blade vibrations. In particular, synchronous vibrations can cause irreversible damages to the blade. Blade tip-timing methods (BTT have become a promising way to monitor blade vibrations. However, synchronous vibrations are unsuitably monitored by uniform BTT sampling. Therefore, non-equally mounted probes have been used, which will result in the non-uniformity of the sampling signal. Since under-sampling is an intrinsic drawback of BTT methods, how to analyze non-uniformly under-sampled BTT signals is a big challenge. In this paper, a novel reconstruction method for non-uniformly under-sampled BTT data is presented. The method is based on the periodically non-uniform sampling theorem. Firstly, a mathematical model of a non-uniform BTT sampling process is built. It can be treated as the sum of certain uniform sample streams. For each stream, an interpolating function is required to prevent aliasing in the reconstructed signal. Secondly, simultaneous equations of all interpolating functions in each sub-band are built and corresponding solutions are ultimately derived to remove unwanted replicas of the original signal caused by the sampling, which may overlay the original signal. In the end, numerical simulations and experiments are carried out to validate the feasibility of the proposed method. The results demonstrate the accuracy of the reconstructed signal depends on the sampling frequency, the blade vibration frequency, the blade vibration bandwidth, the probe static offset and the number of samples. In practice, both types of blade vibration signals can be particularly reconstructed by non-uniform BTT data acquired from only two probes.

  9. Channel Control-Blade Interference Management at LaSalle 1 and 2 during 2007 and 2008

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cantonwine, Paul; Crawford, Doug; Downs, Mike [Global Nuclear Fuels, PO Box 780, Wilmington, NC 28402 (United States); Joe, Bertrum [GE-Hitachi, 1989 Little Orchard St., San Jose, CA 95125-1030 (United States); Bahensky, Ted [GE-Hitachi, PO Box 780, Wilmington, NC 28402 (United States); Reimer, John [Exelon Nuclear, 2601 North 21st Road, Marseilles, Il 61341-9757 (United States); Hoz, Carlos del la; Petersen, Ken [Exelon Nuclear, 4300 Winfield Road, Warrenville, IL 60555 (United States); Reitmeyer, Mike [Exelon Nuclear, 200 Exelon Way, Kennett Square, PA 19348 (United States); Morris, Jeff; Zbib, Ali [AREVA NP, 2101 Horn Rapids Road, Richland, WA. 99354 (United States)

    2009-06-15

    This paper provides a summary of the operational experience at LaSalle 1 and LaSalle 2 regarding channel control-blade interference that occurred in 2007 and 2008. Channel distortion data from LaSalle 1 provides a characterization of distortion in all four bundles in cells that experienced channel interference and cells that did not. Also, this paper provides a new channel distortion management strategy implemented at LaSalle 2 that avoided a mid-cycle outage. LaSalle 1 and LaSalle 2 are GE designed Boiling Water Reactors (BWR/5 Type) that generate 1195 MW electric. During 2007 and 2008, each core had 1. and 3. Cycle AREVA ATTRIUM{sup TM} 10 fuel with 100 mil Zr-2 channels and 2. Cycle GNF GE14 fuel with 120/75 mil Zr-2 channels. As a result of the channel control-blade interference observed in 2007 and 2008, two peripheral cells in LaSalle 1 and two (1 peripheral and 1 interior) cells in LaSalle 2 were declared inoperable. The first observations of channel control-blade friction occurred in September 2007 in LaSalle 1 about 6 months prior to the end of a 2-year cycle. LaSalle 2 had started up approximately 6 months earlier and had 18 months left the cycle. The initial observations (eventually seven cells with no-settle conditions were observed in LaSalle) were limited to the peripheral cells where fluence gradient-induced bow was the dominant distortion mechanism. However, near the end of cycle in LaSalle 1 in January 2008, a number of interior cells were unexpectedly found to not settle. These were later determined to be a result of shadow corrosion-induced bow. Further testing to determine the extent of condition found a total of nine interior cells that failed the no-settle criterion. These unexpected observations instigated a significant response that resulted in an extensive expansion of the work scope for the upcoming outage that began on February 4, 2008. Specifically, a large channel measurement campaign and a large re-channeling campaign were added. The

  10. Nonlinear aeroelastic modelling for wind turbine blades based on blade element momentum theory and geometrically exact beam theory

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang, Lin; Liu, Xiongwei; Renevier, Nathalie; Stables, Matthew; Hall, George M.

    2014-01-01

    Due to the increasing size and flexibility of large wind turbine blades, accurate and reliable aeroelastic modelling is playing an important role for the design of large wind turbines. Most existing aeroelastic models are linear models based on assumption of small blade deflections. This assumption is not valid anymore for very flexible blade design because such blades often experience large deflections. In this paper, a novel nonlinear aeroelastic model for large wind turbine blades has been developed by combining BEM (blade element momentum) theory and mixed-form formulation of GEBT (geometrically exact beam theory). The nonlinear aeroelastic model takes account of large blade deflections and thus greatly improves the accuracy of aeroelastic analysis of wind turbine blades. The nonlinear aeroelastic model is implemented in COMSOL Multiphysics and validated with a series of benchmark calculation tests. The results show that good agreement is achieved when compared with experimental data, and its capability of handling large deflections is demonstrated. Finally the nonlinear aeroelastic model is applied to aeroelastic modelling of the parked WindPACT 1.5 MW baseline wind turbine, and reduced flapwise deflection from the nonlinear aeroelastic model is observed compared to the linear aeroelastic code FAST (Fatigue, Aerodynamics, Structures, and Turbulence). - Highlights: • A novel nonlinear aeroelastic model for wind turbine blades is developed. • The model takes account of large blade deflections and geometric nonlinearities. • The model is reliable and efficient for aeroelastic modelling of wind turbine blades. • The accuracy of the model is verified by a series of benchmark calculation tests. • The model provides more realistic aeroelastic modelling than FAST (Fatigue, Aerodynamics, Structures, and Turbulence)

  11. A multi-frequency fatigue testing method for wind turbine rotor blades

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eder, M. A.; Belloni, F.; Tesauro, A.; Hanis, T.

    2017-02-01

    Rotor blades are among the most delicate components of modern wind turbines. Reliability is a crucial aspect, since blades shall ideally remain free of failure under ultra-high cycle loading conditions throughout their designated lifetime of 20-25 years. Full-scale blade tests are the most accurate means to experimentally simulate damage evolution under operating conditions, and are therefore used to demonstrate that a blade type fulfils the reliability requirements to an acceptable degree of confidence. The state-of-the-art testing method for rotor blades in industry is based on resonance excitation where typically a rotating mass excites the blade close to its first natural frequency. During operation the blade response due to external forcing is governed by a weighted combination of its eigenmodes. Current test methodologies which only utilise the lowest eigenfrequency induce a fictitious damage where additional tuning masses are required to recover the desired damage distribution. Even with the commonly adopted amplitude upscaling technique fatigue tests remain a time-consuming and costly endeavour. The application of tuning masses increases the complexity of the problem by lowering the natural frequency of the blade and therefore increasing the testing time. The novel method presented in this paper aims at shortening the duration of the state-of-the-art fatigue testing method by simultaneously exciting the blade with a combination of two or more eigenfrequencies. Taking advantage of the different shapes of the excited eigenmodes, the actual spatial damage distribution can be more realistically simulated in the tests by tuning the excitation force amplitudes rather than adding tuning masses. This implies that in portions of the blade the lowest mode is governing the damage whereas in others higher modes contribute more significantly due to their higher cycle count. A numerical feasibility study based on a publicly available large utility rotor blade is used to

  12. Vibration analysis of gas turbine blade using FEM

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Iqbal, M.J.; Chohan, G.Y.; Khusnood, S.; Khan, M.A.

    2003-01-01

    In a typical turbo-machine, there is a stator row of blades, which guide the gases onto a rotor row of blades, to extract the mechanical power from the machine. A typical rotor blade was sees upstream disturbance from the stator row and as it rotates, receive a corresponding number of increasing and decreasing lift and moment forces alternating periodically, depending on the number of stator blades/nozzles/guide vanes. Thus all the blades in a turbo-machine receiver their major periodic excitation at a frequency equal to nozzle passing frequency. Since these forces are periodic, one has to consider several number of these harmonics in determining whether resonance takes place, when one of these harmonics coincides with any of the natural frequencies of the blades. Turbine blades have a variety of natural modes of vibration, predominantly as blade alone but also in combination with flexing of the disc rim. These mode occur at characteristic frequencies, which are determined by the distribution of mass and stiffness (in bending or torsion), resulting from the variable thickness over the blade area. Since the advent of steam turbines and their application in various sectors of industry, it is a common experience that a blade failure is a major cause of breakdown in these machines. Blade failures due to fatigue are predominantly vibration related. The dynamic loads on the blading can arise from many sources, the predominant being the source of the operation principles on which the machine is designed. This work deals with vibration analysis of a gas turbine blade using a finite element package ANSYS. Determined the natural frequencies and mode shapes for a turbine blade and a rectangular blade. Results have been validated experimentally using a rectangular blade. ANSYS results have also been compared against published results. (author)

  13. Investigations on Vibration Characteristics of Sma Embedded Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine Blade

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jagadeesh, V.; Yuvaraja, M.; Chandhru, A.; Viswanathan, P.; Senthil kumar, M.

    2018-02-01

    Vibration induced in wind turbine blade is a solemn problem as it reduces the life of the blade and also it can create critical vibration onto the tower, which may cause serious damage to the tower. The aim of this paper is to investigate the vibration characteristics of the prototype horizontal axis wind turbine blade. Shape memory alloys (SMA), with its variable physical properties, provides an alternative actuating mechanism. Heating an SMA causes a change in the elastic modulus of the material and hence SMAs are used as a damping material. A prototype blade with S1223 profile has been manufactured and the natural frequency is found. The natural frequency is found by incorporating the single SMA wire of 0.5mm diameter over the surface of the blade for a length of 240 mm. Similarly, number of SMA wires over the blade is increased up to 3 and the natural frequency is found. Frequency responses showed that the embedment of SMA over the blade’s surface will increase the natural frequency and reduce the amplitude of vibration. This is because of super elastic nature of SMA. In this paper, when SMA wire of 0.5 mm diameter and of length of 720 mm is embedded on the blade, an increase in the natural frequency by 6.3% and reducing the amplitude by 64.8%. Results of the experimental modal and harmonic indicates the effectiveness of SMA as a passive vibration absorber and that it has potential as a modest and high-performance method for controlling vibration of the blade.

  14. Aerodynamic Analysis of Morphing Blades

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harris, Caleb; Macphee, David; Carlisle, Madeline

    2016-11-01

    Interest in morphing blades has grown with applications for wind turbines and other aerodynamic blades. This passive control method has advantages over active control methods such as lower manufacturing and upkeep costs. This study has investigated the lift and drag forces on individual blades with experimental and computational analysis. The goal has been to show that these blades delay stall and provide larger lift-to-drag ratios at various angles of attack. Rigid and flexible airfoils were cast from polyurethane and silicone respectively, then lift and drag forces were collected from a load cell during 2-D testing in a wind tunnel. Experimental data was used to validate computational models in OpenFOAM. A finite volume fluid-structure-interaction solver was used to model the flexible blade in fluid flow. Preliminary results indicate delay in stall and larger lift-to-drag ratios by maintaining more optimal angles of attack when flexing. Funding from NSF REU site Grant EEC 1358991 is greatly appreciated.

  15. Mechanical Design, Analysis, and Testing of a Two-Bladed Wind Turbine Hub

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cotrell, J.

    2002-06-01

    Researchers at the National Wind Technology Center (NWTC) in Golden, Colorado, began performing the Unsteady Aerodynamics Experiment in 1993 to better understand the unsteady aerodynamics and structural responses of horizontal-axis wind turbines. The experiment consists of an extensively instrumented, downwind, three-bladed, 20-kilowatt wind turbine. In May 1995, I received a request from the NWTC to design a two-bladed hub for the experiment. For my thesis, I present the results of the mechanical design, analysis, and testing of the hub. The hub I designed is unique because it runs in rigid, teetering, or independent blade-flapping modes. In addition, the design is unusual because it uses two servomotors to pitch the blades independently. These features are used to investigate new load reduction, noise reduction, blade pitch optimization, and yaw control techniques for two-bladed turbines. I used a methodology by G. Phal and W. Bietz to design the hub. The hub meets all the performance specifications except that it achieves only 90% of the specified teeter range. In my thesis, I focus on the analysis and testing of the hub body. I performed solid-mechanics calculations, ran a finite-element analysis simulation, and experimentally investigated the structural integrity of the hub body.

  16. Vibration and Damping Analysis of Composite Fiber Reinforced Wind Blade with Viscoelastic Damping Control

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tai-Hong Cheng

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Composite materials are increasingly used in wind blade because of their superior mechanical properties such as high strength-to-weight and stiffness-to-weight ratio. This paper presents vibration and damping analysis of fiberreinforced composite wind turbine blade with viscoelastic damping treatment. The finite element method based on full layerwise displacement theory was employed to analyze the damping, natural frequency, and modal loss factor of composite shell structure. The lamination angle was considered in mathematical modeling. The curved geometry, transverse shear, and normal strains were exactly considered in present layerwise shell model, which can depict the zig-zag in-plane and out-of-plane displacements. The frequency response functions of curved composite shell structure and wind blade were calculated. The results show that the damping ratio of viscoelastic layer is found to be very sensitive to determination of magnitude of composite structures. The frequency response functions with variety of thickness of damping layer were investigated. Moreover, the natural frequency, modal loss factor, and mode shapes of composite fiber reinforced wind blade with viscoelastic damping control were calculated.

  17. Blade row dynamic digital compression program. Volume 2: J85 circumferential distortion redistribution model, effect of Stator characteristics, and stage characteristics sensitivity study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tesch, W. A.; Steenken, W. G.

    1978-01-01

    The results of dynamic digital blade row compressor model studies of a J85-13 engine are reported. The initial portion of the study was concerned with the calculation of the circumferential redistribution effects in the blade-free volumes forward and aft of the compression component. Although blade-free redistribution effects were estimated, no significant improvement over the parallel-compressor type solution in the prediction of total-pressure inlet distortion stability limit was obtained for the J85-13 engine. Further analysis was directed to identifying the rotor dynamic response to spatial circumferential distortions. Inclusion of the rotor dynamic response led to a considerable gain in the ability of the model to match the test data. The impact of variable stator loss on the prediction of the stability limit was evaluated. An assessment of measurement error on the derivation of the stage characteristics and predicted stability limit of the compressor was also performed.

  18. Reliability of wind turbine blades: An overview of materials testing

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Holmes, John W.; Sørensen, Bent F.; Brøndsted, Povl

    2007-01-01

    an understanding of how damage develops in composite structures, composite materials and adhesives. Designing reliable wind turbine blades also requires the further development of laboratory scale and full scale test methods to evaluate the structural response and durability of new materials under various loading......The structural reliability of wind turbine components can have a profound impact on both the profitability and reputation of a wind turbine manufacturer or supplier of wind turbine components. The issue of reliability is of critical concern when large wind farm co-operatives are considered......, and when wind turbines are located in remote regions where the cost of inspections and repairs can be very high. From a structural viewpoint, wind turbine blades are subjected to very complex loading histories with coupled deformation modes. The long-term reliability of wind turbine blades requires...

  19. The Performance Test of Three Different Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine (HAWT Blade Shapes Using Experimental and Numerical Methods

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wen-Tong Chong

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available Three different horizontal axis wind turbine (HAWT blade geometries with the same diameter of 0.72 m using the same NACA4418 airfoil profile have been investigated both experimentally and numerically. The first is an optimum (OPT blade shape, obtained using improved blade element momentum (BEM theory. A detailed description of the blade geometry is also given. The second is an untapered and optimum twist (UOT blade with the same twist distributions as the OPT blade. The third blade is untapered and untwisted (UUT. Wind tunnel experiments were used to measure the power coefficients of these blades, and the results indicate that both the OPT and UOT blades perform with the same maximum power coefficient, Cp = 0.428, but it is located at different tip speed ratio, λ = 4.92 for the OPT blade and λ = 4.32 for the UOT blade. The UUT blade has a maximum power coefficient of Cp = 0.210 at λ = 3.86. After the tests, numerical simulations were performed using a full three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD method using the k-ω SST turbulence model. It has been found that CFD predictions reproduce the most accurate model power coefficients. The good agreement between the measured and computed power coefficients of the three models strongly suggest that accurate predictions of HAWT blade performance at full-scale conditions are also possible using the CFD method.

  20. Repair welding of cracked steam turbine blades

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bhaduri, A.K.; Gill, T.P.S.; Albert, S.K.; Shanmugam, K.; Iyer, D.R.

    1999-01-01

    The procedure for repair welding of cracked steam turbine blades made of martensitic stainless steels has been developed using the gas tungsten arc welding process. Weld repair procedures were developed using both ER316L austenitic stainless steel filler wire and ER410 martensitic stainless steel filler wire. The repair welding procedure with austenitic filler wire was developed to avoid preheating of the blade as also hydrogen induced cold cracking, and involved evaluation of three different austenitic filler wires, viz. ER309L, ER316L and ERNiCr-3. The overall development of the repair welding procedure included selection of welding consumables (for austenitic filler metal), optimisation of post weld heat treatment parameters, selection of suitable method for local pre-heating and post-weld heat treatment (PWHT) of the blades, determination of mechanical properties of weldments in as-welded and PWHT conditions, and microstructural examination. After various trials using different procedures, the procedure of local PWHT using electrical resistance heating on the top surface of the weldment and monitoring the temperature by placing a thermocouple at the bottom of the weld, was found to give the most satisfactory results. A similar procedure was used for preheating while using ER410 filler metal. Mechanical testing of weldments before and after PWHT involved tensile tests at room temperature, face and root bend tests, and microhardness measurements across the fusion line and heat affected zone. During procedure qualification, mock-ups and actual repair welding, dye penetrant testing was used at different stages and where ever possible radiography was carried out. These procedures were developed for repair welding of cracked blades in the low-pressure (LP) steam turbines of Indian nuclear power plants. The procedure with ER316 L filler wire has so far been applied for repair welding of 2 cracked blades (made of AISI 410 SS) of LP steam turbines, while the procedure

  1. Wind blade spar cap and method of making

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mohamed, Mansour H [Raleigh, NC

    2008-05-27

    A wind blade spar cap for strengthening a wind blade including an integral, unitary three-dimensional woven material having a first end and a second end, corresponding to a root end of the blade and a tip end of the blade, wherein the material tapers in width from the first to the second end while maintaining a constant thickness and decreasing weight therebetween, the cap being capable of being affixed to the blade for providing increased strength with controlled variation in weight from the root end to the tip end based upon the tapered width of the material thereof. The present inventions also include the method of making the wind blade spar cap and a wind blade including the wind blade spar cap.

  2. Composite ceramic blade for a gas turbine

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rossmann, A; Hoffmueller, W; Krueger, W

    1980-06-26

    The gas turbine blade consists of a supporting metal core which has at its lower end a modelled root and a profile blade made of ceramics enclosing it at some distance. The invention deals with a reliable connection between these two parts of the rotor blade: from the top end of the blade core a head protrudes supporting the thin-walled profile blade from below with a projection each pointing into the interior. The design of the projections and supporting surfaces is described and illustrated by drawings.

  3. A zero torsional stiffness twist morphing blade as a wind turbine load alleviation device

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lachenal, X.; Daynes, S.; Weaver, P. M.

    2013-06-01

    This paper presents the design, analysis and realization of a zero stiffness twist morphing wind turbine blade. The morphing blade is designed to actively twist as a means of alleviating the gust loads which reduce the fatigue life of wind turbine blades. The morphing structure exploits an elastic strain energy balance within the blade to enable large twisting deformations with modest actuation requirements. While twist is introduced using the warping of the blade skin, internal pre-stressed members ensure that a constant strain energy balance is achieved throughout the deformation, resulting in a zero torsional stiffness structure. The torsional stability of the morphing blade is characterized by analysing the elastic strain energy in the device. Analytical models of the skin, the pre-stressed components and the complete blade are compared to their respective finite element models as well as experimental results. The load alleviation potential of the adaptive structure is quantified using a two-dimensional steady flow aerodynamic model which is experimentally validated with wind tunnel measurements.

  4. CFD simulation of crossflow mixing in a rod bundle with mixing blades

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    In, W. K.

    1999-01-01

    A CFD model was developed in this study to simulate the crossflow mixing in a 4x4 square array rod bundle caused by ripped-open blades. The central subchannel and adjacent subchannels of one grid span were modeled using flow symmetry. The lateral velocity pattern within the central subchannel, lateral velocity and the turbulence intensity in the rod gap region were predicted by the CFD method, and the predictions were compared with the measurements. The CFD simulation shows a vortex flow around the fuel rod caused by a pair of blades, which is consistent with the experimental results. The CFD predictions of the lateral velocity on the mixing sections show a near symmetric profile, but the measurements present an asymmetric velocity profile leading to an inversion of lateral velocity. The predicted mixing rate between the central subchannel and the adjacent subchannels reasonably agrees with the measured one. The CFD prediction shows a parabolic distribution of the RMS velocity but the measured one shows a rather flat distribution near the blade that develops to a parabolic distribution far downstream (L=29De). The predicted average RMS velocity on a mixing section is also slightly lower than the measured one. This study confirmed that the CFD simulation can present the effect of the ripped-open blades on the crossflow mixing in a rod bundle well

  5. Influence of loading distribution on the performance of high pressure turbine blades

    Science.gov (United States)

    Corriveau, Daniel

    Midspan measurements were made in a transonic wind tunnel for three High Pressure (HP) turbine blade cascades at both design and off-design incidences. Comparisons with two-dimensional numerical simulations of the cascade flow were also made. The baseline profile is the midspan section of a HP turbine blade of fairly recent design. It is considered mid-loaded. To gain a better understanding of blade loading limits and the influence of loading distributions, the profile of the baseline airfoil was modified to create two new airfoils having aft-loaded and front-loaded pressure distributions. Tests were performed for exit Mach numbers between 0.6 and 1.2. In addition, measurements were made for an extended range of Reynolds numbers for constant Mach numbers of 0.6, 0.85, 0.95 and 1.05. At the design exit Mach number of 1.05 and at design incidence, the aft-loaded airfoil showed a reduction of almost 20% in the total pressure losses compared with the baseline airfoil. Based on the analysis of wake traverse data and base pressure measurements combined with numerical results, it was found that the poorer loss performance of the baseline mid-loaded profile compared to the aft-loaded blade could be attributed to the former's higher rear suction side curvature, which resulted in higher flow velocity in that region, which, in turn, contributed to reducing the base pressure. The lower base pressure at the trailing edge resulted in a stronger trailing edge shock system for the mid-loaded blade. This shock system increased the losses for the mid-loaded baseline profile when compared to the aft-loaded profile. On the negative side, it was also found that as Mach numbers were increased beyond the design value the performance of the aft-loaded blade deteriorated rapidly. Under such conditions, the front-loaded airfoil showed generally inferior performance compared with the baseline airfoil. At off-design incidence, the aft-loaded blade maintained a superior loss performance over a

  6. Full-Scale Field Test of a Blade-Integrated Dual-Telescope Wind Lidar

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pedersen, Anders Tegtmeier; Sjöholm, Mikael; Angelou, Nikolas

    . Simultaneously, data regarding wind speed, rotational speed, and pitch angle recorded by the turbine was logged as well as data from a nearby met mast. The encouraging results of this first campaign include wind speed measurements at 20 Hz data rate along the rotor plane, acquired during the co...... in the top and bottom of the rotor plane. Conclusion We present here what we believe is the first successful wind speed measurements from a dual-telescope lidar installed on the blade of an operating wind turbine. The full-scale field test performed in the summer of 2012 has clearly demonstrated...... the possibility of integrating lidar telescopes into turbine blades as well as the capability of the lidar to measure the required wind speeds and to operate in the challenging environment of a rotating spinner and vibrating blade. The use of two separate telescopes allows a direct measurement of the blade’s AOA...

  7. Laparoscopic pyloromyotomy: comparing the arthrotomy knife to the Bovie blade.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thomas, Priscilla G; Sharp, Nicole E; St Peter, Shawn D

    2014-07-01

    Laparoscopic pyloromyotomy was performed at our institution using an arthrotomy knife until it became unavailable in 2010. Thus, we adapted the use of the blunt Bovie tip, which can be used with or without electrocautery to perform the myotomy. This study compared the outcomes between using the arthrotomy knife versus the Bovie blade in laparoscopic pyloromyotomies. Retrospective review was performed on all laparoscopic pyloromyotomy patients from October 2007 to September 2012. Arthrotomy knife pyloromyotomy patients were compared with those performed with the Bovie blade. Patient demographics, diagnostic measurements, electrolyte levels, length of stay, operative time, and complications were compared. A total of 381 patients were included, with 191 in the arthrotomy group and 190 in the Bovie blade group. No significant differences existed between groups in age, weight, gender, pyloric dimensions, electrolyte levels, or length of stay. Mean operative times were 15.8±5.6 min with knife and 16.4±5.3 min for Bovie blade (P=0.24). In the arthrotomy knife group, there was one incomplete pyloromyotomy and one omental herniation. There was one wound infection in each group. Readmission rate was greater in the arthrotomy knife group (5.7%) versus the Bovie blade group (3.1%). The Bovie blade appears to offer no objective disadvantages compared with the arthrotomy knife when performing laparoscopic pyloromyotomy. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  8. Experimental and Computational Investigation of Triple-rotating Blades in a Mower Deck

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chon, Woochong; Amano, Ryoichi S.

    Experimental and computational studies were performed on the 1.27m wide three-spindle lawn mower deck with side discharge arrangement. Laser Doppler Velocimetry was used to measure the air velocity at 12 different sections under the mower deck. The high-speed video camera test provided valuable visual evidence of airflow and grass discharge patterns. The strain gages were attached at several predetermined locations of the mower blades to measure the strain. In computational fluid dynamics work, computer based analytical studies were performed. During this phase of work, two different trials were attempted. First, two-dimensional blade shapes at several arbitrary radial sections were selected for flow computations around the blade model. Finally, a three-dimensional full deck model was developed and compared with the experimental results.

  9. Assessment Report on Innovative Rotor Blades (MAREWINT WP1,D1.3)

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    McGugan, Malcolm; Leble, Vladimir; Pereira, Gilmar Ferreira

    The offshore wind energy industry faces many challenges in the short to medium term if it is to meet the ambitions of the global community for sustainable energy supply in the future. Not least among these challenges is the issue of rotor blades. Innovative design for “smart” rotor blades...... the innovative concept development for wind turbine blades. This covers models and experiments with damage measurement systems embedded within the composite material/structure and numerical methods investigating the effects of leading and trailing edge flaps on modifying the aerodynamic loads on the operating...... rotor....

  10. About the problems and perspectives of making precision compressor blades

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    V. E. Galiev

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available The problems of manufacturing blades with high precision profile geometry are considered in the article. The variant of the technology under development rules out the use of mechanical processing methods for blades airfoil. The article consists of an introduction and six small sections.The introduction sets out the requirements for modern aircraft engines, makes a list of problems arisen in the process of their manufacturing, and marks the relevance of the work.The first section analyzes the existing technology of precision blades. There is an illustration reflecting the stages of the process. Their advantages and disadvantages are marked.The second section provides an illustration, which shows the system-based blades used in the manufacturing process and a model of the work piece using the technology being developed. An analysis of each basing scheme is presented.In the third section we list the existing control methods of geometrical parameters of blades airfoil and present the measurement error data of devices. The special attention is paid to the impossibility to control the accuracy of geometrical parameters of precision blades.The fourth section presents the advantages of the electrochemical machining method with a consistent vibration of tool-electrode and with feeding the pulses of technology current over the traditional method. The article presents data accuracy and surface roughness of the blades airfoil reached owing to precision electrochemical machining. It illustrates machines that implement the given method of processing and components manufactured on them.The fifth section describes the steps of the developed process with justification for the use of the proposed operations.Based on the analysis, the author argues that the application of the proposed process to manufacture the precision compressor blades ensures producing the items that meet the requirements of the drawing.

  11. Numerical analysis of turbine blade tip treatments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gopalaswamy, Nath S.; Whitaker, Kevin W.

    1992-01-01

    Three-dimensional solutions of the Navier-Stokes equations for a turbine blade with a turning angle of 180 degrees have been computed, including blade tip treatments involving cavities. The geometry approximates a preliminary design for the GGOT (Generic Gas Oxidizer Turbine). The data presented here will be compared with experimental data to be obtained from a linear cascade using original GGOT blades. Results have been computed for a blade with 1 percent clearance, based on chord, and three different cavity sizes. All tests were conducted at a Reynolds number of 4 x 10 exp 7. The grid contains 39,440 points with 10 spanwise planes in the tip clearance region of 5.008E-04 m. Streamline plots and velocity vectors together with velocity divergence plots reveal the general flow behavior in the clearance region. Blade tip temperature calculations suggest placement of a cavity close to the upstream side of the blade tip for reduction of overall blade tip temperature. The solutions do not account for the relative motion between the endwall and the turbine blade. The solutions obtained are generally consistent with previous work done in this area,

  12. Wind turbine blade waste in 2050.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Pu; Barlow, Claire Y

    2017-04-01

    Wind energy has developed rapidly over the last two decades to become one of the most promising and economically viable sources of renewable energy. Although wind energy is claimed to provide clean renewable energy without any emissions during operation, but it is only one side of the coin. The blades, one of the most important components in the wind turbines, made with composite, are currently regarded as unrecyclable. With the first wave of early commercial wind turbine installations now approaching their end of life, the problem of blade disposal is just beginning to emerge as a significant factor for the future. This paper is aimed at discovering the magnitude of the wind turbine blade waste problem, looking not only at disposal but at all stages of a blade's lifecycle. The first stage of the research, the subject of this paper, is to accurately estimate present and future wind turbine blade waste inventory using the most recent and most accurate data available. The result will provide a solid reference point to help the industry and policy makers to understand the size of potential environmental problem and to help to manage it better. This study starts by estimating the annual blade material usage with wind energy installed capacity and average blade weight. The effect of other waste contributing factors in the full lifecycle of wind turbine blades is then included, using industrial data from the manufacturing, testing and in-service stages. The research indicates that there will be 43 million tonnes of blade waste worldwide by 2050 with China possessing 40% of the waste, Europe 25%, the United States 16% and the rest of the world 19%. Crown Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  13. A Take Stock of Turbine Blades Failure Phenomenon

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roy, Abhijit

    2018-02-01

    Turbine Blade design and engineering is one of the most complicated and important aspects of turbine technology. Experiments with blades can be simple or very complicated, depending upon parameters of analysis. Turbine blades are subjected to vigorous environments, such as high temperatures, high stresses, and a potentially high vibration environment. All these factors can lead to blade failures, which can destroy the turbine, and engine, so careful design is the prime consideration to resist those conditions. A high cycle of fatigue of compressor and turbine blades due to high dynamic stress caused by blade vibration and resonance within the operating range of machinery is common failure mode for turbine machine. Continuous study and investigation on failure of turbine blades are going on since last five decades. Some review papers published during these days aiming to present a review on recent studies and investigations done on failures of turbine blades. All the detailed literature related with the turbine blades has not been described but emphasized to provide all the methodologies of failures adopted by various researches to investigate turbine blade. This paper illustrate on various factors of failure.

  14. Wind Turbine Blade with Angled Girders

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    2011-01-01

    The present invention relates to a reinforced blade for a wind turbine, particularly to a blade having a new arrangement of two or more girders in the blade, wherein each of the girders is connected to the upper part and the lower part of the shell and forms an angle with another girder thereby...

  15. Advances in wind turbine blade design and materials

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Wind energy is gaining critical ground in the area of renewable energy, with wind energy being predicted to provide up to 8% of the world’s consumption of electricity by 2021. Advances in wind turbine blade design and materials reviews the design and functionality of wind turbine rotor blades...... as well as the requirements and challenges for composite materials used in both current and future designs of wind turbine blades. Part one outlines the challenges and developments in wind turbine blade design, including aerodynamic and aeroelastic design features, fatigue loads on wind turbine blades......, and characteristics of wind turbine blade airfoils. Part two discusses the fatigue behavior of composite wind turbine blades, including the micromechanical modelling and fatigue life prediction of wind turbine blade composite materials, and the effects of resin and reinforcement variations on the fatigue resistance...

  16. Development of Self-Powered Wireless Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) for Wind Turbine Blades

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lim, Dong-Won

    Wind turbine blade failure can lead to unexpected power interruptions. Monitoring wind turbine blades is important to ensure seamless electricity delivery from power generation to consumers. Structural health monitoring (SHM) enables early recognition of structural problems so that the safety and reliability of operation can be enhanced. This dissertation focuses on the development of a wireless SHM system for wind turbine blades. The sensor is comprised of a piezoelectric energy harvester (EH) and a telemetry unit. The sensor node is mounted on the blade surface. As the blade rotates, the blade flexes, and the energy harvester captures the strain energy on the blade surface. Once sufficient electricity is captured, a pulse is sent from the sensing node to a gateway. Then, a central monitoring algorithm processes a series of pulses received from all three blades. This wireless SHM, which uses commercially available components, can be retrofitted to existing turbines. The harvested energy for sensing can be estimated in terms of two factors: the available strain energy and conversion efficiency. The available strain energy was evaluated using the FAST (Fatigue, Aerodynamics, Structures, and Turbulence) simulator. The conversion efficiency was studied analytically and experimentally. An experimental set-up was designed to mimic the expected strain frequency and amplitude for rotor blades. From a series of experiments, the efficiency of a piezoelectric EH at a typical rotor speed (0.2 Hz) was approximately 0.5%. The power requirement for sending one measurement (280 muJ) can be achieved in 10 minutes. Designing a detection algorithm is challenging due to this low sampling rate. A new sensing approach-the timing of pulses from the transmitter-was introduced. This pulse timing, which is tied to the charging time, is indicative of the structural health. The SHM system exploits the inherent triple redundancy of the three blades. The timing data of the three blades are

  17. Fundamentals for remote structural health monitoring of wind turbine blades - a preproject. Annex E. Full-scale test of wind turbine blade, using sensors and NDT

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kristensen, O.J.D.; McGugan, Malcolm; Sendrup, P.

    2002-01-01

    A 19.1 metre wind turbine blade was subjected to static tests. The purpose of the test series was to verify the abilities of different types of sensors to detect damage in wind turbine blades. Prior to each of the static test-series an artificial damagewas made on the blade. The damage made...... for each test-series was surveyed during each series by acoustic emission, fiber optic micro bend displacement transducers and strain gauges. The propagation of the damage was determined by use of ultra sonic andX-ray surveillance during stops in the test-series. By use of acoustic emission it was possible...... to measure damage propagation before the propagation was of visible size. By use of fiber optic micro bend displacement transducers and strain gauges it waspossible to measure minor damage propagation. By use of both ultra sonic, and X-ray NDT-equipment it were possible to determine the size of propagated...

  18. Parametric Blade Study Test Report Rotor Configuration. Number 4

    Science.gov (United States)

    1988-11-01

    Figure 2. The rotor shaft is mounted on an oil-damped roller bearing at the forward location and a ball bearing at the aft location; radial runout does...thermodynamic properties. 22 d. Corrections were made to measured compressor temperatures and pressures, facility flowrate, and rotor wheel speed to...1152 .Z660 .1024 STRM- BLADE BLADE WHEEL LINE SECT. LEAN SPEED NUMBER ANGLE ANGLE 1 -55.15 7.32 1497.9 2 -53.85 8.09 1434.7 3 -52.96 7.11 1372.1 4

  19. Parametric Blade Study Test Report Rotor Configuration. Number 1

    Science.gov (United States)

    1988-11-01

    location and a ball bearing at the aft location; radial runout does not exceed 0.001 inch. Forward and aft buffer controlled gap carbon seals were used...made to measured compressor temperatures and pressures, facility flowrate, and rotor wheel speed to correspond to standard inlet conditions of...0662 .1034 STRM- BLADE BLADE WHEEL LINE SECT. LEAN SPEED NUMBER ANGLE ANGLE I -53.96 7.35 1497.5 2 -52.68 8.11 1434.6 3 -51.88 7.15 1372.5 4 -50.49

  20. Manufacturing issues which affect coating erosion performance in wind turbine blades

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cortés, E.; Sánchez, F.; Domenech, L.; Olivares, A.; Young, T. M.; O'Carroll, A.; Chinesta, F.

    2017-10-01

    Erosion damage, caused by repeated rain droplet impact on the leading edges of wind turbine blades, is a major cause for cost concern. Resin Infusion (RI) is used in wind energy blades where low weight and high mechanical performance materials are demanded. The surface coating plays a crucial role in the manufacturing and performance response. The Leading Edge coating is usually moulded, painted or sprayed onto the blade surface so adequate adhesion in the layers' characterization through the thickness is required for mechanical performance and durability reasons. In the current work, an investigation has been directed into the resulting rain erosion durability of the coating was undertaken through a combination of mass loss testing measurements with manufacturing processing parameter variations. The adhesion and erosion is affected by the shock wave caused by the collapsing water droplet on impact. The stress waves are transmitted to the substrate, so microestructural discontinuities in coating layers and interfaces play a key role on its degradation. Standard industrial systems are based on a multilayer system, with a high number of interfaces that tend to accelerate erosion by delamination. Analytical and numerical models are commonly used to relate lifetime prediction and to identify suitable coating and composite substrate combinations and their potential stress reduction on the interface. In this research, the input parameters for the appropriate definition of the Cohesive Zone Modelling (CZM) of the coating-substrate interface are outlined by means of Pull off testing and Peeling testing results. It allowed one to optimize manufacturing and coating process for blades into a knowledge-based guidance for leading edge coating material development. It was achieved by investigating the erosion degradation process using both numerical and laboratory techniques (Pull off, Peeling and Rain Erosion Testing in a whirling arm rain erosion test facility).

  1. Comparison of single-use and reusable metal laryngoscope blades for orotracheal intubation during rapid sequence induction of anesthesia: a multicenter cluster randomized study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Amour, Julien; Le Manach, Yannick Le; Borel, Marie; Lenfant, François; Nicolas-Robin, Armelle; Carillion, Aude; Ripart, Jacques; Riou, Bruno; Langeron, Olivier

    2010-02-01

    Single-use metal laryngoscope blades are cheaper and carry a lower risk of infection than reusable metal blades. The authors compared single-use and reusable metal blades during rapid sequence induction of anesthesia in a multicenter cluster randomized trial. One thousand seventy-two adult patients undergoing general anesthesia under emergency conditions and requiring rapid sequence induction were randomly assigned on a weekly basis to either single-use or reusable metal blades (cluster randomization). After induction, a 60-s period was allowed to complete intubation. In the case of failed intubation, a second attempt was performed using the opposite type of blade. The primary endpoint was the rate of failed intubation, and the secondary endpoints were the incidence of complications (oxygen desaturation, lung aspiration, and/or oropharynx trauma) and the Cormack and Lehane score. Both groups were similar in their main characteristics, including the risk factors for difficult intubation. The rate of failed intubation was significantly decreased with single-use metal blades at the first attempt compared with reusable blades (2.8 vs. 5.4%, P < 0.05). In addition, the proportion of grades III and IV in Cormack and Lehane score were also significantly decreased with single-use metal blades (6 vs. 10%, P < 0.05). The global complication rate did not reach statistical significance, although the same trend was noted (6.8% vs. 11.5%, P = not significant). An investigator survey and a measure of illumination pointed that illumination might have been responsible for this result. The single-use metal blade was more efficient than a reusable metal blade in rapid sequence induction of anesthesia.

  2. A New Adaptive Response Surface Model for Reliability Analysis of 2.5D C/SiC Composite Turbine Blade

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chang, Yaning; Sun, Zhigang; Sun, Weiyi; Song, Yingdong

    2017-11-01

    In order to calculate the failure probability of complex structures such as a 2.5D/SiC composites turbine blade and improve the structure safety, a new adaptive model of Response Surface (RS) analysis has been developed in this paper, which can improve the computational efficiency of structural failure problem while ensure the accuracy. The Gaussian Process Regression (GPR) theory was used to establish the RS and reconstruct the performance function of structure. And, an Adaptive Latin hypercube Sampling (ALHS) strategy was adopted in the process of establishing and correcting the RS. Finally the Direct Simulation Monte Carlo(DSMC)was utilized to calculate the failure probability of the performance function replacing the complex structure. Two numerical examples were calculated to validate the accuracy and computational efficiency of the proposed method. Additionally the finite element stress analysis results of 2.5D C/SiC composite turbine blade were used to structural reliability analysis by the proposed method. The approach in this paper provides a new way to evaluate the risk of the complex structures.

  3. Doctor Blade-Coated Polymer Solar Cells

    KAUST Repository

    Cho, Nam Chul

    2016-10-25

    In this work, we report polymer solar cells based on blade-coated P3HT:PC71BM and PBDTTT-EFT:PC71BM bulk heterojunction photoactive layers. Enhanced power conversion efficiency of 2.75 (conventional structure) and 3.03% (inverted structure) with improved reproducibility was obtained from blade-coated P3HT:PC71BM solar cells, compared to spin-coated ones. Furthermore, by demonstrating 3.10% efficiency flexible solar cells using blade-coated PBDTTT-EFT:PC71BM films on the plastic substrates, we suggest the potential applicability of blade coating technique to the high throughput roll-to-roll fabrication systems.

  4. Application of a system modification technique to dynamic tuning of a spinning rotor blade

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spain, C. V.

    1987-01-01

    An important consideration in the development of modern helicopters is the vibratory response of the main rotor blade. One way to minimize vibration levels is to ensure that natural frequencies of the spinning main rotor blade are well removed from integer multiples of the rotor speed. A technique for dynamically tuning a finite-element model of a rotor blade to accomplish that end is demonstrated. A brief overview is given of the general purpose finite element system known as Engineering Analysis Language (EAL) which was used in this work. A description of the EAL System Modification (SM) processor is then given along with an explanation of special algorithms developed to be used in conjunction with SM. Finally, this technique is demonstrated by dynamically tuning a model of an advanced composite rotor blade.

  5. Measurement of Tip Apex Distance and Migration of Lag Screws and Novel Blade Screw Used for the Fixation of Intertrochanteric Fractures.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jesse Chieh-Szu Yang

    Full Text Available Fixation with a dynamic hip screw (DHS is one of the most common methods for stabilizing intertrochanteric fractures, except for unstable and reverse oblique fracture types. However, failure is often observed in osteoporotic patients whereby the lag screw effectively 'cuts out' through the weak bone. Novel anti-migration blades have been developed to be used in combination with a lag screw ('Blade Screw' to improve the fixation strength in osteoporotic intertrochanteric fractures. An in-vitro biomechanical study and a retrospective clinical study were performed to evaluate lag screw migration when using the novel Blade Screw and a traditional threaded DHS. The biomechanical study showed both the Blade Screw and DHS displayed excessive migration (≥10 mm before reaching 20,000 loading cycles in mild osteoporotic bone, but overall migration of the Blade Screw was significantly less (p ≤ 0.03. Among the patients implanted with a Blade Screw in the clinical study, there was no significant variation in screw migration at 3-months follow-up (P = 0.12. However, the patient's implanted with a DHS did display significantly greater migration (P<0.001 than those implanted with the Blade Screw. In conclusion, the Blade Screw stabilizes the bone fragments during dynamic loading so as to provide significantly greater resistance to screw migration in patients with mild osteoporosis.

  6. Influence of Thermodynamic Effect on Blade Load in a Cavitating Inducer

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kengo Kikuta

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available Distribution of the blade load is one of the design parameters for a cavitating inducer. For experimental investigation of the thermodynamic effect on the blade load, we conducted experiments in both cold water and liquid nitrogen. The thermodynamic effect on cavitation notably appears in this cryogenic fluid although it can be disregarded in cold water. In these experiments, the pressure rise along the blade tip was measured. In water, the pressure increased almost linearly from the leading edge to the trailing edge at higher cavitation number. After that, with a decrease of cavitation number, pressure rise occurred only near the trailing edge. On the other hand, in liquid nitrogen, the pressure distribution was similar to that in water at a higher cavitation number, even if the cavitation number as a cavitation parameter decreased. Because the cavitation growth is suppressed by the thermodynamic effect, the distribution of the blade load does not change even at lower cavitation number. By contrast, the pressure distribution in liquid nitrogen has the same tendency as that in water if the cavity length at the blade tip is taken as a cavitation indication. From these results, it was found that the shift of the blade load to the trailing edge depended on the increase of cavity length, and that the distribution of blade load was indicated only by the cavity length independent of the thermodynamic effect.

  7. Turbulent kinetic energy balance measurements in the wake of a low-pressure turbine blade

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sideridis, A.; Yakinthos, K.; Goulas, A.

    2011-01-01

    The turbulent kinetic energy budget in the wake generated by a high lift, low-pressure two-dimensional blade cascade of the T106 profile was investigated experimentally using hot-wire anemometry. The purpose of this study is to examine the transport mechanism of the turbulent kinetic energy and provide validation data for turbulence modeling. Point measurements were conducted on a high spatial resolution, two-dimensional grid that allowed precise derivative calculations. Positioning of the probe was achieved using a high accuracy traversing mechanism. The turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) convection, production, viscous diffusion and turbulent diffusion were all obtained directly from experimental measurements. Dissipation and pressure diffusion were calculated indirectly using techniques presented and validated by previous investigators. Results for all terms of the turbulent kinetic energy budget are presented and discussed in detail in the present work.

  8. A zero torsional stiffness twist morphing blade as a wind turbine load alleviation device

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lachenal, X; Daynes, S; Weaver, P M

    2013-01-01

    This paper presents the design, analysis and realization of a zero stiffness twist morphing wind turbine blade. The morphing blade is designed to actively twist as a means of alleviating the gust loads which reduce the fatigue life of wind turbine blades. The morphing structure exploits an elastic strain energy balance within the blade to enable large twisting deformations with modest actuation requirements. While twist is introduced using the warping of the blade skin, internal pre-stressed members ensure that a constant strain energy balance is achieved throughout the deformation, resulting in a zero torsional stiffness structure. The torsional stability of the morphing blade is characterized by analysing the elastic strain energy in the device. Analytical models of the skin, the pre-stressed components and the complete blade are compared to their respective finite element models as well as experimental results. The load alleviation potential of the adaptive structure is quantified using a two-dimensional steady flow aerodynamic model which is experimentally validated with wind tunnel measurements. (paper)

  9. Non-Harmonic Fourier Analysis for bladed wheels damage detection

    Science.gov (United States)

    Neri, P.; Peeters, B.

    2015-11-01

    The interaction between bladed wheels and the fluid distributed by the stator vanes results in cyclic loading of the rotating components. Compressors and turbines wheels are subject to vibration and fatigue issues, especially when resonance conditions are excited. Even if resonance conditions can be often predicted and avoided, high cycle fatigue failures can occur, causing safety issues and economic loss. Rigorous maintenance programs are then needed, forcing the system to expensive shut-down. Blade crack detection methods are beneficial for condition-based maintenance. While contact measurement systems are not always usable in exercise conditions (e.g. high temperature), non-contact methods can be more suitable. One (or more) stator-fixed sensor can measure all the blades as they pass by, in order to detect the damaged ones. The main drawback in this situation is the short acquisition time available for each blade, which is shortened by the high rotational speed of the components. A traditional Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) analysis would result in a poor frequency resolution. A Non-Harmonic Fourier Analysis (NHFA) can be executed with an arbitrary frequency resolution instead, allowing to obtain frequency information even with short-time data samples. This paper shows an analytical investigation of the NHFA method. A data processing algorithm is then proposed to obtain frequency shift information from short time samples. The performances of this algorithm are then studied by experimental and numerical tests.

  10. Torsional Stiffness Effects on the Dynamic Stability of a Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine Blade

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Min-Soo Jeong

    2013-04-01

    Full Text Available Aeroelastic instability problems have become an increasingly important issue due to the increased use of larger horizontal axis wind turbines. To maintain these large structures in a stable manner, the blade design process should include studies on the dynamic stability of the wind turbine blade. Therefore, fluid-structure interaction analyses of the large-scaled wind turbine blade were performed with a focus on dynamic stability in this study. A finite element method based on the large deflection beam theory is used for structural analysis considering the geometric nonlinearities. For the stability analysis, a proposed aerodynamic approach based on Greenberg’s extension of Theodorsen’s strip theory and blade element momentum method were employed in conjunction with a structural model. The present methods proved to be valid for estimations of the aerodynamic responses and blade behavior compared with numerical results obtained in the previous studies. Additionally, torsional stiffness effects on the dynamic stability of the wind turbine blade were investigated. It is demonstrated that the damping is considerably influenced by variations of the torsional stiffness. Also, in normal operating conditions, the destabilizing phenomena were observed to occur with low torsional stiffness.

  11. Numerical simulation on a straight-bladed vertical axis wind turbine with auxiliary blade

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Y.; Zheng, Y. F.; Feng, F.; He, Q. B.; Wang, N. X.

    2016-08-01

    To improve the starting performance of the straight-bladed vertical axis wind turbine (SB-VAWT) at low wind speed, and the output characteristics at high wind speed, a flexible, scalable auxiliary vane mechanism was designed and installed into the rotor of SB-VAWT in this study. This new vertical axis wind turbine is a kind of lift-to-drag combination wind turbine. The flexible blade expanded, and the driving force of the wind turbines comes mainly from drag at low rotational speed. On the other hand, the flexible blade is retracted at higher speed, and the driving force is primarily from a lift. To research the effects of the flexible, scalable auxiliary module on the performance of SB-VAWT and to find its best parameters, the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) numerical calculation was carried out. The calculation result shows that the flexible, scalable blades can automatic expand and retract with the rotational speed. The moment coefficient at low tip speed ratio increased substantially. Meanwhile, the moment coefficient has also been improved at high tip speed ratios in certain ranges.

  12. Fluidic load control for wind turbines blades

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Boeije, C.S.; Vries, de H.; Cleine, I.; Emden, van E.; Zwart, G.G.M.; Stobbe, H.; Hirschberg, A.; Hoeijmakers, H.W.M.; Maureen Hand, xx

    2009-01-01

    This paper describes the initial steps into the investigation of the possibility of reducing fatigue loads on wind turbine blades by the application of fluidic jets. This investigation involves static pressure measurements as well as numerical simulations for a non-rotating NACA-0018 airfoil. The

  13. Aerodynamics and Optimal Design of Biplane Wind Turbine Blades

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chiu, Phillip

    In order to improve energy capture and reduce the cost of wind energy, in the past few decades wind turbines have grown significantly larger. As their blades get longer, the design of the inboard region (near the blade root) becomes a trade-off between competing structural and aerodynamic requirements. State-of-the-art blades require thick airfoils near the root to efficiently support large loads inboard, but those thick airfoils have inherently poor aerodynamic performance. New designs are required to circumvent this design compromise. One such design is the "biplane blade", in which the thick airfoils in the inboard region are replaced with thinner airfoils in a biplane configuration. This design was shown previously to have significantly increased structural performance over conventional blades. In addition, the biplane airfoils can provide increased lift and aerodynamic efficiency compared to thick monoplane inboard airfoils, indicating a potential for increased power extraction. This work investigates the fundamental aerodynamic aspects, aerodynamic design and performance, and optimal structural design of the biplane blade. First, the two-dimensional aerodynamics of biplanes with relatively thick airfoils are investigated, showing unique phenomena which arise as a result of airfoil thickness. Next, the aerodynamic design of the full biplane blade is considered. Two biplane blades are designed for optimal aerodynamic loading, and their aerodynamic performance quantified. Considering blades with practical chord distributions and including the drag of the mid-blade joint, it is shown that biplane blades have comparable power output to conventional monoplane designs. The results of this analysis also show that the biplane blades can be designed with significantly less chord than conventional designs, a characteristic which enables larger blade designs. The aerodynamic loads on the biplane blades are shown to be increased in gust conditions and decreased under

  14. Theoretical Study of the Vibration Suppression on a Mistuned Bladed Disk Using a Bi-periodic Piezoelectric Network

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Lin; Deng, Pengcheng; Liu, Jiuzhou; Li, Chao

    2018-03-01

    The paper deals with the vibration suppression of a bladed disk with a piezoelectric network. The piezoelectric network has a different period (so called bi-period) from that of the bladed disk and there is no inductor in it. The system is simulated by an electromechanical lumped parameter model with two DOFs per sector. The research focuses on suppressing the amplitude magnification or reducing the vibration localization of the mistuned bladed disk. The dynamic equations of the system are derived. Both mechanical mistuning and electrical mistuning have been taken into account. The Modified Modal Assurance Criterion (MMAC) is used to evaluate the vibration suppression ability of the bi-periodic piezoelectric network. The Monte Carlo simulation is used to calculate the MMAC of the system with the random mistuning. As a reference, the forced responses of the bladed disk with and without the piezoelectric network are given. The results show that the piezoelectric network would effectively suppress amplitude magnification induced by mistuning. The vibration amplitude is even smaller than that of the tuned system. The robustness analysis shows that the bi-periodic piezoelectric network can provide a reliable assurance for avoiding the forced response amplification of the mistuned bladed disk. The amplified response induced by the mechanical mistuning with standard deviation 0.2 can be effectively suppressed through the bi-periodic piezoelectric network.

  15. Flap-lag-torsional dynamics of helicopter rotor blades in forward flight

    Science.gov (United States)

    Crespodasilva, M. R. M.

    1986-01-01

    A perturbation/numerical methodology to analyze the flap-lead/lag motion of a centrally hinged spring restrained rotor blade that is valid for both hover and for forward flight was developed. The derivation of the nonlinear differential equations of motion and the analysis of the stability of the steady state response of the blade were conducted entirely in a Symbolics 3670 Machine using MACSYMA to perform all the lengthy symbolic manipulations. It also includes generation of the fortran codes and plots of the results. The Floquet theory was also applied to the differential equations of motion in order to compare results with those obtained from the perturbation analysis. The results obtained from the perturbation methodology and from Floquet theory were found to be very close to each other, which demonstrates the usefullness of the perturbation methodology. Another problem under study consisted in the analysis of the influence of higher order terms in the response and stability of a flexible rotor blade in forward flight using Computerized Symbolic Manipulation and a perturbation technique to bypass the Floquet theory. The derivation of the partial differential equations of motion is presented.

  16. Development of Standard Approach for Sickle Blade Manufacturing

    OpenAIRE

    Noordin, M. N. A; Hudzari, R. M; Azuan, H. N; Zainon, M. S; Mohamed, S. B; Wafi, S. A

    2016-01-01

    The sickle blade used in the motorised palm cutter known as “CANTAS” provides fast, easy and safe pruning and harvesting for those hard to reach applications. Jariz Technologies Company is experiencing problem in the consistency of sickle blade which was supplied by various blade manufacturers. Identifying the proper blade material with a certain hardness value would produce a consistent as well as long lasting sickle blade. A Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) in the manufacturing of the sic...

  17. Fundamentals for remote structural health monitoring of wind turbine blades - a pre-project. Annex D - Full-scale test of wind turbine blade, using sensors and NDT

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kristensen, O.J.D.; McGugan, M.; Sendrup, P.; Rheinlaender, J.; Rusborg, J.; Hansen, A.M.; Debel, C.P.; Soerensen, B.F.

    2002-05-01

    A 19.1 metre wind turbine blade was subjected to static tests. The purpose of the test series was to verify the abilities of different types of sensors to detect damage in wind turbine blades. Prior to each of the static test-series an artificial damage was made on the blade. The damage made for each test-series was surveyed during each series by acoustic emission, fiber optic micro bend displacement transducers and strain gauges. The propagation of the damage was determined by use of ultra sonic and X-ray surveillance during stops in the test series. By use of acoustic emission it was possible to measure damage propagation before the propagation was of visible size. By use of fiber optic micro bend displacement transducers and strain gauges it was possible to measure minor damage propagation. By use of both ultra sonic, and X-ray NDT-equipment it were possible to determine the size of propagated damage. (au)

  18. Nonlinear modeling of tuned liquid dampers (TLDs) in rotating wind turbine blades for damping edgewise vibrations

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Zhang, Zili; Nielsen, Søren R. K.; Basu, Biswajit

    2015-01-01

    Tuned liquid dampers (TLDs) utilize the sloshing motion of the fluid to suppress structural vibrations and become a natural candidate for damping vibrations in rotating wind turbine blades. The centrifugal acceleration at the tip of a wind turbine blade can reach a magnitude of 7–8g. This facilit......Tuned liquid dampers (TLDs) utilize the sloshing motion of the fluid to suppress structural vibrations and become a natural candidate for damping vibrations in rotating wind turbine blades. The centrifugal acceleration at the tip of a wind turbine blade can reach a magnitude of 7–8g...... free-surface elevation equally well, the one-mode model can still be utilized for the design of TLD. Parametric optimization of the TLD is carried out based on the one-mode model, and the optimized damper effectively improves the dynamic response of wind turbine blades....

  19. Pin and roller attachment system for ceramic blades

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shaffer, J.E.

    1995-07-25

    In a turbine, a plurality of blades are attached to a turbine wheel by way of a plurality of joints which form a rolling contact between the blades and the turbine wheel. Each joint includes a pin and a pair of rollers to provide rolling contact between the pin and an adjacent pair of blades. Because of this rolling contact, high stress scuffing between the blades and the turbine wheel reduced, thereby inhibiting catastrophic failure of the blade joints. 3 figs.

  20. Advanced Blade Manufacturing Project - Final Report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    POORE, ROBERT Z.

    1999-08-01

    The original scope of the project was to research improvements to the processes and materials used in the manufacture of wood-epoxy blades, conduct tests to qualify any new material or processes for use in blade design and subsequently build and test six blades using the improved processes and materials. In particular, ABM was interested in reducing blade cost and improving quality. In addition, ABM needed to find a replacement material for the mature Douglas fir used in the manufacturing process. The use of mature Douglas fir is commercially unacceptable because of its limited supply and environmental concerns associated with the use of mature timber. Unfortunately, the bankruptcy of FloWind in June 1997 and a dramatic reduction in AWT sales made it impossible for ABM to complete the full scope of work. However, sufficient research and testing were completed to identify several promising changes in the blade manufacturing process and develop a preliminary design incorporating these changes.

  1. Edgewise vibration control of wind turbine blades using roller and liquid dampers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang, Z L; Nielsen, S R K

    2014-01-01

    This paper deals with the passive vibration control of edgewise vibrations by means of roller dampers and tuned liquid column dampers (TLCDs). For a rotating blade, the large centrifugal acceleration makes it possible to use roller dampers or TLCDs with rather small masses for effectively suppressing edgewise vibrations. The roller dampers are more volumetrically efficient due to the higher mass density of the steel comparing with the liquid. On the other hand, TLCDs have their advantage that it is easier to specify the optimum damping of the damper by changing the opening ratio of the orifice. In this paper, 2-DOF nonlinear models are suggested for tuning a roller damper or a TLCD attached to a rotating wind turbine blade, ignoring the coupling between the blade and the tower. The decoupled optimization is verified by incorporating the optimized damper into a more sophisticated 13- DOF wind turbine model with due consideration of the coupled blade-tower-drivetrain vibrations, quasi-static aeroelasticity as well as a collective pitch controller. Performances of the dampers are compared in terms of the control efficiency and the practical applications. The results indicate that roller dampers and TLCDs at optimal tuning can effectively suppress the dynamic response of wind turbine blades

  2. Multidisciplinary design optimization of film-cooled gas turbine blades

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Talya Shashishekara S.

    1999-01-01

    Full Text Available Design optimization of a gas turbine blade geometry for effective film cooling toreduce the blade temperature has been done using a multiobjective optimization formulation. Three optimization formulations have been used. In the first, the average blade temperature is chosen as the objective function to be minimized. An upper bound constraint has been imposed on the maximum blade temperature. In the second, the maximum blade temperature is chosen as the objective function to be minimized with an upper bound constraint on the average blade temperature. In the third formulation, the blade average and maximum temperatures are chosen as objective functions. Shape optimization is performed using geometric parameters associated with film cooling and blade external shape. A quasi-three-dimensional Navier–Stokes solver for turbomachinery flows is used to solve for the flow field external to the blade with appropriate modifications to incorporate the effect of film cooling. The heat transfer analysis for temperature distribution within the blade is performed by solving the heat diffusion equation using the finite element method. The multiobjective Kreisselmeier–Steinhauser function approach has been used in conjunction with an approximate analysis technique for optimization. The results obtained using both formulations are compared with reference geometry. All three formulations yield significant reductions in blade temperature with the multiobjective formulation yielding largest reduction in blade temperature.

  3. Korean experience with steam turbine blade inspection

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jung, Hyun Kyu; Park, D.Y.; Park, Hyung Jin; Chung, Min Hwa

    1990-01-01

    Several turbine blade accidents in Korea have emphasized the importance of their adequate periodic inspection. As a typical example, a broken blade was found in the Low Pressure (LP) turbine at the 950 MWe KORI unit 3 during the 1986 overhaul after one year commercial operation. Since then the Manufacturer and the Utility company (KEPCO) have been concerned about the need of blade root inspection. The ultrasonic testing was applied to detect cracks in the blade roots without removing the blades from rotor. Due to the complex geometry of the roots, the test results could not be evaluated easily. We feel that the currently applied UT technique seems to be less reliable and more effective method of inspection must be developed in the near future. This paper describes the following items: The causes and analysis of blade damage The inspection techniques and results The remedial action to be taken (Repair and Replacement) The future plan

  4. Study on torsion arc blade type horizontal axis wind turbine; Nejire enko yokugata suihei jiku fusha ni kansuru kenkyu

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kojima, N; Kishimura, K [Meiji University, Tokyo (Japan)

    1996-10-27

    Discussing the rotor blades of the torsion arc blade type (TABT) wind turbine, difference in windmilling characteristics was determined between elliptic blades and rectangular blades by theoretical analysis and model experiment. Experimental generation of power was carried out using a test wind turbine in the natural wind. First, elliptic blades were bent into arcs and fixed to shaft. The action force was determined calculating the blade area and the wind velocity vertical thereto. Furthermore, the force in the direction to turn the rotor was determined with the effect of the part behind the blade taken into account. The rotation-curbing air resistance in the flank direction that a rotor experiences was subtracted to determine the torque generated. A formula was derived for the elliptic blade. Second, a formula was derived in the same way for the case of rectangular blades. In conclusion, in the case of 6-blade wind turbine, the rate of responsibility for wind turbine rotation of the part behind the blade was approximately 50% of the part in front of the blade. Shape coefficients were introduced into the theory, which resulted in values agreeing well with values obtained from experiments. Elliptic blades yielded more power than rectangular blades at the same wind velocity. High in durability, the TABT wind turbine is expected to be put into practical use as a compact auxiliary power generating device. 2 refs., 14 figs.

  5. Lightning transient analysis in wind turbine blades

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Candela Garolera, Anna; Holbøll, Joachim; Madsen, Søren Find

    2013-01-01

    The transient behavior of lightning surges in the lightning protection system of wind turbine blades has been investigated in this paper. The study is based on PSCAD models consisting of electric equivalent circuits with lumped and distributed parameters involving different lightning current...... waveforms. The aim of the PSCAD simulations is to study the voltages induced by the lightning current in the blade that may cause internal arcing. With this purpose, the phenomenon of current reflections in the lightning down conductor of the blade and the electromagnetic coupling between the down conductor...... and other internal conductive elements of the blade is studied. Finally, several methods to prevent internal arcing are discussed in order to improve the lightning protection of the blade....

  6. Structural damage detection in wind turbine blades based on time series representations of dynamic responses

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hoell, Simon; Omenzetter, Piotr

    2015-03-01

    The development of large wind turbines that enable to harvest energy more efficiently is a consequence of the increasing demand for renewables in the world. To optimize the potential energy output, light and flexible wind turbine blades (WTBs) are designed. However, the higher flexibilities and lower buckling capacities adversely affect the long-term safety and reliability of WTBs, and thus the increased operation and maintenance costs reduce the expected revenue. Effective structural health monitoring techniques can help to counteract this by limiting inspection efforts and avoiding unplanned maintenance actions. Vibration-based methods deserve high attention due to the moderate instrumentation efforts and the applicability for in-service measurements. The present paper proposes the use of cross-correlations (CCs) of acceleration responses between sensors at different locations for structural damage detection in WTBs. CCs were in the past successfully applied for damage detection in numerical and experimental beam structures while utilizing only single lags between the signals. The present approach uses vectors of CC coefficients for multiple lags between measurements of two selected sensors taken from multiple possible combinations of sensors. To reduce the dimensionality of the damage sensitive feature (DSF) vectors, principal component analysis is performed. The optimal number of principal components (PCs) is chosen with respect to a statistical threshold. Finally, the detection phase uses the selected PCs of the healthy structure to calculate scores from a current DSF vector, where statistical hypothesis testing is performed for making a decision about the current structural state. The method is applied to laboratory experiments conducted on a small WTB with non-destructive damage scenarios.

  7. An Experimental Analysis of the Effect of Icing on Wind Turbine Rotor Blades

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Raja, Muhammad Imran; Hussain, Dil muhammed Akbar; Soltani, Mohsen

    2016-01-01

    Wind Turbine is highly nonlinear plant whose dynamics changes with change in aerodynamics of the rotor blade. Power extracted from the wind turbine is a function of coefficient of power (Cp). Wind turbine installed in the cold climate areas has an icing on its rotor blade which might change its...... aerodynamics. This paper is an experimental investigation of the aerodynamic changes occur due to effect of ice accumulated on the rotor blades of wind turbine. We have tested three small scale model of the NREL's 5MW rotor blade with same profile but simulated different icing effect on them. These models...... are printed with 3D printer and tested one by one in a Wind Tunnel. Lift, drag and moment coefficients are calculated from the measured experimental data and program WT-Perf based on blade-element momentum (BEM) theory is used to predict the performance of wind turbine. Cp curves generated from the test...

  8. Anisotropic beam model for analysis and design of passive controlled wind turbine blades

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Branner, K; Blasques, J P; Kim, T; Fedorov, V A; Berring, P; Bitsche, R D; Berggreen, C

    2012-02-15

    The main objective of the project was, through theoretical and experimental research, to develop and validate a fully coupled, general beam element that can be used for advanced and rapid analysis of wind turbine blades. This is fully achieved in the project and the beam element has even been implemented in the aeroelastic code HAWC2. It has also been demonstrated through a parametric study in the project that a promising possibility with the tool is to reduce fatigue loads through structural couplings. More work is needed before these possibilities are fully explored and blades with structural couplings can be put into production. A cross section analysis tool BECAS (BEam Cross section Analysis Software) has been developed and validated in the project. BECAS is able to predict all geometrical and material induced couplings. This tool has obtained great interest from both industry and academia. The developed fully coupled beam element and cross section analysis tool has been validated against both numerical calculations and experimental measurements. Numerical validation has been performed against beam type calculations including Variational Asymptotical Beam Section Analysis (VABS) and detailed shell and solid finite element analyses. Experimental validation included specially designed beams with built-in couplings, a full-scale blade section originally without couplings, which subsequently was modified with extra composite layers in order to obtain measurable couplings. Both static testing and dynamic modal analysis tests have been performed. The results from the project now make it possible to use structural couplings in an intelligent manner for the design of future wind turbine blades. The developed beam element is especially developed for wind turbine blades and can be used for modeling blades with initial curvature (pre-bending), initial twist and taper. Finally, it have been studied what size of structural couplings can be obtained in current and future

  9. Modeling and Design of a Full-Scale Rotor Blade with Embedded Piezocomposite Actuators

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kovalovs, A.; Barkanov, E.; Ruchevskis, S.; Wesolowski, M.

    2017-05-01

    An optimization methodology for the design of a full-scale rotor blade with an active twist in order to enhance its ability to reduce vibrations and noise is presented. It is based on a 3D finite-element model, the planning of experiments, and the response surface technique to obtain high piezoelectric actuation forces and displacements with a minimum actuator weight and energy applied. To investigate an active twist of the helicopter rotor blade, a structural static analysis using a 3D finite-element model was carried out. Optimum results were obtained at two possible applications of macrofiber composite actuators. The torsion angle found from the finite-element simulation of helicopter rotor blades was successfully validated by its experimental values, which confirmed the modeling accuracy.

  10. A new sensitivity analysis for structural optimization of composite rotor blades

    Science.gov (United States)

    Venkatesan, C.; Friedmann, P. P.; Yuan, Kuo-An

    1993-01-01

    This paper presents a detailed mathematical derivation of the sensitivity derivatives for the structural dynamic, aeroelastic stability and response characteristics of a rotor blade in hover and forward flight. The formulation is denoted by the term semianalytical approach, because certain derivatives have to be evaluated by a finite difference scheme. Using the present formulation, sensitivity derivatives for the structural dynamic and aeroelastic stability characteristics, were evaluated for both isotropic and composite rotor blades. Based on the results, useful conclusions are obtained regarding the relative merits of the semi-analytical approach, for calculating sensitivity derivatives, when compared to a pure finite difference approach.

  11. Achieving better cooling of turbine blades using numerical simulation methods

    Science.gov (United States)

    Inozemtsev, A. A.; Tikhonov, A. S.; Sendyurev, C. I.; Samokhvalov, N. Yu.

    2013-02-01

    A new design of the first-stage nozzle vane for the turbine of a prospective gas-turbine engine is considered. The blade's thermal state is numerically simulated in conjugate statement using the ANSYS CFX 13.0 software package. Critical locations in the blade design are determined from the distribution of heat fluxes, and measures aimed at achieving more efficient cooling are analyzed. Essentially lower (by 50-100°C) maximal temperature of metal has been achieved owing to the results of the performed work.

  12. Improved blade element momentum theory for wind turbine aerodynamic computations

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sun, Zhenye; Chen, Jin; Shen, Wen Zhong

    2016-01-01

    Blade element momentum (BEM) theory is widely used in aerodynamic performance predictions and design applications for wind turbines. However, the classic BEM method is not quite accurate which often tends to under-predict the aerodynamic forces near root and over-predict its performance near tip....... for the MEXICO rotor. Results show that the improved BEM theory gives a better prediction than the classic BEM method, especially in the blade tip region, when comparing to the MEXICO measurements. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved....

  13. Mach number scaling of helicopter rotor blade/vortex interaction noise

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leighton, Kenneth P.; Harris, Wesley L.

    1985-01-01

    A parametric study of model helicopter rotor blade slap due to blade vortex interaction (BVI) was conducted in a 5 by 7.5-foot anechoic wind tunnel using model helicopter rotors with two, three, and four blades. The results were compared with a previously developed Mach number scaling theory. Three- and four-bladed rotor configurations were found to show very good agreement with the Mach number to the sixth power law for all conditions tested. A reduction of conditions for which BVI blade slap is detected was observed for three-bladed rotors when compared to the two-bladed baseline. The advance ratio boundaries of the four-bladed rotor exhibited an angular dependence not present for the two-bladed configuration. The upper limits for the advance ratio boundaries of the four-bladed rotors increased with increasing rotational speed.

  14. Modal characteristics and fatigue strength of compressor blades

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Kyung Kook; Lee, Young Shin

    2014-01-01

    High-cycle fatigue (HCF) has been identified as one of the primary causes of gas turbine engine failure. The modal characteristics and endurance strength of a 5 MW gas turbine engine blade developed by Doosan Heavy Industries and Construction Co., Ltd. in HCF fracture were verified through analysis and tests to determine the reliability of the compressor blade. A compressor blade design procedure that considers HCF life was performed in the following order: airfoil and blade profile design, modal analysis, stress distribution test, stress endurance limit test, and fatigue life verification. This study analyzed the Campbell diagram and estimated resonance risk on the basis of the natural frequency analysis and modal test of the compressor blade to guarantee safe and operational reliability. In addition, the maximum stress point of the compressor blade was determined through stress distribution analysis and test. The bonding point of the strain gage was determined by using fatigue test. Stress endurance limit test was performed based on the results of these tests. This research compared and verified the modal characteristics and endurance strengths of the compressor blades to prevent HCF fracture, which is among the major causes of gas turbine engine damage. A fatigue life design procedure of compressor blades was established. The 5 MW class gas turbine compressor blade is well designed in terms of resonance stability and fatigue endurance limit.

  15. Modal characteristics and fatigue strength of compressor blades

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, Kyung Kook [Doosan Heavy Industries and Construction, Changwon (Korea, Republic of); Lee, Young Shin [Chungnam National University, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

    2014-04-15

    High-cycle fatigue (HCF) has been identified as one of the primary causes of gas turbine engine failure. The modal characteristics and endurance strength of a 5 MW gas turbine engine blade developed by Doosan Heavy Industries and Construction Co., Ltd. in HCF fracture were verified through analysis and tests to determine the reliability of the compressor blade. A compressor blade design procedure that considers HCF life was performed in the following order: airfoil and blade profile design, modal analysis, stress distribution test, stress endurance limit test, and fatigue life verification. This study analyzed the Campbell diagram and estimated resonance risk on the basis of the natural frequency analysis and modal test of the compressor blade to guarantee safe and operational reliability. In addition, the maximum stress point of the compressor blade was determined through stress distribution analysis and test. The bonding point of the strain gage was determined by using fatigue test. Stress endurance limit test was performed based on the results of these tests. This research compared and verified the modal characteristics and endurance strengths of the compressor blades to prevent HCF fracture, which is among the major causes of gas turbine engine damage. A fatigue life design procedure of compressor blades was established. The 5 MW class gas turbine compressor blade is well designed in terms of resonance stability and fatigue endurance limit.

  16. Active Blade Vibration Control Being Developed and Tested

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johnson, Dexter

    2003-01-01

    Gas turbine engines are currently being designed to have increased performance, lower weight and manufacturing costs, and higher reliability. Consequently, turbomachinery components, such as turbine and compressor blades, have designs that are susceptible to new vibration problems and eventual in-service failure due to high-cycle fatigue. To address this problem, researchers at the NASA Glenn Research Center are developing and testing innovative active blade vibration control concepts. Preliminary results of using an active blade vibration control system, involving a rotor supported by an active magnetic bearing in Glenn's Dynamic Spin Rig, indicate promising results (see the photograph). Active blade vibration control was achieved using feedback of blade strain gauge signals within the magnetic bearing control loop. The vibration amplitude was reduced substantially (see the graphs). Also, vibration amplitude amplification was demonstrated; this could be used to enhance structural mode identification, if desired. These results were for a nonrotating two-bladed disk. Tests for rotating blades are planned. Current and future active blade vibration control research is planned to use a fully magnetically suspended rotor and smart materials. For the fully magnetically suspended rotor work, three magnetic bearings (two radial and one axial) will be used as actuators instead of one magnetic bearing. This will allow additional degrees of freedom to be used for control. For the smart materials work, control effectors located on and off the blade will be considered. Piezoelectric materials will be considered for on-the-blade actuation, and actuator placement on a stator vane, or other nearby structure, will be investigated for off-the-blade actuation. Initial work will focus on determining the feasibility of these methods by performing basic analysis and simple experiments involving feedback control.

  17. Preliminary Aerodynamic Investigation of Fan Rotor Blade Morphing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tweedt, Daniel L.

    2012-01-01

    Various new technologies currently under development may enable controlled blade shape variability, or so-called blade morphing, to be practically employed in aircraft engine fans and compressors in the foreseeable future. The current study is a relatively brief, preliminary computational fluid dynamics investigation aimed at partially demonstrating and quantifying the aerodynamic potential of fan rotor blade morphing. The investigation is intended to provide information useful for near-term planning, as well as aerodynamic solution data sets that can be subsequently analyzed using advanced acoustic diagnostic tools, for the purpose of making fan noise comparisons. Two existing fan system models serve as baselines for the investigation: the Advanced Ducted Propulsor fan with a design tip speed of 806 ft/sec and a pressure ratio of 1.294, and the Source Diagnostic Test fan with a design tip speed of 1215 ft/sec and a pressure ratio of 1.470. Both are 22-in. sub-scale, low-noise research fan/nacelle models that have undergone extensive experimental testing in the 9- by 15-foot Low Speed Wind Tunnel at the NASA Glenn Research Center. The study, restricted to fan rotor blade morphing only, involves a fairly simple blade morphing technique. Specifically, spanwise-linear variations in rotor blade-section setting angle are applied to alter the blade shape; that is, the blade is linearly retwisted from hub to tip. Aerodynamic performance comparisons are made between morphed-blade and corresponding baseline configurations on the basis of equal fan system thrust, where rotor rotational speed for the morphed-blade fan is varied to change the thrust level for that configuration. The results of the investigation confirm that rotor blade morphing could be a useful technology, with the potential to enable significant improvements in fan aerodynamic performance. Even though the study is very limited in scope and confined to simple geometric perturbations of two existing fan

  18. Failure analysis of turbine blades

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Iorio, A.F.; Crespi, J.C.

    1989-01-01

    Two 20 MW gas turbines suffered damage in blades belonging to the 2nd. stage of the turbine after 24,000 hours of duty. From research it arises that the fuel used is not quite adequate to guarantee the blade's operating life due to the excess of SO 3 , C and Na existing in combustion gases which cause pitting to the former. Later, the corrosion phenomenon is presented under tension produced by working stress enhanced by pitting where Pb is its main agent. A change of fuel is recommended thus considering the blades will reach the operational life they were designed for. (Author) [es

  19. Parametric dependence of a morphing wind turbine blade on material elasticity

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Puterbaugh, Martin; Beyene, Asfaw

    2011-01-01

    A few recent works have suggested a morphing blade for wind turbine energy conversion. The concept is derived from fin and wing motions that better adapt to varying load conditions. Previous research has provided the fluid mechanic justification of this new concept. This paper establishes a parametric relationship between an asymmetric wind turbine blade and constituent material modulus to predict the geometric response of the morphing blade for a given material characteristic. The airfoil's trailing edge deflection is associated to a prescribed fluid exit angle via the Moment Area (MA) method. Subsequently, a mathematical model is derived to predict material deformation with respect to imparted aerodynamic forces. Results show that an airfoil, much like a tapered beam, can be modeled as a non-prismatic cantilevered beam using this well established method. -- Research highlights: →A mathematical model relating morphing airfoil thickness and elastic modulus was established. →For non-prismatic beam under a uniform distributive load, the slope and deflection of the airfoil's trailing edge were related to the fluid exit angle. →The main driver of blade deformation was the angular drag force. The Moment Area method was used, verified by Finite Element method. →Displacement to the exit angle is predicated upon the elastic modulus value given that other parameters are constant. →Optimum power output is obtained in part load conditions when the blade deforms to the applicable exit angle.

  20. Adhesive Joints in Wind Turbine Blades

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jørgensen, Jeppe Bjørn

    to be determined in several different ways. The accuracy of different ways of measuring residual stresses in the adhesive was tested by applying five different methods on a single sandwich test specimen (laminate/adhesive/laminate) that was instrumented with strain gauges and fiber Bragg gratings. Quasi...... of the project is to develop new- and to improve the existing design rules for adhesive joints in wind turbine blades. The first scientific studies of adhesive joints were based on stress analysis, which requires that the bond-line is free of defects, but this is rarely the case for a wind turbine blade. Instead...... curing and test temperatures) on the formation of transverse cracks in the adhesive were tested experimentally. It was assumed that the transverse cracks evolved due to a combination of mechanical- and residual stresses in the adhesive. A new approach was developed that allows the residual stress...

  1. Integrity assessment of stationary blade ring for nuclear power plant

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Park, Jung Yong; Chung, Yong Keun; Park, Jong Jin; Kang, Yong Ho

    2004-01-01

    The inner side between HP stationary blades in no.1 turbine of nuclear power plant A is damaged by the FAC(Flow Assisted Corrosion) which is exposed to moisture. For many years the inner side is repaired by welding the damaged part, however, the FAC continues to deteriorate the original material of the welded blade ring. In this study, we have two stages to verify the integrity of stationary blade ring in nuclear power plant A. In the stage I, replication of blade ring is performed to survey the microstructure of blade ring. In the stage II, the stress analysis of blade ring is performed to verify the structural safety of blade ring. Throughout the two stages analysis of blade ring, the stationary blade ring had remained undamaged

  2. The Study the Vibration Condition of the Blade of the Gas Turbine Engine with an All-metal Wire Rope Damper in the Area Mount of the Blade to the Disk

    Science.gov (United States)

    Melentjev, Vladimir S.; Gvozdev, Alexander S.

    2018-01-01

    Improving the reliability of modern turbine engines is actual task. This is achieved due to prevent a vibration damage of the operating blades. On the department of structure and design of aircraft engines have accumulated a lot of experimental data on the protection of the blades of the gas turbine engine from a vibration. In this paper we proposed a method for calculating the characteristics of wire rope dampers in the root attachment of blade of a gas turbine engine. The method is based on the use of the finite element method and transient analysis. Contact interaction (Lagrange-Euler method) between the compressor blade and the disc of the rotor has been taken into account. Contribution of contact interaction between details in damping of the system was measured. The proposed method provides a convenient way for the iterative selection of the required parameters the wire rope elastic-damping element. This element is able to provide the necessary protection from the vibration for the blade of a gas turbine engine.

  3. Structural investigation of composite wind turbine blade considering various load cases and fatigue life

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kong, C.; Bang, J.; Sugiyama, Y.

    2005-01-01

    This study proposes a structural design for developing a medium scale composite wind turbine blade made of E-glass/epoxy for a 750 kW class horizontal axis wind turbine system. The design loads were determined from various load cases specified at the IEC61400-1 international specification and GL regulations for the wind energy conversion system. A specific composite structure configuration, which can effectively endure various loads such as aerodynamic loads and loads due to accumulation of ice, hygro-thermal and mechanical loads, was proposed. To evaluate the proposed composite wind turbine blade, structural analysis was performed by using the finite element method. Parametric studies were carried out to determine an acceptable blade structural design, and the most dominant design parameters were confirmed. In this study, the proposed blade structure was confirmed to be safe and stable under various load conditions, including the extreme load conditions. Moreover, the blade adapted a new blade root joint with insert bolts, and its safety was verified at design loads including fatigue loads. The fatigue life of a blade that has to endure for more than 20 years was estimated by using the well-known S-N linear damage theory, the service load spectrum, and the Spera's empirical equations. With the results obtained from all the structural design and analysis, prototype composite blades were manufactured. A specific construction process including the lay-up molding method was applied to manufacturing blades. Full-scale static structural test was performed with the simulated aerodynamic loads. From the experimental results, it was found that the designed blade had structural integrity. In addition, the measured results of deflections, strains, mass, and radial center of gravity agreed well with the analytical results. The prototype blade was successfully certified by an international certification institute, GL (Germanisher Lloyd) in Germany

  4. Multidisciplinary design optimization of film-cooled gas turbine blades

    OpenAIRE

    Shashishekara S. Talya; J. N. Rajadas; A. Chattopadhyay

    1999-01-01

    Design optimization of a gas turbine blade geometry for effective film cooling toreduce the blade temperature has been done using a multiobjective optimization formulation. Three optimization formulations have been used. In the first, the average blade temperature is chosen as the objective function to be minimized. An upper bound constraint has been imposed on the maximum blade temperature. In the second, the maximum blade temperature is chosen as the objective function to be minimized with ...

  5. Structural Analysis of Basalt Fiber Reinforced Plastic Wind Turbine Blade

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mengal Ali Nawaz

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available In this study, Basalt fiber reinforced plastic (BFRP wind turbine blade was analyzed and compared with Glass fiber reinforced plastic blade (GFRP. Finite element analysis (FEA of blade was carried out using ANSYS. Data for FEA was obtained by using rule of mixture. The shell element in ANSYS was used to simulate the wind turbine blade and to conduct its strength analysis. The structural analysis and comparison of blade deformations proved that BFRP wind turbine blade has better strength compared to GFRP wind turbine blade.

  6. A study of helicopter gust response alleviation by automatic control

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saito, S.

    1983-01-01

    Two control schemes designed to alleviate gust-induced vibration are analytically investigated for a helicopter with four articulated blades. One is an individual blade pitch control scheme. The other is an adaptive blade pitch control algorithm based on linear optimal control theory. In both controllers, control inputs to alleviate gust response are superimposed on the conventional control inputs required to maintain the trim condition. A sinusoidal vertical gust model and a step gust model are used. The individual blade pitch control, in this research, is composed of sensors and a pitch control actuator for each blade. Each sensor can detect flapwise (or lead-lag or torsionwise) deflection of the respective blade. The acturator controls the blade pitch angle for gust alleviation. Theoretical calculations to predict the performance of this feedback system have been conducted by means of the harmonic method. The adaptive blade pitch control system is composed of a set of measurements (oscillatory hub forces and moments), an identification system using a Kalman filter, and a control system based on the minimization of the quadratic performance function.

  7. Computational method for the design of wind turbine blades

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Vitale, A.J. [Instituto Argentino de Oceanografia, Camino La Carrindanga Km. 7.5, CC 804, B8000FWB Bahia Blanca (Argentina); Universidad Tecnologica Nacional Facultad Regional Bahia Blanca, GESE, 11 de Abril 461, B8000LMI Bahia Blanca (Argentina); Universidad Nacional del Sur, Dpto. de Ing. Electrica y de Computadoras, Av. Alem 1253, 8000 Bahia Blanca (Argentina); Rossi, A.P. [Universidad Tecnologica Nacional Facultad Regional Bahia Blanca, GESE, 11 de Abril 461, B8000LMI Bahia Blanca (Argentina); Universidad Nacional del Sur, Dpto. de Ing. Electrica y de Computadoras, Av. Alem 1253, 8000 Bahia Blanca (Argentina)

    2008-07-15

    Zeus Disenador was developed to design low-power, horizontal-axis wind turbine blades, by means of an iterative algorithm. With this software, it is possible to obtain the optimum blade shape for a wind turbine to satisfy energy requirements of an electric system with optimum rotor efficiency. The number of blades, the airfoil curves and the average wind velocity can be specified by the user. The user can also request particular edge conditions for the width of the blades and for the pitch angle. Results are provided in different windows. Two- and three-dimensional graphics show the aspect of the resultant blade. Numerical results are displayed for blade length, blade surface, pitch angle variation along the blade span, rotor angular speed, rotor efficiency and rotor output power. Software verifications were made by comparing rotor power and rotor efficiency for different designs. Results were similar to those provided by commercial wind generator manufacturers. (author)

  8. Repairing methods of steam turbine blades using welding procedures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mazur, Z.; Cristalinas, V.; Kubiak, J.

    1995-01-01

    The steam turbine blades are subjected to the natural permanent wear or damage, which may be of mechanical or metallurgical origin. The typical damage occurring during the lifetime of turbine blading may be erosion, corrosion, foreign objects damage, rubbing and cracking caused by high cycle fatigue and creep crack growth. The nozzle and diaphragm vanes (stationary blades) of the steam turbine are elements whose damage is commonly occurring and they require special repair processes. The damage of the blade trailing edge of nozzle and diaphragm vanes, due to the former causes, may be refurbished by welding deposits or stainless steel inserts welded to the blades. Both repair methods of the stationary steam turbine blades are presented. The results of the blades refurbishment are an increase of the turbine availability, reliability and efficiency, and a decrease of the risk that failure will occur. Also, the repair cost versus the spare blades cost represent significant reduction of expenditure. 7 refs

  9. Determination of Turbine Blade Life from Engine Field Data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zaretsky, Erwin V.; Litt, Jonathan S.; Hendricks, Robert C.; Soditus, Sherry M.

    2013-01-01

    It is probable that no two engine companies determine the life of their engines or their components in the same way or apply the same experience and safety factors to their designs. Knowing the failure mode that is most likely to occur minimizes the amount of uncertainty and simplifies failure and life analysis. Available data regarding failure mode for aircraft engine blades, while favoring low-cycle, thermal-mechanical fatigue (TMF) as the controlling mode of failure, are not definitive. Sixteen high-pressure turbine (HPT) T-1 blade sets were removed from commercial aircraft engines that had been commercially flown by a single airline and inspected for damage. Each set contained 82 blades. The damage was cataloged into three categories related to their mode of failure: (1) TMF, (2) Oxidation/erosion (O/E), and (3) Other. From these field data, the turbine blade life was determined as well as the lives related to individual blade failure modes using Johnson-Weibull analysis. A simplified formula for calculating turbine blade life and reliability was formulated. The L10 blade life was calculated to be 2427 cycles (11 077 hr). The resulting blade life attributed to O/E equaled that attributed to TMF. The category that contributed most to blade failure was Other. If there were no blade failures attributed to O/E and TMF, the overall blade L(sub 10) life would increase approximately 11 to 17 percent.

  10. Shape Optimization of Impeller Blades for 15,000 HP Centrifugal Compressor Using Fluid Structural Interaction Analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kang, Hyun Su; Oh, Jeongsu; Han, Jeong Sam

    2014-01-01

    This paper discusses a one-way fluid structural interaction (FSI) analysis and shape optimization of the impeller blades for a 15,000 HP centrifugal compressor using the response surface method (RSM). Because both the aerodynamic performance and the structural safety of the impeller are affected by the shape of its blades, shape optimization is necessary using the FSI analysis, which includes a structural analysis for the induced fluid pressure and centrifugal force. The FSI analysis is performed in ANSYS Workbench: ANSYS CFX is used for the flow field and ANSYS Mechanical is used for the structural field. The response surfaces for the FSI results (efficiency, pressure ratio, maximum stress, etc.) generated based on the design of experiments (DOE) are used to find an optimal shape for the impeller blades, which provides the maximum aerodynamic performance subject to the structural safety constraints

  11. Shape Optimization of Impeller Blades for 15,000 HP Centrifugal Compressor Using Fluid Structural Interaction Analysis

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kang, Hyun Su [Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon (Korea, Republic of); Oh, Jeongsu [Daejoo Machinery Co., Daegu (Korea, Republic of); Han, Jeong Sam [Andong National University, Andong (Korea, Republic of)

    2014-06-15

    This paper discusses a one-way fluid structural interaction (FSI) analysis and shape optimization of the impeller blades for a 15,000 HP centrifugal compressor using the response surface method (RSM). Because both the aerodynamic performance and the structural safety of the impeller are affected by the shape of its blades, shape optimization is necessary using the FSI analysis, which includes a structural analysis for the induced fluid pressure and centrifugal force. The FSI analysis is performed in ANSYS Workbench: ANSYS CFX is used for the flow field and ANSYS Mechanical is used for the structural field. The response surfaces for the FSI results (efficiency, pressure ratio, maximum stress, etc.) generated based on the design of experiments (DOE) are used to find an optimal shape for the impeller blades, which provides the maximum aerodynamic performance subject to the structural safety constraints.

  12. Sweep-twist adaptive rotor blade : final project report.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ashwill, Thomas D.

    2010-02-01

    Knight & Carver was contracted by Sandia National Laboratories to develop a Sweep Twist Adaptive Rotor (STAR) blade that reduced operating loads, thereby allowing a larger, more productive rotor. The blade design used outer blade sweep to create twist coupling without angled fiber. Knight & Carver successfully designed, fabricated, tested and evaluated STAR prototype blades. Through laboratory and field tests, Knight & Carver showed the STAR blade met the engineering design criteria and economic goals for the program. A STAR prototype was successfully tested in Tehachapi during 2008 and a large data set was collected to support engineering and commercial development of the technology. This report documents the methodology used to develop the STAR blade design and reviews the approach used for laboratory and field testing. The effort demonstrated that STAR technology can provide significantly greater energy capture without higher operating loads on the turbine.

  13. Design considerations for a Space Shuttle Main Engine turbine blade made of single crystal material

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abdul-Aziz, A.; August, R.; Nagpal, V.

    1993-01-01

    Nonlinear finite-element structural analyses were performed on the first stage high-pressure fuel turbopump blade of the Space Shuttle Main Engine. The analyses examined the structural response and the dynamic characteristics at typical operating conditions. Single crystal material PWA-1480 was considered for the analyses. Structural response and the blade natural frequencies with respect to the crystal orientation were investigated. The analyses were conducted based on typical test stand engine cycle. Influence of combined thermal, aerodynamic, and centrifugal loadings was considered. Results obtained showed that the single crystal secondary orientation effects on the maximum principal stresses are not highly significant.

  14. Full-Scale Fatigue Testing of a Wind Turbine Blade in Flapwise Direction and Examining the Effect of Crack Propagation on the Blade Performance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Othman Al-Khudairi

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, the sensitivity of the structural integrity of wind turbine blades to debonding of the shear web from the spar cap was investigated. In this regard, modal analysis, static and fatigue testing were performed on a 45.7 m blade for three states of the blade: (i as received blade (ii when a crack of 200 mm was introduced between the web and the spar cap and (iii when the crack was extended to 1000 mm. Calibration pull-tests for all three states of the blade were performed to obtain the strain-bending moment relationship of the blade according to the estimated target bending moment (BM which the blade is expected to experience in its service life. The resultant data was used to apply appropriate load in the fatigue tests. The blade natural frequencies in flapwise and edgewise directions over a range of frequency domain were found by modal testing for all three states of the blade. The blade first natural frequency for each state was used for the flapwise fatigue tests. These were performed in accordance with technical specification IEC TS 61400-23. The fatigue results showed that, for a 200 mm crack between the web and spar cap at 9 m from the blade root, the crack did not propagate at 50% of the target BM up to 62,110 cycles. However, when the load was increased to 70% of target BM, some damages were detected on the pressure side of the blade. When the 200 mm crack was extended to 1000 mm, the crack began to propagate when the applied load exceeded 100% of target BM and the blade experienced delaminations, adhesive joint failure, compression failure and sandwich core failure.

  15. Full-Scale Fatigue Testing of a Wind Turbine Blade in Flapwise Direction and Examining the Effect of Crack Propagation on the Blade Performance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Al-Khudairi, Othman; Hadavinia, Homayoun; Little, Christian; Gillmore, Gavin; Greaves, Peter; Dyer, Kirsten

    2017-10-03

    In this paper, the sensitivity of the structural integrity of wind turbine blades to debonding of the shear web from the spar cap was investigated. In this regard, modal analysis, static and fatigue testing were performed on a 45.7 m blade for three states of the blade: (i) as received blade (ii) when a crack of 200 mm was introduced between the web and the spar cap and (iii) when the crack was extended to 1000 mm. Calibration pull-tests for all three states of the blade were performed to obtain the strain-bending moment relationship of the blade according to the estimated target bending moment (BM) which the blade is expected to experience in its service life. The resultant data was used to apply appropriate load in the fatigue tests. The blade natural frequencies in flapwise and edgewise directions over a range of frequency domain were found by modal testing for all three states of the blade. The blade first natural frequency for each state was used for the flapwise fatigue tests. These were performed in accordance with technical specification IEC TS 61400-23. The fatigue results showed that, for a 200 mm crack between the web and spar cap at 9 m from the blade root, the crack did not propagate at 50% of the target BM up to 62,110 cycles. However, when the load was increased to 70% of target BM, some damages were detected on the pressure side of the blade. When the 200 mm crack was extended to 1000 mm, the crack began to propagate when the applied load exceeded 100% of target BM and the blade experienced delaminations, adhesive joint failure, compression failure and sandwich core failure.

  16. Spacer grid with mixing blades for nuclear fuel assembly

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Noailly, J.

    1986-01-01

    The spacer grid for nuclear fuel assembly has two sets of intersecting metal plates provided with blades and defining cells. The plates are fitted only with half-blades associated with a single grid opening. The half-blades of adjacent cells are arranged at 90deg C to each other and each plate has at most one half-blade at each corner of a cell. The invention concerns fuel assemblies of pressurized water reactors. The blades arranged on a single side of the plate provide a good hydraulic uniformity. The invention provides a uniform distribution of blades (and thus of absorbing material in each hydraulic cell) [fr

  17. Part 1 - Experimental study of the pressure fluctuations on propeller turbine runner blades during steady-state operation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Houde, S.; Fraser, R.; Ciocan, G. D.; Deschênes, C.

    2012-11-01

    A good evaluation of the unsteady pressure field on hydraulic turbine blades is critical in evaluating the turbine lifespan and its maintenance schedule. Low-head turbines such as Kaplan and Propeller, using a relatively low number of blades supported only at the hub, may also undergo significant deflections at the blade tips which will lead to higher amplitude vibration compared to Francis turbines. Furthermore, the precise evaluation of the unsteady pressure distribution on low-head turbines is still a challenge for computational fluid dynamics (CFD). Within the framework of an international research consortium on low-head turbines, a research project was instigated at the Hydraulic Machines Laboratory in Laval University (LAMH) to perform experimental measurements of the unsteady pressure field on propeller turbine model runner blades. The main objective of the project was to measure the pressure fluctuations on a wide band of frequencies, both in a blade-to-blade channel and on the pressure and suction side of the same blade, to provide validation data for CFD computations. To do so, a 32 channels telemetric data transmission system was used to extract the signal of 31 pressure transducers and two strain gages from the rotating part at an acquisition frequency of 5 KHz. The miniature piezoelectric pressure transducers were placed on two adjacent runner blades according to an estimated pressure distribution coming from flow simulations. Two suction sides and one pressure side were instrumented. The strain gages were mounted in full-bridge on both pressure and suction sides to measure the blade span wise deflection. In order to provide boundary conditions for flow simulations, the test bench conditions during the measurements were acquired. The measurements were made in different operating conditions ranging from part load, where a cavitating vortex occurs, to full load under different heads. The results enabled the identification and the quantification of the

  18. Blade profile optimization of kaplan turbine using cfd analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Janjua, A.B.; Khalil, M.S.

    2013-01-01

    Utilization of hydro-power as renewable energy source is of prime importance in the world now. Hydropower energy is available in abundant in form of falls, canals rivers, dams etc. It means, there are various types of sites with different parameters like flow rate, heads, etc. Depending upon the sites, water turbines are designed and manufactured to avail hydro-power energy. Low head turbines on runof-river are widely used for the purpose. Low head turbines are classified as reaction turbines. For runof-river, depending upon the variety of site data, low head Kaplan turbines are selected, designed and manufactured. For any given site requirement, it becomes very essential to design the turbine runner blades through optimization of the CAD model of blades profile. This paper presents the optimization technique carried out on a complex geometry of blade profile through static and dynamic computational analysis. It is used through change of the blade profile geometry at five different angles in the 3D (Three Dimensional) CAD model. Blade complex geometry and design have been developed by using the coordinates point system on the blade in PRO-E /CREO software. Five different blade models are developed for analysis purpose. Based on the flow rate and heads, blade profiles are analyzed using ANSYS software to check and compare the output results for optimization of the blades for improved results which show that by changing blade profile angle and its geometry, different blade sizes and geometry can be optimized using the computational techniques with changes in CAD models. (author)

  19. Blade Profile Optimization of Kaplan Turbine Using CFD Analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aijaz Bashir Janjua

    2013-10-01

    Full Text Available Utilization of hydro-power as renewable energy source is of prime importance in the world now. Hydropower energy is available in abundant in form of falls, canals rivers, dams etc. It means, there are various types of sites with different parameters like flow rate, heads, etc. Depending upon the sites, water turbines are designed and manufactured to avail hydro-power energy. Low head turbines on runof-river are widely used for the purpose. Low head turbines are classified as reaction turbines. For runof river, depending upon the variety of site data, low head Kaplan turbines are selected, designed and manufactured. For any given site requirement, it becomes very essential to design the turbine runner blades through optimization of the CAD model of blades profile. This paper presents the optimization technique carried out on a complex geometry of blade profile through static and dynamic computational analysis. It is used through change of the blade profile geometry at five different angles in the 3D (Three Dimensional CAD model. Blade complex geometry and design have been developed by using the coordinates point system on the blade in PRO-E /CREO software. Five different blade models are developed for analysis purpose. Based on the flow rate and heads, blade profiles are analyzed using ANSYS software to check and compare the output results for optimization of the blades for improved results which show that by changing blade profile angle and its geometry, different blade sizes and geometry can be optimized using the computational techniques with changes in CAD models.

  20. Individual blade pitch for yaw control

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Navalkar, S T; Van Wingerden, J W; Van Kuik, G A M

    2014-01-01

    Individual pitch control (IPC) for reducing blade loads has been investigated and proven successful in recent literature. For IPC, the multi-blade co-ordinate (MBC) transformation is used to process the blade load signals from the rotating to a stationary frame of reference. In the stationary frame of reference, the yaw error of a turbine can be appended to generate IPC actions that are able to achieve turbine yaw control for a turbine in free yaw. In this paper, IPC for yaw control is tested on a high-fidelity numerical model of a commercially produced wind turbine in free yaw. The tests show that yaw control using IPC has the distinct advantage that the yaw system loads and support structure loading are substantially reduced. However, IPC for yaw control also shows a reduction in IPC blade load reduction potential and causes a slight increase in pitch activity. Thus, the key contribution of this paper is the concept demonstration of IPC for yaw control. Further, using IPC for yaw as a tuning parameter, it is shown how the best trade-off between blade loading, pitch activity and support structure loading can be achieved for wind turbine design

  1. Experimental calibration of the mathematical model of Air Torque Position dampers with non-cascading blades

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bikić Siniša M.

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper is focused on the mathematical model of the Air Torque Position dampers. The mathematical model establishes a link between the velocity of air in front of the damper, position of the damper blade and the moment acting on the blade caused by the air flow. This research aims to experimentally verify the mathematical model for the damper type with non-cascading blades. Four different types of dampers with non-cascading blades were considered: single blade dampers, dampers with two cross-blades, dampers with two parallel blades and dampers with two blades of which one is a fixed blade in the horizontal position. The case of a damper with a straight pipeline positioned in front of and behind the damper was taken in consideration. Calibration and verification of the mathematical model was conducted experimentally. The experiment was conducted on the laboratory facility for testing dampers used for regulation of the air flow rate in heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems. The design and setup of the laboratory facility, as well as construction, adjustment and calibration of the laboratory damper are presented in this paper. The mathematical model was calibrated by using one set of data, while the verification of the mathematical model was conducted by using the second set of data. The mathematical model was successfully validated and it can be used for accurate measurement of the air velocity on dampers with non-cascading blades under different operating conditions. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. TR31058

  2. Active Piezoelectric Vibration Control of Subscale Composite Fan Blades

    Science.gov (United States)

    Duffy, Kirsten P.; Choi, Benjamin B.; Provenza, Andrew J.; Min, James B.; Kray, Nicholas

    2012-01-01

    As part of the Fundamental Aeronautics program, researchers at NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) are investigating new technologies supporting the development of lighter, quieter, and more efficient fans for turbomachinery applications. High performance fan blades designed to achieve such goals will be subjected to higher levels of aerodynamic excitations which could lead to more serious and complex vibration problems. Piezoelectric materials have been proposed as a means of decreasing engine blade vibration either through a passive damping scheme, or as part of an active vibration control system. For polymer matrix fiber composite blades, the piezoelectric elements could be embedded within the blade material, protecting the brittle piezoceramic material from the airflow and from debris. To investigate this idea, spin testing was performed on two General Electric Aviation (GE) subscale composite fan blades in the NASA GRC Dynamic Spin Rig Facility. The first bending mode (1B) was targeted for vibration control. Because these subscale blades are very thin, the piezoelectric material was surface-mounted on the blades. Three thin piezoelectric patches were applied to each blade two actuator patches and one small sensor patch. These flexible macro-fiber-composite patches were placed in a location of high resonant strain for the 1B mode. The blades were tested up to 5000 rpm, with patches used as sensors, as excitation for the blade, and as part of open- and closed-loop vibration control. Results show that with a single actuator patch, active vibration control causes the damping ratio to increase from a baseline of 0.3% critical damping to about 1.0% damping at 0 RPM. As the rotor speed approaches 5000 RPM, the actively controlled blade damping ratio decreases to about 0.5% damping. This occurs primarily because of centrifugal blade stiffening, and can be observed by the decrease in the generalized electromechanical coupling with rotor speed.

  3. Design Optimization of a Centrifugal Fan with Splitter Blades

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heo, Man-Woong; Kim, Jin-Hyuk; Kim, Kwang-Yong

    2015-05-01

    Multi-objective optimization of a centrifugal fan with additionally installed splitter blades was performed to simultaneously maximize the efficiency and pressure rise using three-dimensional Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations and hybrid multi-objective evolutionary algorithm. Two design variables defining the location of splitter, and the height ratio between inlet and outlet of impeller were selected for the optimization. In addition, the aerodynamic characteristics of the centrifugal fan were investigated with the variation of design variables in the design space. Latin hypercube sampling was used to select the training points, and response surface approximation models were constructed as surrogate models of the objective functions. With the optimization, both the efficiency and pressure rise of the centrifugal fan with splitter blades were improved considerably compared to the reference model.

  4. Effect of Blade Pitch Angle on the Aerodynamic Characteristics of a Straight-bladed Vertical Axis Wind Turbine Based on Experiments and Simulations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yanzhao Yang

    2018-06-01

    Full Text Available The blade pitch angle has a significant influence on the aerodynamic characteristics of horizontal axis wind turbines. However, few research results have revealed its impact on the straight-bladed vertical axis wind turbine (Sb-VAWT. In this paper, wind tunnel experiments and CFD simulations were performed at the Sb-VAWT to investigate the effect of different blade pitch angles on the pressure distribution on the blade surface, the torque coefficient, and the power coefficient. In this study, the airfoil type was NACA0021 with two blades. The Sb-VAWT had a rotor radius of 1.0 m with a spanwise length of 1.2 m. The simulations were based on the k-ω Shear Stress Transport (SST turbulence model and the wind tunnel experiments were carried out using a high-speed multiport pressure device. As a result, it was found that the maximum pressure difference on the blade surface was obtained at the blade pitch angle of β = 6° in the upstream region. However, the maximum pressure coefficient was shown at the blade pitch angle of β = 8° in the downstream region. The torque coefficient acting on a single blade reached its maximum value at the blade pitch angle of β = 6°. As the tip speed ratio increased, the power coefficient became higher and reached the optimum level. Subsequently, further increase of the tip speed ratio only led to a quick reversion of the power coefficient. In addition, the results from CFD simulations had also a good agreement with the results from the wind tunnel experiments. As a result, the blade pitch angle did not have a significant influence on the aerodynamic characteristics of the Sb-VAWT.

  5. Research overview on vibration damping of mistuned bladed disk assemblies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Liang ZHANG

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available Bladed disk assemblies are very important parts in auto engine and gas turbine, and is widely used in practical engineering. The mistuning existing commonly in the bladed disk assemblies can destroy the vibration characteristics of the bladed disk assemblies, which is one of the reasons for the high cycle fatigue failure of bladed disk assemblies, so it is necessary to research how to reduce the vibration of the bladed disk assemblies. On the basis of the review of relevant research at home and abroad, the mistuning vibration mechanism of the bladed disk assemblies is introduced, and the main technical methods of the vibration damping of bladed disk assemblies are reviewed, such as artificially active mistuning, collision damping, friction damping and optimization of the blade position. Some future research directions are presented.

  6. Methodology for Structural Integrity Analysis of Gas Turbine Blades

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tiago de Oliveira Vale

    2012-03-01

    Full Text Available One of the major sources of stress arising in turbomachinery blades are the centrifugal loads acting at any section of the airfoil. Accounting for this phenomenon stress evaluation of the blade attachment region in the disc has to be performed in order to avoid blade failure. Turbomachinery blades are generally twisted, and the cross section area varies from the root of the blade to the tip. The blade root shape at the attachment region is of great concern. Stress concentrations are predictable at this contact region. In this paper, a finite element model has been created for the purpose of assessing stress at the joint region connecting the blade to the disc slot. Particular attention was paid to the geometric modeling of the "fir-tree" fixing, which is now used in the majority of gas turbine engines. This study has been performed using the commercial software ANSYS 13.0. The disc and blade assembly are forced to move with a certain rotational velocity. Contact connections are predicted on the common faces of the blade and on the disc at the root. Solutions can be obtained to allow the evaluation of stresses. Results can be compared with the mechanical properties of the adopted material.

  7. Modeling of uncertainties for wind turbine blade design

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sørensen, John Dalsgaard; Toft, Henrik Stensgaard

    2014-01-01

    Wind turbine blades are designed by a combination of tests and numerical calculations using finite element models of the blade. The blades are typically composite structures with laminates of glass-fiber and/or carbon-fibers glued together by a matrix material. This paper presents a framework...

  8. Reduced order modeling, statistical analysis and system identification for a bladed rotor with geometric mistuning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vishwakarma, Vinod

    Modified Modal Domain Analysis (MMDA) is a novel method for the development of a reduced-order model (ROM) of a bladed rotor. This method utilizes proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) of Coordinate Measurement Machine (CMM) data of blades' geometries and sector analyses using ANSYS. For the first time ROM of a geometrically mistuned industrial scale rotor (Transonic rotor) with large size of Finite Element (FE) model is generated using MMDA. Two methods for estimating mass and stiffness mistuning matrices are used a) exact computation from sector FE analysis, b) estimates based on POD mistuning parameters. Modal characteristics such as mistuned natural frequencies, mode shapes and forced harmonic response are obtained from ROM for various cases, and results are compared with full rotor ANSYS analysis and other ROM methods such as Subset of Nominal Modes (SNM) and Fundamental Model of Mistuning (FMM). Accuracy of MMDA ROM is demonstrated with variations in number of POD features and geometric mistuning parameters. It is shown for the aforementioned case b) that the high accuracy of ROM studied in previous work with Academic rotor does not directly translate to the Transonic rotor. Reasons for such mismatch in results are investigated and attributed to higher mistuning in Transonic rotor. Alternate solutions such as estimation of sensitivities via least squares, and interpolation of mass and stiffness matrices on manifolds are developed, and their results are discussed. Statistics such as mean and standard deviations of forced harmonic response peak amplitude are obtained from random permutations, and are shown to have similar results as those of Monte Carlo simulations. These statistics are obtained and compared for 3 degree of freedom (DOF) lumped parameter model (LPM) of rotor, Academic rotor and Transonic rotor. A state -- estimator based on MMDA ROM and Kalman filter is also developed for offline or online estimation of harmonic forcing function from

  9. Development of a Wave Energy -Responsive Self-Actuated Blade Articulation Mechanism for an OWC Turbine

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Francis A. Di Bella

    2010-06-01

    The Phase I SBIR effort completed the feasibility design, fabrication, and wind tunnel testing of a self-actuated blade articulation mechanism that uses a torsion bar and a lightweight airfoil to affect the articulation of the Wells airfoil. The articulation is affected only by the air stream incident on the airfoil. The self-actuating blade eliminates the complex and costly linkage mechanism that is now needed to perform this function on either a variable pitch Wells-type or Dennis-Auld air turbine. Using the results reported by independent researchers, the projected improvement in the Wells-type turbine efficiency is 20-40%, in addition to an increase in the operating air flow range by 50-100%, therefore enabling a smaller or slower single turbine to be used.

  10. 49 CFR 236.707 - Blade, semaphore.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 49 Transportation 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Blade, semaphore. 236.707 Section 236.707 Transportation Other Regulations Relating to Transportation (Continued) FEDERAL RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION... Blade, semaphore. The extended part of a semaphore arm which shows the position of the arm. ...

  11. Full Scale Test SSP 34m blade, Combined load. Data report

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nielsen, Per Hørlyk; Nielsen, Magda; Jensen, Find Mølholt

    This report is part of the research project entitled “Eksperimentel vingeforskning: Strukturelle mekanismer i nutidens og fremtidens store vinger under kombineret last” where a 34m wind turbine blade from SSP-Technology A/S was tested in combined flap and edgewise load. The applied load is 55...... of e.g. transverse shear distortion. The global and local deformation of the blade as well as the blades’ respond to repeated tests has been studied and the result from these investigations are presented, including the measurements performed....

  12. Laser-based gluing of diamond-tipped saw blades

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hennigs, Christian; Lahdo, Rabi; Springer, André; Kaierle, Stefan; Hustedt, Michael; Brand, Helmut; Wloka, Richard; Zobel, Frank; Dültgen, Peter

    2016-03-01

    To process natural stone such as marble or granite, saw blades equipped with wear-resistant diamond grinding segments are used, typically joined to the blade by brazing. In case of damage or wear, they must be exchanged. Due to the large energy input during thermal loosening and subsequent brazing, the repair causes extended heat-affected zones with serious microstructure changes, resulting in shape distortions and disadvantageous stress distributions. Consequently, axial run-out deviations and cutting losses increase. In this work, a new near-infrared laser-based process chain is presented to overcome the deficits of conventional brazing-based repair of diamond-tipped steel saw blades. Thus, additional tensioning and straightening steps can be avoided. The process chain starts with thermal debonding of the worn grinding segments, using a continuous-wave laser to heat the segments gently and to exceed the adhesive's decomposition temperature. Afterwards, short-pulsed laser radiation removes remaining adhesive from the blade in order to achieve clean joining surfaces. The third step is roughening and activation of the joining surfaces, again using short-pulsed laser radiation. Finally, the grinding segments are glued onto the blade with a defined adhesive layer, using continuous-wave laser radiation. Here, the adhesive is heated to its curing temperature by irradiating the respective grinding segment, ensuring minimal thermal influence on the blade. For demonstration, a prototype unit was constructed to perform the different steps of the process chain on-site at the saw-blade user's facilities. This unit was used to re-equip a saw blade with a complete set of grinding segments. This saw blade was used successfully to cut different materials, amongst others granite.

  13. Bladed wheels damage detection through Non-Harmonic Fourier Analysis improved algorithm

    Science.gov (United States)

    Neri, P.

    2017-05-01

    Recent papers introduced the Non-Harmonic Fourier Analysis for bladed wheels damage detection. This technique showed its potential in estimating the frequency of sinusoidal signals even when the acquisition time is short with respect to the vibration period, provided that some hypothesis are fulfilled. Anyway, previously proposed algorithms showed severe limitations in cracks detection at their early stage. The present paper proposes an improved algorithm which allows to detect a blade vibration frequency shift due to a crack whose size is really small compared to the blade width. Such a technique could be implemented for condition-based maintenance, allowing to use non-contact methods for vibration measurements. A stator-fixed laser sensor could monitor all the blades as they pass in front of the spot, giving precious information about the wheel health. This configuration determines an acquisition time for each blade which become shorter as the machine rotational speed increases. In this situation, traditional Discrete Fourier Transform analysis results in poor frequency resolution, being not suitable for small frequency shift detection. Non-Harmonic Fourier Analysis instead showed high reliability in vibration frequency estimation even with data samples collected in a short time range. A description of the improved algorithm is provided in the paper, along with a comparison with the previous one. Finally, a validation of the method is presented, based on finite element simulations results.

  14. Super titanium blades for advanced steam turbines

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Coulon, P.A.

    1990-01-01

    In 1986, the Alsthom Steam Turbines Department launched the manufacture of large titanium alloy blades: airfoil length of 1360 mm and overall length of 1520 mm. These blades are designed for the last-stage low pressure blading of advanced steam turbines operating at full speed (3000 rpm) and rating between 300 and 800 MW. Using titanium alloys for steam turbine exhaust stages as substitutes for chrome steels, due to their high strength/density ratio and their almost complete resistance to corrosion, makes it possible to increase the length of blades significantly and correspondingly that steam passage section (by up to 50%) with a still conservative stresses level in the rotor. Alsthom relies on 8 years of experience in the field of titanium, since as early as 1979 large titanium blades (airfoil length of 1240 mm, overall length of 1430 mm) were erected for experimental purposes on the last stage of a 900 MW unit of the Dampierre-sur-Loire power plant and now totals 45,000 operating hours without problems. The paper summarizes the main properties (chemical, mechanical and structural) recorded on very large blades and is based in particular on numerous fatigue corrosion test results to justify the use of the Ti 6 Al 4 V alloy in a specific context of micrographic structure

  15. Effects of large bending deflections on blade flutter limits

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kallesoee, Bjarne Skovmose; Hartvig Hansen, Morten

    2008-04-15

    The coupling of bending and torsion due to large blade bending are assumed to have some effects of the flutter limits of wind turbines. In the present report, the aeroelastic blade model suggested by Kallesoee, which is similar to a second order model, is used to investigate the aeroelastic stability limits of the RWT blade with and without the effects of the large blade deflection. The investigation shows no significant change of the flutter limit on the rotor speed due to the blade deflection,whereas the first edgewise bending mode becomes negatively damped due to the coupling with blade torsion which causes a change of the effective direction of blade vibration. These observations are confirmed by nonlinear aeroelastic simulations using HAWC2. This work is part of the UpWind project funded by the European Commission under the contract number SES6-CT-2005-019945 which is gratefully acknowledged. This report is the deliverable D2.3 of the UpWind project. (au)

  16. Blade runner. Blade server and virtualization technology can help hospitals save money--but they are far from silver bullets.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lawrence, Daphne

    2009-03-01

    Blade servers and virtualization can reduce infrastructure, maintenance, heating, electric, cooling and equipment costs. Blade server technology is evolving and some elements may become obsolete. There is very little interoperability between blades. Hospitals can virtualize 40 to 60 percent of their servers, and old servers can be reused for testing. Not all applications lend themselves to virtualization--especially those with high memory requirements. CIOs should engage their vendors in virtualization discussions.

  17. Experimental Investigation of Inter-Blade Vortices in a Model Francis Turbine

    Science.gov (United States)

    LIU, Demin; LIU, Xiaobing; ZHAO, Yongzhi

    2017-07-01

    The inter-blade vortex in a Francis turbine becomes one of the main hydraulic factors that are likely to cause blade erosion at deep part load operating conditions. However, the causes and the mechanism of inter-blade vortex are still under investigation according to present researches. Thus the causes of inter-blade vortex and the effect of different hydraulic parameters on the inter-blade vortex are investigated experimentally. The whole life cycle of the inter-blade vortex is observed by a high speed camera. The test results illustrate the whole life cycle of the inter-blade vortex from generation to separation and even to fading. It is observed that the inter-blade vortex becomes stronger with the decreasing of flow and head, which leads to pressure fluctuation. Meanwhile, the pressure fluctuations in the vane-less area and the draft tube section become stronger when inter-blade vortices exist in the blade channel. The turbine will be damaged if operating in the inter-blade vortex zone, so its operating range must be far away from that zone. This paper reveals the main cause of the inter-blade vortex which is the larger incidence angle between the inflow angle and the blade angle on the leading edge of the runner at deep part load operating conditions.

  18. Corrosion fatigue in LP steam turbine blading - experiences, causes and appropriate measures; Korrosionsutmattning i aangturbinskovlar - Erfarenheter, inverkande faktorer och moejliga aatgaerder

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tavast, J [ABB STAL AB, Finspaang (Sweden)

    1996-12-01

    Corrosion fatigue in LP steam turbine blading was reviewed together with result of tests performed in order to find blade materials with improved resistance against this. According to international experience, corrosion fatigue of 12Cr steam turbine blades in the transition zone between dry and wet steam, is one of the major causes, if not the major cause, for unavailability of steam turbines. Corrosion fatigue in LP blading is a frequent problem also in Swedish and Finnish nuclear power plants, especially in turbines of type D54 in BWR-plants. Corrosion fatigue has also been discovered in at least one type of nuclear turbine. Initiation times have been very long and the varying experiences in different types of turbines may simply reflect differing initiation times. Corrosion fatigue may therefore become more frequent in other types of turbines in the future. The type of water treatment (BWR/PWR) and possibly temperature after reheating seem to influence the risk for corrosion fatigue. Influence of inleakage of cooling water is less clear for these nuclear plants. The long initiation times together with the fact that very few of the cracked blades have actually failed, indicate that the cracks initiate and/or propagate during transients. Extensive laboratory tests show that there are alternative blade materials available with improved resistance against corrosion fatigue, with the most promising being 15/5 PH and A905, together with Ti6Al4V. The Ti alloy shows the best resistance against corrosion fatigue in most environments and is already used in some turbines. Disadvantage is a higher cost and possible need for redesign of the blades. The alternative materials are recommended for use for blades in the transition zone between dry and wet steam in LP turbines. The main disadvantage is a lack of references, even if 15%5 PH has been used to a very limited extent. 40 refs, 24 figs, 12 tabs, 9 appendices

  19. Development of 52 inches last stage blade for steam turbines

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Suzuki, Atsuhide; Hisa, Shoichi; Nagao, Shinichiro; Ogata, Hisao

    1986-01-01

    The last stage blades of steam turbines are the important component controlling the power output and performance of plants. In order to realize a unit of large capacity and high efficiency, the proper exhaust area and the last stage blades having good performance are indispensable. Toshiba Corp. has completed the development of the 52 inch last stage blades for 1500 and 1800 rpm steam turbines. The 52 inch last stage blades are the longest in the world, which have the annular exhaust area nearly 1.5 times as much as that of 41 inch blades used for 1100 MW, 1500 rpm turbines in nuclear power stations. By adopting these 52 inch blades, the large capacity nuclear power plants up to 1800 MW can be economically constructed, the rate of heat consumption of 1350 MW plants is improved by 3 ∼ 4 % as compared with 41 inch blades, and in the plants up to 1100 MW, LP turbines can be reduced from three sets to two. The features of 52 inch blades, the flow pattern and blade form design, the structural strength analysis and the erosion withstanding property, and the verification by the rotation test of the actual blades, the performance test using a test turbine, the vibration analysis of the actually loaded blades and the analysis of wet steam behavior are reported. (Kako, I.)

  20. Development of 52 inch last stage blade for steam turbine

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kadoya, Yoshiki; Harada, Masakatsu; Watanabe, Eiichiro

    1985-01-01

    Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. has developed the last stage blades with 1320 mm length for a 1800 rpm LP turbine, and the verification by rotating vibration test using actual blades was finished, thus the blades were completed. In a nuclear power plant with an A-PWR of 3800 MW thermal output, the 1350 MW steam turbine has one HP turbine and three LP turbines coupled in tandem, and the optimum last stage blades for the LP turbines became the 1320 mm blades. The completion of these blades largely contributes to the improvement of thermal efficiency and the increase of generator output in large nuclear power plants, and has the possibility to decrease three LP turbines to two in 900 MW plants, which reduces the construction cost. The velocity energy of steam coming out of last stage blades is abandoned as exhaust loss in a condenser, which is the largest loss in a turbine. The increase of exhaust area using long blades reduces this loss. The economy of the 1320 mm blades, the features of the 1320 mm blades, the aerodynamic design and its verification, the prevention of the erosion of the 1320 mm blades due to wet steam, the strength design, the anti-vibration design and its verification, and the CAD/CAM system are reported. (Kako, I.)

  1. Advances in Ceramic Matrix Composite Blade Damping Characteristics for Aerospace Turbomachinery Applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Min, James B.; Harris, Donald L.; Ting, J. M.

    2011-01-01

    For advanced aerospace propulsion systems, development of ceramic matrix composite integrally-bladed turbine disk technology is attractive for a number of reasons. The high strength-to-weight ratio of ceramic composites helps to reduce engine weight and the one-piece construction of a blisk will result in fewer parts count, which should translate into reduced operational costs. One shortcoming with blisk construction, however, is that blisks may be prone to high cycle fatigue due to their structural response to high vibration environments. Use of ceramic composites is expected to provide some internal damping to reduce the vibratory stresses encountered due to unsteady flow loads through the bladed turbine regions. A goal of our research was to characterize the vibration viscous damping behavior of C/SiC composites. The vibration damping properties were measured and calculated. Damping appeared to decrease with an increase in the natural frequency. While the critical damping amount of approximately 2% is required for typical aerospace turbomachinery engines, the C/SiC damping at high frequencies was less than 0.2% from our study. The advanced high-performance aerospace propulsion systems almost certainly will require even more damping than what current vehicles require. A purpose of this paper is to review some work on C/SiC vibration damping by the authors for the NASA CMC turbine blisk development program and address an importance of the further investigation of the blade vibration damping characteristics on candidate CMC materials for the NASA s advanced aerospace turbomachinery engine systems.

  2. Turbine engine rotor blade fault diagnostics through casing pressure and vibration sensors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cox, J; Anusonti-Inthra, P

    2014-01-01

    In this study, an exact solution is provided for a previously indeterminate equation used for rotor blade fault diagnostics. The method estimates rotor blade natural frequency through turbine engine casing pressure and vibration sensors. The equation requires accurate measurements of low-amplitude sideband signals in the frequency domain. With this in mind, statistical evaluation was also completed with the goal of determining the effect of sampling time and frequency on sideband resolution in the frequency domain

  3. Accelerated rain erosion of wind turbine blade coatings

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Zhang, Shizhong

    . There are four chapters in the thesis. In chapter 1, a literature survey provides background information to the field. Topics discussed are the global wind energy development, possible wind turbine constructions, blade structures and materials, blade coatings, and liquid erosion mechanisms. In chapter 2......During operation, the fast-moving blades of wind turbines are exposed to continuous impacts with rain droplets, hail, insects, or solid particles. This can lead to erosion of the blades, whereby the electrical efficiency is compromised and expensive repairs may be required. One possible solution...

  4. Structural optimization procedure of a composite wind turbine blade for reducing both material cost and blade weight

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hu, Weifei; Park, Dohyun; Choi, DongHoon

    2013-12-01

    A composite blade structure for a 2 MW horizontal axis wind turbine is optimally designed. Design requirements are simultaneously minimizing material cost and blade weight while satisfying the constraints on stress ratio, tip deflection, fatigue life and laminate layup requirements. The stress ratio and tip deflection under extreme gust loads and the fatigue life under a stochastic normal wind load are evaluated. A blade element wind load model is proposed to explain the wind pressure difference due to blade height change during rotor rotation. For fatigue life evaluation, the stress result of an implicit nonlinear dynamic analysis under a time-varying fluctuating wind is converted to the histograms of mean and amplitude of maximum stress ratio using the rainflow counting algorithm Miner's rule is employed to predict the fatigue life. After integrating and automating the whole analysis procedure an evolutionary algorithm is used to solve the discrete optimization problem.

  5. KNOW-BLADE task-3.2 report: Tip shape study

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sørensen, Niels N.; Johansen, Jeppe; Conway, S.

    2005-01-01

    For modern rotor blades with their very large aspect ratio, the blade tip is a very limited part of the overall rotor, and as such of limited importance for the overall aerodynamics of the rotor. Even though they may not be very important for the overallpower production, the tip noise can be very...... important for the acoustics of the rotor [15], and the blade tips can as well be important for the aerodynamic damping properties of the rotor blades [13]. Unfortunately, not many options exists for predictingthe aerodynamic behavior of blade tips using computational methods. Experimentally it is di...

  6. New Design of Blade Untwisting Device of Cyclone Unit

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    D. I. Misiulia

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available The paper presents a new design of a blade untwisting device where blades are considered as a main element of the device. A profile of the blades corresponds to a circular arch. An inlet angle of  the blades is determined by stream aerodynamics in an exhaust pipe, and an exit angle is determined by rectilinear gas motion. Optimum geometrical parameters of the untwisting device have been determined and its application allows to reduce a pressure drop in the ЦН-15 cyclones by 28–30 % while screw-blade untwisting device recovers only 19–20 % of energy.

  7. Experimental and numerical study of the British Experimental Rotor Programme blade

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brocklehurst, Alan; Duque, Earl P. N.

    1990-01-01

    Wind-tunnel tests on the British Experimental Rotor Programme (BERP) tip are described, and the results are compared with computational fluid dynamics (CFD) results. The test model was molded using the Lynx-BERP blade tooling to provide a semispan, cantilever wing comprising the outboard 30 percent of the rotor blade. The tests included both surface-pressure measurements and flow visualization to obtain detailed information of the flow over the BERP tip for a range of angles of attack. It was observed that, outboard of the notch, favorable pressure gradients exist which ensure attached flow, and that the tip vortex also remains stable to large angles of attack. On the rotor, these features yield a very gradual break in control loads when the retreating-blade limit is eventually reached. Computational and experimental results were generally found to be in good agreement.

  8. Fundamental investigation on the impact strength of hollow fan blades

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ikeda, T; Miyachi, T; Sofue, Y

    1985-01-01

    Models of hollow fan blades were made and tested to prove that their strength is sufficient for use in real engines. The hollow blades were fabricated by diffusion bonding of two titanium alloy (6Al-4V-Ti) plates, one of which had three spanwise stiffners and the other being flat plate. The model as a nontwisted tapered blade. Impact tests were carried out on the hollow fan blade models in which the ingestion of a 1.5 pounds bird was simulated. Solid blades with the same external form were also tested by similar methods for comparison. The results of these tests show that properly designed hollow blades have sufficient stiffness and strength for use as fan blades in the turbo-fan engine.

  9. Family of airfoil shapes for rotating blades. [for increased power efficiency and blade stability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Noonan, K. W. (Inventor)

    1983-01-01

    An airfoil which has particular application to the blade or blades of rotor aircraft such as helicopters and aircraft propellers is described. The airfoil thickness distribution and camber are shaped to maintain a near zero pitching moment coefficient over a wide range of lift coefficients and provide a zero pitching moment coefficient at section Mach numbers near 0.80 and to increase the drag divergence Mach number resulting in superior aircraft performance.

  10. Blade Bearing Friction Estimation of Operating Wind Turbines

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Perisic, Nevena; Pedersen, Bo Juul; Kirkegaard, Poul Henning

    2012-01-01

    Blade root bearing on a wind turbine (WTG) enables pitching of blades for power control and rotor braking and is a WTG critical component. As the size of modern WTGs is constantly increasing, this leads to relatively less rigid bearings, more sensitive to deformations, thus WTG operational...... reliability can be increased by continuous monitoring of blade bearing. High blade bearing friction is undesirable, as it may be associated with excessive heating of the surfaces, damage and/or inefficient operation. Thus, continuous observation of bearing friction level is crucial for blade bearing health...... monitoring systems. A novel algorithm for online monitoring of bearing friction level is developed combining physical knowledge about pitch system dynamics with state estimator, i.e. observer theory and signal processing assuming realistic sensor availability. Results show estimation of bearing friction...

  11. Development of tooling suitable for stall regulated blades

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hancock, M.

    2001-07-01

    The objectives of the project were to make significant improvements in the production of stall regulated blades in the areas of (a) the tip box, its housing, its mechanism and small GRP parts; (b) mould technology; (c) resins and glues and (d) root tooling. Although wood composite had been identified as a competitive technology for blades, compared with GRP blades, production volumes had been lower; reasons are given. The way in which the four areas identified for investigation were tackled are discussed. The study showed that the mould cycle time can be reduced to two days for a stall regulated blade and the blade quality can be improved by using the composite tip box and new resins. The time required for replication of moulds can be reduced by 40%.

  12. Flow separation on wind turbines blades

    Science.gov (United States)

    Corten, G. P.

    2001-01-01

    the angle of attack. The art of designing stall rotors is to make the separated area on the blades extend in such a way, that the extracted power remains precisely constant, independent of the wind speed, while the power in the wind at cut-out exceeds the maximum power of the turbine by a factor of 8. Since the stall behaviour is influenced by many parameters, this demand cannot be easily met. However, if it can be met, the advantage of stall control is its passive operation, which is reliable and cheap. Problem Definition In practical application, stall control is not very accurate and many stall-controlled turbines do not meet their specifications. Deviations of the design-power in the order of tens of percent are regular. In the nineties, the aerodynamic research on these deviations focussed on: profile aerodynamics, computational fluid dynamics, rotational effects on separation and pressure measurements on test turbines. However, this did not adequately solve the actual problems with stall turbines. In this thesis, we therefore formulated the following as the essential question: "Does the separated blade area really extend with the wind speed, as we predict?" To find the answer a measurement technique was required, which 1) was applicable on large commercial wind turbines, 2) could follow the dynamic changes of the stall pattern, 3) was not influenced by the centrifugal force and 4) did not disturb the flow. Such a technique was not available, therefore we decided to develop it. Stall Flag Method For this method, a few hundred indicators are fixed to the rotor blades in a special pattern. These indicators, called "stall flags" are patented by the Netherlands Energy Research Foundation (ECN). They have a retro-reflective area which, depending on the flow direction, is or is not covered. A powerful light source in the field up to 500m behind the turbine illuminates the swept rotor area. The uncovered reflectors reflect the light to the source, where a digital video

  13. Three-dimensional fluid flow phenomena in the blade end wall corner region

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hazarika, B. K.; Raj, R.; Boldman, D. R.

    1986-01-01

    Flow visualization, static and total pressure measurements, and mean velocity profile measurements with a single-sensor inclined hot wire probe, are used in a study of three-dimensional flow at a turbine blade end wall corner region for six critical axial stations along the blade chord. Three vortices are identified: (1) a horseshoe vortex near the leading edge; (2) a corner eddy between the horseshoe vortex and the corner; and (3) a vortex at the rear portion of the corner due to the corner eddy's secondary flow. Attention is given to the relative size and rate-of-spread of the vortices in the streamwise direction.

  14. Free flow wind speed from a blade-mounted flow sensor

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pedersen, Mads Mølgaard; Larsen, Torben Juul; Aagaard Madsen, Helge

    2018-01-01

    This paper presents a method for obtaining the free-inflow velocities from a 3-D flow sensor mounted on the blade of a wind turbine. From its position on the rotating blade, e.g. one-third from the tip, a blade-mounted flow sensor (BMFS) is able to provide valuable information about the turbulent...... sheared inflow in different regions of the rotor. At the rotor, however, the inflow is affected by the wind turbine, and in most cases the wind of interest is the inflow that the wind turbine is exposed to, i.e. the free-inflow velocities. The current method applies a combination of aerodynamic models...... and procedures to estimate the induced velocities, i.e. the disturbance of the flow field caused by the wind turbine. These velocities are subtracted from the flow velocities measured by the BMFS to obtain the free-inflow velocities. Aeroelastic codes, like HAWC2, typically use a similar approach to calculate...

  15. Fatigue fracture of cutter blade made of high-speed steel

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Beata Letkowska

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available The quality of the surface of cyclically loaded components is very important. Many observations confirm that the root cause of the micro cracks (causing the fatigue fracture are primarily a surface's defects appearing during production process. These surface defects can be also caused by engraving processes used to perform identification marks. This paper presents the failure analysis of broken blade of the cutter Ku 500VX. The blade was subject of standard metallographic examination, hardness measurements, fractography analysis and metallographic studies using stereoscopic, light and scanning electron microscopes. The damage of the blade was caused by changes of the structure (formation of the brittle micro dendritic structure that occurred during manual electric engraving process when the material was heated till its melting point. As a result the stresses occurred in surface what provided to micro cracking and to propagate the fatigue fracture. The origin of this fatigue fracture was in the place where the inscription was made.

  16. Part 1 – Experimental study of the pressure fluctuations on propeller turbine runner blades during steady-state operation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Houde, S; Fraser, R; Ciocan, G D; Deschênes, C

    2012-01-01

    A good evaluation of the unsteady pressure field on hydraulic turbine blades is critical in evaluating the turbine lifespan and its maintenance schedule. Low-head turbines such as Kaplan and Propeller, using a relatively low number of blades supported only at the hub, may also undergo significant deflections at the blade tips which will lead to higher amplitude vibration compared to Francis turbines. Furthermore, the precise evaluation of the unsteady pressure distribution on low-head turbines is still a challenge for computational fluid dynamics (CFD). Within the framework of an international research consortium on low-head turbines, a research project was instigated at the Hydraulic Machines Laboratory in Laval University (LAMH) to perform experimental measurements of the unsteady pressure field on propeller turbine model runner blades. The main objective of the project was to measure the pressure fluctuations on a wide band of frequencies, both in a blade-to-blade channel and on the pressure and suction side of the same blade, to provide validation data for CFD computations. To do so, a 32 channels telemetric data transmission system was used to extract the signal of 31 pressure transducers and two strain gages from the rotating part at an acquisition frequency of 5 KHz. The miniature piezoelectric pressure transducers were placed on two adjacent runner blades according to an estimated pressure distribution coming from flow simulations. Two suction sides and one pressure side were instrumented. The strain gages were mounted in full-bridge on both pressure and suction sides to measure the blade span wise deflection. In order to provide boundary conditions for flow simulations, the test bench conditions during the measurements were acquired. The measurements were made in different operating conditions ranging from part load, where a cavitating vortex occurs, to full load under different heads. The results enabled the identification and the quantification of the

  17. Influence of delayed excitation on vibrations of turbine blades couple

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Půst L.

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available In the presented paper, the computational model of the turbine blade couple is investigated with the main attention to the influence two harmonic excitation forces, having the same frequency and amplitude but with moderate delay in time. Time delay between the exciting harmonic forces depends on the revolutions of bladed disk, on the number of blades on a rotating disk and on the number of stator blades. The reduction of resonance vibrations realized by means of dry friction between the shroud blade-heads increases roughly proportional to the difference of stator and rotor blade-numbers and also to the magnitude of dry friction force. From the analysis of blade couple with direct contact it was proved that the increase of friction forces causes decrease of resonance peaks, but the influence of elastic micro-deformations in the contact surfaces (modeled e.g. by the modified Coulomb dry friction law is rather small. Analysis of a blade couple with a friction element shows that the lower number of stator blades has negligible influence on the amplitudes of both blades, but decreases amplitudes of the friction element oscillations. Similarly the increase of friction forces causes a decrease of resonance peaks, but an increase of friction element amplitudes.

  18. Unsteady potential flow past a propeller blade section

    Science.gov (United States)

    Takallu, M. A.

    1990-01-01

    An analytical study was conducted to predict the effect of an oscillating stream on the time dependent sectional pressure and lift coefficients of a model propeller blade. The assumption is that as the blade sections encounter a wake, the actual angles of attack vary in a sinusoidal manner through the wake, thus each blade is exposed to an unsteady stream oscillating about a mean value at a certain reduced frequency. On the other hand, an isolated propeller at some angle of attack can experience periodic changes in the value of the flow angle causing unsteady loads on the blades. Such a flow condition requires the inclusion of new expressions in the formulation of the unsteady potential flow around the blade sections. These expressions account for time variation of angle of attack and total shed vortices in the wake of each airfoil section. It was found that the final expressions for the unsteady pressure distribution on each blade section are periodic and that the unsteady circulation and lift coefficients exhibit a hysteresis loop.

  19. Design and evaluation of low-cost laminated wood composite blades for intermediate size wind turbines: Blade design, fabrication concept, and cost analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lieblein, S.; Gaugeon, M.; Thomas, G.; Zueck, M.

    1982-01-01

    As part of a program to reduce wind turbine costs, an evaluation was conducted of a laminated wood composite blade for the Mod-OA 200 kW wind turbine. The effort included the design and fabrication concept for the blade, together with cost and load analyses. The blade structure is composed of laminated Douglas fir veneers for the primary spar and nose sections, and honeycomb cored plywood panels for the trailing edges sections. The attachment of the wood blade to the rotor hub was through load takeoff studs bonded into the blade root. Tests were conducted on specimens of the key structural components to verify the feasibility of the concept. It is concluded that the proposed wood composite blade design and fabrication concept is suitable for Mod-OA size turbines (125-ft diameter rotor) at a cost that is very competitive with other methods of manufacture.

  20. Active load reduction by means of trailing edge flaps on a wind turbine blade

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Couchman, Ian; Castaignet, Damien; Poulsen, Niels Kjølstad

    2014-01-01

    This paper presents the blade fatigue load reduction achieved with a trailing edge flap during a full scale test on a Vestas V27 wind turbine. A frequency-weighted linear model predictive control (MPC) is tuned to decrease flapwise blade root fatigue loads at the frequencies where most of the blade...... damage occurs, i.e. the 1P and 2P frequencies (respectively 1 and 2 events per revolution). Frequency-weighted MPC is chosen for its ability to handle constraints on the trailing edge flap deflection and to optimise its actuation in order to decrease wear and tear of the actuator. The controller...... was first tested in aero-servo-elastic simulations, before being implemented on a Vestas V27 wind turbine. Consistent load reduction is achieved during the full-scale test. An average of 14% flapwise blade root fatigue load reduction is measured....

  1. Modeling of Unsteady Sheet Cavitation on Marine Propeller Blades

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Spyros A. Kinnas

    2003-01-01

    Full Text Available Unsteady sheet cavitation is very common on marine propulsor blades. The authors summarize a lifting-surface and a surface-panel model to solve for the unsteady cavitating flow around a propeller that is subject to nonaxisymmetric inflow. The time-dependent extent and thickness of the cavity were determined by using an iterative method. The cavity detachment was determined by applying the smooth detachment criterion in an iterative manner. A nonzeroradius developed vortex cavity model was utilized at the tip of the blade, and the trailing wake geometry was determined using a fully unsteady wake-alignment process. Comparisons of predictions by the two models and measurements from several experiments are given.

  2. Design and initial testing of a one-bladed 30-meter-diameter rotor on the NASA/DOE mod-O wind turbine

    Science.gov (United States)

    Corrigan, R. D.; Ensworth, C. B. F.

    1986-01-01

    The concept of a one-bladed horizontal-axis wind turbine has been of interest to wind turbine designers for many years. Many designs and economic analyses of one-bladed wind turbines have been undertaken by both United States and European wind energy groups. The analyses indicate significant economic advantages but at the same time, significant dynamic response concerns. In an effort to develop a broad data base on wind turbine design and operations, the NASA Wind Energy Project Office has tested a one-bladed rotor at the NASA/DOE Mod-O Wind Turbine Facility. This is the only known test on an intermediate-sized one-bladed rotor in the United States. The 15.2-meter-radius rotor consists of a tip-controlled blade and a counterweight assembly. A rigorous test series was conducted in the Fall of 1985 to collect data on rotor performance, drive train/generator dynamics, structural dynamics, and structural loads. This report includes background information on one-bladed rotor concepts, and Mod-O one-bladed rotor test configuration, supporting design analysis, the Mod-O one-blade rotor test plan, and preliminary test results.

  3. Microscale Fracture of Composite Materials for Wind Turbine Blades

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Martyniuk, Karolina

    which are the most extensively used in the rotor blades, has been shown to play an important role on the overall response of the material. The properties of a fibre/matrix interface have been found to have a significant influence on the macroscopic behavior of composites. Therefore, the characterization......Due to the increase in wind turbines size it is essential that weight savings due to design changes do not compromise the reliability of the rotor blades. The reliability can be increased by improving design rules and the material models that describe the materials properties. More reliable...... materials models can be developed if the understanding of the microscale damage- the first stage of material failure- is increased. Therefore it is important to characterize materials’ microstructures and micro-cracks initiation and propagation.The microstructure of fibre reinforced composite materials...

  4. Optimization of Root Section for Ultra-long Steam Turbine Rotor Blade

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hála, Jindřich; Luxa, Martin; Šimurda, David; Bobčík, Marek; Novák, Ondřej; Rudas, Bartoloměj; Synáč, Jaroslav

    2018-04-01

    This study presents the comparison of aerodynamic performances of two successive designs of the root profiles for the ultra-long rotor blade equipped with a straight fir-tree dovetail. Since aerodynamic and strength requirements laid upon the root section design are contradictory, it is necessary to aerodynamically optimize the design within the limits given by the foremost strength requirements. The most limiting criterion of the static strength is the size of the blade cross-section, which is determined by the number of blades in a rotor and also by the shape and size of a blade dovetail. The aerodynamic design requires mainly the zero incidence angle at the inlet of a profile and in the ideal case ensures that the load does not exceed a limit load condition. Moreover, the typical root profile cascades are transonic with supersonic exit Mach number, therefore, the shape of a suction side and a trailing edge has to respect transonic expansion of a working gas. In this paper, the two variants of root section profile cascades are compared and the aerodynamic qualities of both variants are verified using CFD simulation and two mutually independent experimental methods of measurements (optical and pneumatic).

  5. Aeroelastic Analysis of Olsen Wings 14.3m Blade-Blatigue Project

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Galinos, Christos

    HAWC2 model description and basic analysis of a 15 m rotor radius horizontal axis wind turbine (HAWT) based on 14.3m blade from Olsen Wings and the V27 wind turbine (WT) tower and nacelle properties. The subcomponents of the aero-elastic HAWC2 model have been created in previous projects. The aim...... of this analysis is to give an overview of the whole model properties and response through simulations. The blade structural and aerodynamic properties in HAWC2 format have been provided by Frederik Zahle and the HAWC2 model of the V27 structure by Morten H. Hansen of DTU Wind Energy Department. The current...... analysis is part of the Bladigue project ( Blatigue, 2020)....

  6. Static Structural and Modal Analysis of Gas Turbine Blade

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ranjan Kumar, Ravi; Pandey, K. M., Prof.

    2017-08-01

    Gas turbine is one of the most versatile items of turbo machinery nowadays. It is used in different modes such as power generation, oil and gas, process plants, aviation, domestic and related small industries. This paper is based on the problems concerning blade profile selection, material selection and turbine rotor blade vibration that seriously impact the induced stress-deformation and structural functioning of developmental gas turbine engine. In this paper for generating specific power by rotating blade at specific RPM, blade profile and material has been decided by static structural analysis. Gas turbine rotating blade RPM is decided by Modal Analysis so that the natural frequency of blade should not match with the excitation frequency. For the above blade profile has been modeled in SOLIDWORKS and analysis has been done in ANSYS WORKBENCH 14. Existing NACA6409 profile has been selected as base model and then it is modified by bending it through 72.5° and 145°. Hence these three different blade profiles have been analyzed for three different materials viz. Super Alloy X, Nimonic 80A and Inconel 625 at three different speed viz. 20000, 40000 and 60000RPM. It is found that NACA6409 with 72.5° bent gives best result for all material at all speed. Among all the material Inconel 625 gives best result. Hence Blade of Inconel 625 having 72.5° bent profile is the best combination for all RPM.

  7. Damage detection in wind turbine blades using acoustic techniques

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Juengert, A., E-mail: anne.juengert@mpa.uni-stuttgart.de [Univ. of Stuttgart, Materialpruefungsanstalt Stuttgart, Stuttgart (Germany)

    2013-05-15

    Facing climate change, the use of renewable energy gains importance. The wind energy sector grows very fast. Bigger and more powerful wind turbines will be built in the coming decades and the safety and reliability of the turbines will become more important. Wind turbine blades have to be inspected at regular intervals, because they are highly stressed during operation and a blade breakdown can cause big economic damages. The turbine blades consist of fiber reinforced plastics (GFRP/CFRP) and sandwich areas containing wood or plastic foam. The blades are manufactured as two halves and glued together afterwards. Typical damages are delaminations within the GFRP or the sandwich and missing adhesive or deficient bond at the bonding surfaces. The regular inspections of wind turbine blades are performed manually by experts and are limited to visual appraisals and simple tapping tests. To improve the inspections of wind turbine blades non-destructive testing techniques using acoustic waves are being developed. To detect delaminations within the laminates of the turbine blade, a local resonance spectroscopy was used. To detect missing bond areas from the outside of the blade the impulse-echo-technique was applied. This paper is an updated reprint of an article published on ndt.net in 2008. (author)

  8. Damage detection in wind turbine blades using acoustic techniques

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Juengert, A.

    2013-01-01

    Facing climate change, the use of renewable energy gains importance. The wind energy sector grows very fast. Bigger and more powerful wind turbines will be built in the coming decades and the safety and reliability of the turbines will become more important. Wind turbine blades have to be inspected at regular intervals, because they are highly stressed during operation and a blade breakdown can cause big economic damages. The turbine blades consist of fiber reinforced plastics (GFRP/CFRP) and sandwich areas containing wood or plastic foam. The blades are manufactured as two halves and glued together afterwards. Typical damages are delaminations within the GFRP or the sandwich and missing adhesive or deficient bond at the bonding surfaces. The regular inspections of wind turbine blades are performed manually by experts and are limited to visual appraisals and simple tapping tests. To improve the inspections of wind turbine blades non-destructive testing techniques using acoustic waves are being developed. To detect delaminations within the laminates of the turbine blade, a local resonance spectroscopy was used. To detect missing bond areas from the outside of the blade the impulse-echo-technique was applied. This paper is an updated reprint of an article published on ndt.net in 2008. (author)

  9. Computational Fluid Dynamic Analysis of a Vibrating Turbine Blade

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Osama N. Alshroof

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available This study presents the numerical fluid-structure interaction (FSI modelling of a vibrating turbine blade using the commercial software ANSYS-12.1. The study has two major aims: (i discussion of the current state of the art of modelling FSI in gas turbine engines and (ii development of a “tuned” one-way FSI model of a vibrating turbine blade to investigate the correlation between the pressure at the turbine casing surface and the vibrating blade motion. Firstly, the feasibility of the complete FSI coupled two-way, three-dimensional modelling of a turbine blade undergoing vibration using current commercial software is discussed. Various modelling simplifications, which reduce the full coupling between the fluid and structural domains, are then presented. The one-way FSI model of the vibrating turbine blade is introduced, which has the computational efficiency of a moving boundary CFD model. This one-way FSI model includes the corrected motion of the vibrating turbine blade under given engine flow conditions. This one-way FSI model is used to interrogate the pressure around a vibrating gas turbine blade. The results obtained show that the pressure distribution at the casing surface does not differ significantly, in its general form, from the pressure at the vibrating rotor blade tip.

  10. AERFORCE: Subroutine package for unsteady blade-element/momentum calculations

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bjoerck, Anders

    2000-05-01

    A subroutine package, called AERFORCE, for the calculation of aerodynamic forces of wind turbine rotors has been written. The subroutines are written in FORTRAN. AERFORCE requires the input of airfoil aerodynamic data via tables as function of angle of attack, the turbine blade and rotor geometry and wind and blade velocities as input. The method is intended for use in an aeroelastic code. Wind and blade velocities are given at a sequence of time steps and blade forces are returned. The aerodynamic method is basically a Blade-Element/Momentum method. The method is fast and coded to be used in time simulations. In order to obtain a steady state solution a time simulation to steady state conditions has to be carried out. The BEM-method in AERFORCE includes extensions for: Dynamic inflow: Unsteady modeling of the inflow for cases with unsteady blade loading or unsteady wind. Extensions to BEM-theory for inclined flow to the rotor disc (yaw model). Unsteady blade aerodynamics: The inclusion of 2D attached flow unsteady aerodynamics and a semi-empirical model for 2D dynamic stall.

  11. Multidisciplinary Aerodynamic Design of a Rotor Blade for an Optimum Rotor Speed Helicopter

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jiayi Xie

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available The aerodynamic design of rotor blades is challenging, and is crucial for the development of helicopter technology. Previous aerodynamic optimizations that focused only on limited design points find it difficult to balance flight performance across the entire flight envelope. This study develops a global optimum envelope (GOE method for determining blade parameters—blade twist, taper ratio, tip sweep—for optimum rotor speed helicopters (ORS-helicopters, balancing performance improvements in hover and various freestream velocities. The GOE method implements aerodynamic blade design by a bi-level optimization, composed of a global optimization step and a secondary optimization step. Power loss as a measure of rotor performance is chosen as the objective function, referred to as direct power loss (DPL in this study. A rotorcraft comprehensive code for trim simulation with a prescribed wake method is developed. With the application of the GOE method, a DPL reduction of as high as 16.7% can be achieved in hover, and 24% at high freestream velocity.

  12. A novel folding blade of wind turbine rotor for effective power control

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Xie, Wei; Zeng, Pan; Lei, Liping

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • A novel folding blade for wind turbine power control is proposed. • Wind tunnel experiments were conducted to analyze folding blade validity. • Folding blade is valid to control wind turbine power output. • Compared to pitch control, thrust was reduced by fold control in power regulation. • Optimum fold angles were found for wind turbine start up and aerodynamic brake. - Abstract: A concept of novel folding blade of horizontal axis wind turbine is proposed in current study. The folding blade comprises a stall regulated root blade section and a folding tip blade section with the fold axis inclined relative to blade span. By folding blade, lift force generated on the tip blade section changes and the moment arm also shortens, which leads to variations of power output. The blade folding actuation mechanism with servo motor and worm-gear reducer was designed. Wind turbine rotor control scheme and servo system with double feedback loops for blade fold angle control were proposed. In this study, a small folding blade model was tested in a wind tunnel to analyze its performance. The blade model performance was estimated in terms of rotation torque coefficient and thrust coefficient. Wind tunnel experiments were also conducted for pitch control using the same blade model in order to make a direct comparison. The power control, start up and aerodynamic brake performance of the folding blade were analyzed. According to the wind tunnel experiment results, fold angle magnitude significantly affected blade aerodynamic performance and the thrust characteristic together with the rotation torque characteristic of folding blade were revealed. The experiment results demonstrated that the folding blade was valid to control power output and had advantages in reducing thrust with maximum reduction of 51.1% compared to pitch control. Optimum fold angles of 55° and 90° were also found for start up and aerodynamic brake, respectively

  13. Direct Numerical Simulations of a Full Stationary Wind-Turbine Blade

    Science.gov (United States)

    Qamar, Adnan; Zhang, Wei; Gao, Wei; Samtaney, Ravi

    2014-11-01

    Direct numerical simulation of flow past a full stationary wind-turbine blade is carried out at Reynolds number, Re = 10,000 placed at 0 and 5 (degree) angle of attack. The study is targeted to create a DNS database for verification of solvers and turbulent models that are utilized in wind-turbine modeling applications. The full blade comprises of a circular cylinder base that is attached to a spanwise varying airfoil cross-section profile (without twist). An overlapping composite grid technique is utilized to perform these DNS computations, which permits block structure in the mapped computational space. Different flow shedding regimes are observed along the blade length. Von-Karman shedding is observed in the cylinder shaft region of the turbine blade. Along the airfoil cross-section of the blade, near body shear layer breakdown is observed. A long tip vortex originates from the blade tip region, which exits the computational plane without being perturbed. Laminar to turbulent flow transition is observed along the blade length. The turbulent fluctuations amplitude decreases along the blade length and the flow remains laminar regime in the vicinity of the blade tip. The Strouhal number is found to decrease monotonously along the blade length. Average lift and drag coefficients are also reported for the cases investigated. Supported by funding under a KAUST OCRF-CRG grant.

  14. Enhancement of soft X-ray lasing action with thin blade radiators

    Science.gov (United States)

    Suckewer, Szymon; Skinner, Charles H.; Voorhees, David R.

    1988-01-01

    An enhancement of approximately 100 of stimulated emission over spontaneous emission of the CVI 182 Angstrom line was obtained in a recombining magnetically confined plasma column. The plasma was formed by focusing a CO.sub.2 laser beam on a carbon disc. A magnetic solenoid produced a strong magnetic field which confined the plasma to the shape of a column. A single thin carbon blade extended parallel to the plasma column and served to make the column axially more uniform and also acted as a heat sink. Axial and transverse measurements of the soft X-ray lasing action were made from locations off-set from the central axis of the plasma column. Multiple carbon blades located at equal intervals around the plasma column were also found to produce acceptable results. According to another embodiment 10 a thin coating of aluminum or magnesium was placed on the carbon disc and blade. The Z of the coating should preferably be at least 5 greater than the Z of the target. Measurements of the soft X-rays generated at 182 Angstroms showed a significant increase in intensity enhancement.

  15. Experimental evidence of inter-blade cavitation vortex development in Francis turbines at deep part load condition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yamamoto, K.; Müller, A.; Favrel, A.; Avellan, F.

    2017-10-01

    Francis turbines are subject to various types of cavitation flow depending on the operating condition. To enable a smooth integration of the renewable energy sources, hydraulic machines are now increasingly required to extend their operating range, especially down to extremely low discharge conditions called deep part load operation. The inter-blade cavitation vortex is a typical cavitation phenomenon observed at deep part load operation. However, its dynamic characteristics are insufficiently understood today. In an objective of revealing its characteristics, the present study introduces a novel visualization technique with instrumented guide vanes embedding the visualization devices, providing unprecedented views on the inter-blade cavitation vortex. The binary image processing technique enables the successful evaluation of the inter-blade cavitation vortex in the images. As a result, it is shown that the probability of the inter-blade cavitation development is significantly high close to the runner hub. Furthermore, the mean vortex line is calculated and the vortex region is estimated in the three-dimensional domain for the comparison with numerical simulation results. In addition, the on-board pressure measurements on a runner blade is conducted, and the influence of the inter-blade vortex on the pressure field is investigated. The analysis suggests that the presence of the inter-blade vortex can magnify the amplitude of pressure fluctuations especially on the blade suction side. Furthermore, the wall pressure difference between pressure and suction sides of the blade features partially low or negative values near the hub at the discharge region where the inter-blade vortex develops. This negative pressure difference on the blade wall suggests the development of a backflow region caused by the flow separation near the hub, which is closely related to the development of the inter-blade vortex. The development of the backflow region is confirmed by the numerical

  16. Advanced LP turbine blade design

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jansen, M.; Pfeiffer, R.; Termuehlen, H.

    1990-01-01

    In the 1960's and early 1970's, the development of steam turbines for the utility industry was mainly influenced by the demand for increasing unit sizes. Nuclear plants in particular, required the design of LP turbines with large annulus areas for substantial mass and volumetric steam flows. Since then the development of more efficient LP turbines became an ongoing challenge. Extensive R and D work was performed in order to build efficient and reliable LP turbines often exposed to severe corrosion, erosion and dynamic excitation conditions. This task led to the introduction of an advanced disk-type rotor design for 1800 rpm LP turbines and the application of a more efficient, reaction-type blading for all steam turbine sections including the first stages of LP turbines. The most recent developments have resulted in an advanced design of large LP turbine blading, typically used in the last three stages of each LP turbine flow section. Development of such blading required detailed knowledge of the three dimensional, largely transonic, flow conditions of saturated steam. Also the precise assessment of blade stressing from dynamic conditions, such as speed and torsional resonance, as well as stochastic and aerodynamic excitation is of extreme importance

  17. A structural model for composite rotor blades and lifting surfaces

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rehfield, Lawrence W.; Atilgan, Ali R.

    1987-01-01

    Composite material systems are currently candidates for aerospace structures, primarily for the design flexibiity they offer i.e., it is possible to tailor the material and manufacturing approach to the application. Two notable examples are the wing of the Grumman/USAF/DARPA X-29 and rotor blades under development by the U.S.A. Aerostructures Directorate (AVSCOM), Langley Research Center. A working definition of elastic or structural tailoring is the use of structural concept, fiber orientation, ply stacking sequence, and a blend of materials to achieve specific performance goals. In the design process, choices of materials and dimensions are made which produce specific response characteristics which permit the selected goals to be achieved. Common choices for tailoring goals are preventing instabilities or vibration resonances or enhancing damage tolerance. An essential, enabling factor in the design of tailored composite structures is structural modeling that accurately, but simply, characterizes response. The objective of this paper is to improve the single-cell beam model for composite rotor blades or lifting surfaces and to demonstrate its usefullness in applications.

  18. Numerical study of aero-excitation of steam-turbine rotor blade self-oscillations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Galaev, S. A.; Makhnov, V. Yu.; Ris, V. V.; Smirnov, E. M.

    2018-05-01

    Blade aero-excitation increment is evaluated by numerical solution of the full 3D unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations governing wet steam flow in a powerful steam-turbine last stage. The equilibrium wet steam model was adopted. Blade surfaces oscillations are defined by eigen-modes of a row of blades bounded by a shroud. Grid dependency study was performed with a reduced model being a set of blades multiple an eigen-mode nodal diameter. All other computations were carried out for the entire blade row. Two cases are considered, with an original-blade row and with a row of modified (reinforced) blades. Influence of eigen-mode nodal diameter and blade reinforcing on aero-excitation increment is analyzed. It has been established, in particular, that maximum value of the aero-excitation increment for the reinforced-blade row is two times less as compared with the original-blade row. Generally, results of the study point definitely to less probability of occurrence of blade self-oscillations in case of the reinforced blade-row.

  19. Measurements of the Aerodynamic Normal Forces on a 12-kW Straight-Bladed Vertical Axis Wind Turbine

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eduard Dyachuk

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available The knowledge of unsteady forces is necessary when designing vertical axis wind turbines (VAWTs. Measurement data for turbines operating at an open site are still very limited. The data obtained from wind tunnels or towing tanks can be used, but have limited applicability when designing large-scale VAWTs. This study presents experimental data on the normal forces of a 12-kW straight-bladed VAWT operated at an open site north of Uppsala, Sweden. The normal forces are measured with four single-axis load cells. The data are obtained for a wide range of tip speed ratios: from 1.7 to 4.6. The behavior of the normal forces is analyzed. The presented data can be used in validations of aerodynamic models and the mechanical design for VAWTs.

  20. On the performance analysis of Savonius rotor with twisted blades

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Saha, U.K.; Rajkumar, M. Jaya [Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati-781 039 (India)

    2006-09-15

    The present investigation is aimed at exploring the feasibility of twisted bladed Savonius rotor for power generation. The twisted blade in a three-bladed rotor system has been tested in a low speed wind tunnel, and its performance has been compared with conventional semicircular blades (with twist angle of 0{sup o}). Performance analysis has been made on the basis of starting characteristics, static torque and rotational speed. Experimental evidence shows the potential of the twisted bladed rotor in terms of smooth running, higher efficiency and self-starting capability as compared to that of the conventional bladed rotor. Further experiments have been conducted in the same setup to optimize the twist angle. (author)

  1. Wind turbine blade testing system using base excitation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cotrell, Jason; Thresher, Robert; Lambert, Scott; Hughes, Scott; Johnson, Jay

    2014-03-25

    An apparatus (500) for fatigue testing elongate test articles (404) including wind turbine blades through forced or resonant excitation of the base (406) of the test articles (404). The apparatus (500) includes a testing platform or foundation (402). A blade support (410) is provided for retaining or supporting a base (406) of an elongate test article (404), and the blade support (410) is pivotally mounted on the testing platform (402) with at least two degrees of freedom of motion relative to the testing platform (402). An excitation input assembly (540) is interconnected with the blade support (410) and includes first and second actuators (444, 446, 541) that act to concurrently apply forces or loads to the blade support (410). The actuator forces are cyclically applied in first and second transverse directions. The test article (404) responds to shaking of its base (406) by oscillating in two, transverse directions (505, 507).

  2. Experimental and Numerical Study of the Aerodynamic Characteristics of an Archimedes Spiral Wind Turbine Blade

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kyung Chun Kim

    2014-11-01

    Full Text Available A new type of horizontal axis wind turbine adopting the Archimedes spiral blade is introduced for urban-use. Based on the angular momentum conservation law, the design formula for the blade was derived using a variety of shape factors. The aerodynamic characteristics and performance of the designed Archimedes wind turbine were examined using computational fluid dynamics (CFD simulations. The CFD simulations showed that the new type of wind turbine produced a power coefficient (Cp of approximately 0.25, which is relatively high compared to other types of urban-usage wind turbines. To validate the CFD results, experimental studies were carried out using a scaled-down model. The instantaneous velocity fields were measured using the two-dimensional particle image velocimetry (PIV method in the near field of the blade. The PIV measurements revealed the presence of dominant vortical structures downstream the hub and near the blade tip. The interaction between the wake flow at the rotor downstream and the induced velocity due to the tip vortices were strongly affected by the wind speed and resulting rotational speed of the blade. The mean velocity profiles were compared with those predicted by the steady state and unsteady state CFD simulations. The unsteady CFD simulation agreed better with those of the PIV experiments than the steady state CFD simulations.

  3. Full Scale Test of SSP 34m blade, edgewise loading LTT. Data Report 1

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nielsen, Magda; Jensen, Find M.; Nielsen, Per H. (and others)

    2010-01-15

    This report is a part of a research project where a 34m wind turbine blade from SSP-Technology A/S has been tested in edgewise direction (LTT). The applied load is 60% of an unrealistic extreme event, corresponding to 75% of a certificated extreme load. This report describes the background, the test set up, the tests and the results. For this project, a new solution has been used for the load application and the solution for the load application is described in this report as well. The blade has been submitted to thorough examination. More areas have been examined with DIC, both global and local deflections have been measured, and also 378 strain gauge measurements have been performed. Furthermore Acoustic Emission has been used in order to detect damage while testing new load areas. The global deflection is compared with results from a previous test and results from FEM analyses in order to validate the solution as to how the gravity load on the blade was handled. Furthermore, the DIC measurement and the displacement sensors measurements are compared in order to validate the results from the DIC measurements. The report includes the results from the test and a description of the measurement equipment and the data acquisition. (author)

  4. Output characteristics of torsion arc blade type horizontal axis windmill; Nejire enko yokugata suiheijiku fusha no shutsuryoku tokusei

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kojima, N; Kishimura, K [Meiji University, Tokyo (Japan)

    1997-11-25

    The previous paper theoretically analyzes characteristics of a torsion arc blade type (TABT) horizontal axis windmill to derive the theoretical equations, which give the results in good agreement with the observed ones, when multiplied by a blade shape factor. This paper discusses that the theoretical and observed results are in good agreement with each other by taking into consideration shape-related solidity and number of blades. The following findings are obtained, when parameters related to a 6-blade TABT horizontal axis wind mill are introduced and hysteresis brake is used as the load resistance for torque measurement. Shape factor can be represented by two factors of blade number and solidity. The same equation for shape factor is applicable to both elliptical and rectangular blades. These blades need different theoretical equations to give the results in agreement with the observed ones, when operated at a tip speed ratio (TSR) of 1.77 and 1.58, respectively. Rotational force is affected by the rear blade shape when they are operated at a respective TSR below the above level, but unaffected at beyond the above level. 5 refs., 9 figs., 1 tab.

  5. Moving blade for steam turbines with axial flow

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Raschke, K.; Wehle, G.

    1976-01-01

    The invention concerns the improvement of the production of moving blades for steam turbines with axial flow, especially of multi-blades produced by welding of the top plates. It is proposed to weld the top plates before the moving blades are fitted into the rotor. Welding is this made much easier and can be carried out under protective gas and with better results. (UWI) [de

  6. Investigating for failure of central ventilation fan blade

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Koo, Jae Raeyang; Ko Woo Sig; Kim, Yeon Hwan; Park, Kwang Ha

    2002-01-01

    During the operation, central ventilation fan stopped when switch 'on' condition. When central ventilation fan disassemble, ten blades of fan fractured. We have searched cause of failure. We had modeling one of the fan blades and analysis with computer programs. Thus we have find that fracture of central ventilation fan blades is alternative stress and vibration at hub. In this paper, we have described cause of failure

  7. Turbine blade having a constant thickness airfoil skin

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marra, John J

    2012-10-23

    A turbine blade is provided for a gas turbine comprising: a support structure comprising a base defining a root of the blade and a framework extending radially outwardly from the base, and an outer skin coupled to the support structure framework. The skin has a generally constant thickness along substantially the entire radial extent thereof. The framework and the skin define an airfoil of the blade.

  8. Optimization design of spar cap layup for wind turbine blade

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    2012-01-01

    Based on the aerodynamic shape and structural form of the blade are fixed,a mathematical model of optimization design for wind turbine blade is established.The model is pursued with respect to minimum the blade mass to reduce the cost of wind turbine production.The material layup numbers of the spar cap are chosen as the design variables;while the demands of strength,stiffness and stability of the blade are employed as the constraint conditions.The optimization design for a 1.5 MW wind turbine blade is carried out by combing above objective and constraint conditions at the action of ultimate flapwise loads with the finite element software ANSYS.Compared with the original design,the optimization design result achieves a reduction of 7.2% of the blade mass,the stress and strain distribution of the blade is more reasonable,and there is no occurrence of resonance,therefore its effectiveness is verified.

  9. Remote inspection of steam turbine blades

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anon.

    1987-01-01

    During the past five years Reinhart and Associates, Inc. has been involved in remote examination of L-0 and L-1 steam turbine blade rows of in-place LP turbines using visual and eddy current techniques. These tests have concentrated on the trailing edge and blade-to-rotor attachment (Christmas tree) areas. These remote nondestructive examinations were performed through hand access ports of the inner shell. Since the remote scanning system was in a prototype configuration, the inspection was highly operator-dependent. Refinement of the scanning equipment would considerably improve the efficiency of the test; however, the feasibility of remote in-place inspection of turbine blades was established. To further improve this technology, and to provide for remote inspection of other areas of the blade and additional turbine designs, EPRI is funding a one-year project with Reinhart and Associates, Inc. This project will develop a new system that employs state-of-the-art multifrequency eddy current techniques, a miniature charged coupled device (CCD) television camera, and remote positioning equipment. Project results from the first six months are presented

  10. Eddy current inspection of stationary blade rings

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Krzywosz, K.J.; Hastings, S.N.

    1994-01-01

    Stationary turbine blade rings in a US power plant have experienced chloride-induced cracking. Failure analysis determined two types of cracking mechanisms: corrosion fatigue cracking confined to the leading edge of the outer shroud; and stress corrosion cracking present all over the blade surface. Fluorescent dye penetrant is typically used to detect and size cracks. However, it requires cleaning the blade rings by sandblasting to obtain reliable inspection results. Sand blasting in turn requires sealing the lower half of the turbine housing to prevent sand from contaminating the rest of the power plant components. Furthermore, both the penetrant examination and the removal of the sand are time consuming and costly. An alternative NDE technique is desirable which requires no pre-cleaning of the blade and a quick go/no-go inspection with the capability of estimating the crack length. This paper presents an innovative eddy current technique which meets the desired objectives by incorporating the use of specially designed contoured scanners equipped with an array of pancake coils. A set of eddy current pancake coils housed in three different scanners is used to manually scan and inspect the convex side of the stationary blade rings. The pancake coils are operated in a transmit/receive mode using two separate eddy current instruments. This paper presents the inspection concept, including scanner and probe designs, and test results from the various stages of multiple blade rings

  11. Numerical investigations on axial and radial blade rubs in turbo-machinery

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abdelrhman, Ahmed M.; Tang, Eric Sang Sung; Salman Leong, M.; Al-Qrimli, Haidar F.; Rajamohan, G.

    2017-07-01

    In the recent years, the clearance between the rotor blades and stator/casing had been getting smaller and smaller prior improving the aerodynamic efficiency of the turbomachines as demand in the engineering field. Due to the clearance reduction between the blade tip and the rotor casing and between rotor blades and stator blades, axial and radial blade rubbing could be occurred, especially at high speed resulting into complex nonlinear vibrations. The primary aim of this study is to address the blade axial rubbing phenomenon using numerical analysis of rotor system. A comparison between rubbing caused impacts of axial and radial blade rubbing and rubbing forces are also aims of this study. Tow rotor models (rotor-stator and rotor casing models) has been designed and sketched using SOILDSWORKS software. ANSYS software has been used for the simulation and the numerical analysis. The rubbing conditions were simulated at speed range of 1000rpm, 1500rpm and 2000rpm. Analysis results for axial blade rubbing showed the appearance of blade passing frequency and its multiple frequencies (lx, 2x 3x etc.) and these frequencies will more excited with increasing the rotational speed. Also, it has been observed that when the rotating speed increased, the rubbing force and the harmonics frequencies in x, y and z-direction become higher and severe. The comparison study showed that axial blade rub is more dangerous and would generate a higher vibration impacts and higher blade rubbing force than radial blade rub.

  12. Testing and evaluation of a rototiller with new ridged blades

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    H Gholami

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available Introduction Recently, employment of rotary tillers has been expanded in gardens and small farms, especially in the northern of Iran. However using the L-shaped blades in the conventional rotary tillers have some problems such as severe vibration problems, weeds stucking around the blades, forming the plow pan and lower performance due to the less powers of such small rototillers. Therefore in order to overcome the above mentioned problems, a rototiller with new ridged blades was designed, fabricated and tested in this research. Materials and Methods Experiments were carried out in one of the citrus orchards in Mazandaran, Sari. The experimental design was split plots based on randomized complete block design with three replications. The soil moisture as main plot varied in two levels of 13.5-21.9 and 21.9-30.3 percent based on dry weight and the rotational speed of blades as subplots varied in three levels of 140-170, 170-200 and 200-230 rpm. The measured parameters consist of soil particle mean weight diameter, soil bulk density, soil crumbling percentage, specific fuel consumption and machine efficiency. The diameter of soil particles was measured using a set of standard sieves with diameter ranging from 0.5 to 8 mm. Then a laboratory shaker was used to sift the samples. Each sample was shaken in 30 sec. The fuel consumption during the experiments was determined by the filled fuel tank method. Analysis of variance (ANOVA and mean comparisons and interaction between the parameters were performed using the SPSS 16 software. Results and Discussion The results indicated that the soil particle mean weight diameter reduced by increasing blades rotational speed in both examined soil moisture contents. Results indicated that the soil crumbling percent increases with increasing the rotational speed. The main reason for this effect could be due to the more energy transferring to the soil at higher rotational speeds, which result in further crumbling of

  13. Channel flow analysis. [velocity distribution throughout blade flow field

    Science.gov (United States)

    Katsanis, T.

    1973-01-01

    The design of a proper blade profile requires calculation of the blade row flow field in order to determine the velocities on the blade surfaces. An analysis theory is presented for several methods used for this calculation and associated computer programs that were developed are discussed.

  14. Near net shape forging of titanium alloy turbine blade

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Morita, Akiyasu; Hattori, Shigeo; Tani, Kazuhito; Takemura, Atsushi; Ashida, Yoshio

    1991-01-01

    The isothermal forging process has been developed to produce turbine blades made of near β Ti-alloy Ti-10V-2Fe-3Al. It is important to set the preform at the optimum position of the die in order to get a high precision product. The deformation analysis by using FEM is effective to determine the optimum position. And also it is necessary to avoid buckling induced by the restriction of axial elongation of the material. As a result, Ti-10V-2Fe-3Al blades could be formed precisely by using only one stage of forging, and machining was needed only at the root. The thickness of the oxide layer induced on the surface of the forged blade was only 70μm. The mechanical properties of Ti-10V-2Fe-3Al blades after forging and annealing were superior to those of Ti-6Al-4V blades and were nearly uniform across the length of the blades. (author)

  15. Derivation of airfoil characteristics for the LM 19.1 blade based on 3D CFD rotor calculations

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bak, C; Soerensen, N N; Madsen, H A [Risoe National Lab., Roskilde (Denmark)

    1999-03-01

    Airfoil characteristics for the LM 19.1 blade are derived from 3D CFD computations on a full-scale 41-m rotor. Based on 3D CFD the force distributions on the blades are determined, from which airfoil characteristics are derived using the momentum theory. The final airfoil characteristics are constructed using both wind tunnel measurements and 3D CFD. Compared to 2D wind tunnel measurements they show a low lift in stall for the airfoil sections at the tip. At the airfoil sections at the inner part of the blade, they show a high lift in stall. At about 60% radius the lift agrees well to 2D wind tunnel measurements. Aero-elastic calculations using the final airfoil characteristics show good agreement to measured power and flap moments. Furthermore, a fatigue load analysis shows a reduction of up to 15% of the load compared to commonly used data. (au)

  16. Composite hub/metal blade compressor rotor

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yao, S.

    1978-01-01

    A low cost compressor rotor was designed and fabricated for a small jet engine. The rotor hub and blade keepers were compression molded with graphite epoxy. Each pair of metallic blades was held in the hub by a keeper. All keepers were locked in the hub with circumferential windings. Feasibility of fabrication was demonstrated in this program.

  17. A new reference tip-timing test bench and simulator for blade synchronous and asynchronous vibrations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hajnayeb, Ali; Nikpour, Masood; Moradi, Shapour; Rossi, Gianluca

    2018-02-01

    The blade tip-timing (BTT) measurement technique is at present the most promising technique for monitoring the blades of axial turbines and aircraft engines in operating conditions. It is generally used as an alternative to strain gauges in turbine testing. By conducting a comparison with the standard methods such as those based on strain gauges, one determines that the technique is not intrusive and does not require a complicated installation process. Despite its superiority to other methods, the experimental performance analysis of a new BTT method needs a test stand that includes a reference measurement system (e.g. strain gauges equipped with telemetry or other complex optical measurement systems, like rotating laser Doppler vibrometers). In this article, a new reliable, low-cost BTT test setup is proposed for simulating and analyzing blade vibrations based on kinematic inversion. In the proposed test bench, instead of the blades vibrating, it is the BTT sensor that vibrates. The vibration of the sensor is generated by a shaker and can therefore be easily controlled in terms of frequency, amplitude and waveform shape. The amplitude of vibration excitation is measured by a simple accelerometer. After introducing the components of the simulator, the proposed test bench is used in practice to simulate both synchronous and asynchronous vibration scenarios. Then two BTT methods are used to evaluate the quality of the acquired data. The results demonstrate that the proposed setup is able to generate simulated pulse sequences which are almost the same as those generated by the conventional BTT systems installed around a bladed disk. Moreover, the test setup enables its users to evaluate BTT methods by using a limited number of sensors. This significantly reduces the total costs of the experiments.

  18. Effect of position of blades in the treatment of IMRT

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Perez Azorin, J. F.; Ramos Garcia, L. I.; Ortiz de Zarate Vivanco, R.; Trueba Garayo, I.; Cacicedo, J.; Hoyo, O. del

    2013-01-01

    This paper presents a method of calculation of the positions of each blade measures during treatment for all segments and the subsequent reconstruction of these positions in the planning system on the patient's physical and anatomical data. (Author)

  19. Digital radiographic technology; non-destructive testing of tubine blades

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Penumadu, P.S.

    2014-01-01

    Inspection of turbine blades has always been a big challenge. Any irregularities in the blade have a huge impact on the gas turbine, so these blades have to be manufactured and inspected in the most sophisticated way possible. The evolution of digital radiographic technology took a leap forward to

  20. Analysis of Different Blade Architectures on small VAWT Performance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Battisti, L.; Brighenti, A.; Benini, E.; Raciti Castelli, M.

    2016-09-01

    The present paper aims at describing and comparing different small Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT) architectures, in terms of performance and loads. These characteristics can be highlighted by resorting to the Blade Element-Momentum (BE-M) model, commonly adopted for rotor pre-design and controller assessment. After validating the model with experimental data, the paper focuses on the analysis of VAWT loads depending on some relevant rotor features: blade number (2 and 3), airfoil camber line (comparing symmetrical and asymmetrical profiles) and blade inclination (straight versus helical blade). The effect of such characteristics on both power and thrusts (in the streamwise direction and in the crosswise one) as a function of both the blades azimuthal position and their Tip Speed Ratio (TSR) are presented and widely discussed.

  1. Coupling analysis of wind turbine blades based on aeroelastics and aerodynsmics

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Wang, Xudong; Chen, Jin; Zhang, Shigiang

    2010-01-01

    The structural dynamic equations of blades were constructed for blades of wind turbines. The vibration velocity of blades and the relative flow velocity were calculated using the structural dynamics model. Based on the BEM (Blade Element Momentum) theory and traditional areodynamics, the coupling...

  2. Evaluation of MOSTAS computer code for predicting dynamic loads in two bladed wind turbines

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kaza, K. R. V.; Janetzke, D. C.; Sullivan, T. L.

    1979-01-01

    Calculated dynamic blade loads were compared with measured loads over a range of yaw stiffnesses of the DOE/NASA Mod-O wind turbine to evaluate the performance of two versions of the MOSTAS computer code. The first version uses a time-averaged coefficient approximation in conjunction with a multi-blade coordinate transformation for two bladed rotors to solve the equations of motion by standard eigenanalysis. The second version accounts for periodic coefficients while solving the equations by a time history integration. A hypothetical three-degree of freedom dynamic model was investigated. The exact equations of motion of this model were solved using the Floquet-Lipunov method. The equations with time-averaged coefficients were solved by standard eigenanalysis.

  3. Construction of low-cost, Mod-OA wood composite wind turbine blades

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lark, R. F.

    1983-01-01

    Two sixty-foot, low-cost, wood composite blades for service on 200 kW Mod-OA wind turbines were constructed. The blades were constructed of epoxy resin-bonded Douglas fir veneers for the leading edge sections, and paper honeycombcored, birch plywood faced panels for the afterbody sections. The blades were joined to the wind turbine hub by epoxy resin-bonded steel load take-off studs embedded into the root end of the blades. The blades were installed on the 200 kW Mod-OA wind turbine facility at Kahuku, Hawaii, The blades completed nearly 8,000 hours of operation over an 18 month period at an average power of 150 kW prior to replacement with another set of wood composite blades. The blades were replaced because of a corrosion failure of the steel shank on one stud. Inspections showed that the wood composite structure remained in excellent condition.

  4. Merenje vibracija i relevantnih parametara leta transportnog helikoptera Mi-8 sa revitalizovanim lopaticama nosećeg rotora / Vibration and flight data measurement on the transport helicopter Mi-8 with replaced main rotor blades

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Veljko Rakonjac

    2004-11-01

    Full Text Available Rad se odnosi na merenje parametara leta transportnog helikoptera ruske proizvodnje Mi-8 sa ugrađenim originalnim, kao i revitalizovanim - delimično kompozitnim lopaticama nosećeg rotora. Cilj merenja bio je dobijanje relevantnih podataka za ocenu kvaliteta revitalizovanih lopatica usled zamene lopatica nosećeg rotora. Prikazani su oprema, postupak i analiza rezultata merenja parametara leta i vibracija, uz poseban osvrt na probleme izazvane uticajem vibracija na mernu opremu. / This paper presents helicopter flight data acquisition made on the Russian helicopter Mi-8 with its original main rotor blades as well as with regenerated, partially composite ones. The purpose of the measurement was collecting data for flight quality of the main rotor composite blades changing the actual main rotor blades. This paper also presents equipment procedures and analysis of flight data and vitration measurements with special attention to problems caused by vibration influence on equipment.

  5. Manufacturing a 9-Meter Thermoplastic Composite Wind Turbine Blade: Preprint

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Murray, Robynne [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Snowberg, David R [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Berry, Derek S [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Beach, Ryan [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Rooney, Samantha A [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Swan, Dana [Arkema Inc.

    2017-12-06

    Currently, wind turbine blades are manufactured from a combination of glass and/or carbon fiber composite materials with a thermoset resin such as epoxy, which requires energy-intensive and expensive heating processes to cure. Newly developed in-situ polymerizing thermoplastic resin systems for composite wind turbine blades polymerize at room temperature, eliminating the heating process and significantly reducing the blade manufacturing cycle time and embodied energy, which in turn reduces costs. Thermoplastic materials can also be thermally welded, eliminating the need for adhesive bonds between blade components and increasing the overall strength and reliability of the blades. As well, thermoplastic materials enable end-of-life blade recycling by reheating and decomposing the materials, which is a limitation of existing blade technology. This paper presents a manufacturing demonstration for a 9-m-long thermoplastic composite wind turbine blade. This blade was constructed in the Composites Manufacturing Education and Technology facility at the National Wind Technology Center at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) using a vacuum-assisted resin transfer molding process. Johns Manville fiberglass and an Arkema thermoplastic resin called Elium were used. Additional materials included Armacell-recycled polyethylene terephthalate foam from Creative Foam and low-cost carbon- fiber pultruded spar caps (manufactured in collaboration with NREL, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Huntsman, Strongwell, and Chomarat). This paper highlights the development of the thermoplastic resin formulations, including an additive designed to control the peak exothermic temperatures. Infusion and cure times of less than 3 hours are also demonstrated, highlighting the efficiency and energy savings associated with manufacturing thermoplastic composite blades.

  6. Bayesian analysis applied to statistical uncertainties of extreme response distributions of offshore wind turbines

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Cheng, P.W.; Kuik, van G.A.M.; Bussel, van G.J.W.; Vrouwenvelder, A.C.W.M.

    2002-01-01

    Extreme response is an important design variable for wind turbines. The statistical uncertainties concerning the extreme response distribution are simulated here with data concerning physical characteristics obtained from measurements. The extreme responses are the flap moment at the blade root and

  7. Bimetallic Blisks with Shrouded Turbine Blades for Gas Turbine Engines

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    L. A. Magerramova

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available The paper discusses prospects of using blisks with shrouded blades. Increasing an engine life and efficiency as well as mass reduction can also be achieved by increasing blade numbers and decreasing disk diameter. But design engineers are faced with the problem of blade placement because of the disk size and root dimensions.The problem of increasing life and cyclic durability, vibration strength, and lightweight design of the turbine gas turbine wheels, can be solved by an elimination of blade - disk locks.The technology of manufacturing one-piece blisks by connecting the blades with the disc part using hot isostatic pressing was developed. This technology allows us to use blades with shrouds. It is necessary to increase efficiency and to improve high cycle fatigue performance of rotor blades.One of the pressing problems is to ensure the necessary position of shrouds in relation to each other in the manufacturing process as well as in the service. Numerical studies of the influence of the shroud mounting position on blade strength during operation allowed us to develop a methodology of choosing a shroud mounting position.Based on the two turbine wheels (LPT and HPT calculations advantages of blisk design with respect to the lock-based design were shown. Application of bimetallic blisks with shrouded blades resulted in a lifespan increase and weight reduction.In addition, other advantages of blisk design are as follows: possible reduction in the number of parts, elimination of leaks and fretting that take place in the blade - disk locks, exception of expensive broaching operations and disk alloy saving. The shortcoming is elimination of damping in root connection. In addition, there are no widely used repair methods.Despite these disadvantages the usage of bimetallic turbine blisks with shrouded blades is very promising.

  8. Wind Turbine Blade Design System - Aerodynamic and Structural Analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dey, Soumitr

    2011-12-01

    The ever increasing need for energy and the depletion of non-renewable energy resources has led to more advancement in the "Green Energy" field, including wind energy. An improvement in performance of a Wind Turbine will enhance its economic viability, which can be achieved by better aerodynamic designs. In the present study, a design system that has been under development for gas turbine turbomachinery has been modified for designing wind turbine blades. This is a very different approach for wind turbine blade design, but will allow it to benefit from the features inherent in the geometry flexibility and broad design space of the presented system. It starts with key overall design parameters and a low-fidelity model that is used to create the initial geometry parameters. The low-fidelity system includes the axisymmetric solver with loss models, T-Axi (Turbomachinery-AXIsymmetric), MISES blade-to-blade solver and 2D wing analysis code XFLR5. The geometry parameters are used to define sections along the span of the blade and connected to the CAD model of the wind turbine blade through CAPRI (Computational Analysis PRogramming Interface), a CAD neutral API that facilitates the use of parametric geometry definition with CAD. Either the sections or the CAD geometry is then available for CFD and Finite Element Analysis. The GE 1.5sle MW wind turbine and NERL NASA Phase VI wind turbine have been used as test cases. Details of the design system application are described, and the resulting wind turbine geometry and conditions are compared to the published results of the GE and NREL wind turbines. A 2D wing analysis code XFLR5, is used for to compare results from 2D analysis to blade-to-blade analysis and the 3D CFD analysis. This kind of comparison concludes that, from hub to 25% of the span blade to blade effects or the cascade effect has to be considered, from 25% to 75%, the blade acts as a 2d wing and from 75% to the tip 3D and tip effects have to be taken into account

  9. Structure of three Zlatoust bulats (Damascus-steel blades)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schastlivtsev, V. M.; Gerasimov, V. Yu.; Rodionov, D. P.

    2008-08-01

    Chemical composition, structure, and hardness of samples of three Zlatoust bulats (Damascus steels), namely, an Anosov bulat blade (1841), Obukhov bulat blade (1859), and a Shvetsov forged bulat-steel blank (crucible steel) have been investigated. The Anosov bulat possesses all signs of the classical Damascus steel; this is a hypereutectoid carbon steel with a structure formed from chains of carbides against the background of fine pearlite (troostite). A banded pattern is revealed on the surface of the blade. The Obukhov blade cannot be referred to classical Damascus steel. The pattern on the surface of the blade is absent, despite the fact that the initial steel is hypereutectoid. The structure of the blade does not correspond to the structure of classical Damascus steel; this is bainite with numerous cementite particles. The Shvetsov sample cannot be regarded as Damascus steel since it is made from a hypereutectoid steel alloyed by managanese and tungsten. The pattern on the surface of the metal is a consequence of the dendritic structure of the ingot which is developed during forging. The structure of this pattern differs from classical damascene pattern, since the latter is formed due to a specific arrangement of a variety of carbide particles against the pearlitic or some other background obtained during heat treatment.

  10. Vibrational analysis of vertical axis wind turbine blades

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kapucu, Onur

    The goal of this research is to derive a vibration model for a vertical axis wind turbine blade. This model accommodates the affects of varying relative flow angle caused by rotating the blade in the flow field, uses a simple aerodynamic model that assumes constant wind speed and constant rotation rate, and neglects the disturbance of wind due to upstream blade or post. The blade is modeled as elastic Euler-Bernoulli beam under transverse bending and twist deflections. Kinetic and potential energy equations for a rotating blade under deflections are obtained, expressed in terms of assumed modal coordinates and then plugged into Lagrangian equations where the non-conservative forces are the lift and drag forces and moments. An aeroelastic model for lift and drag forces, approximated with third degree polynomials, on the blade are obtained assuming an airfoil under variable angle of attack and airflow magnitudes. A simplified quasi-static airfoil theory is used, in which the lift and drag coefficients are not dependent on the history of the changing angle of attack. Linear terms on the resulting equations of motion will be used to conduct a numerical analysis and simulation, where numeric specifications are modified from the Sandia-17m Darrieus wind turbine by Sandia Laboratories.

  11. Fracture analysis of adhesive joints in wind turbine blades

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Eder, Martin Alexander; Bitsche, Robert

    2015-01-01

    Modern wind turbine rotor blades are usually made from fibre-reinforced composite subcomponents. In the final assembly stage, these subcomponents are bonded together by several adhesive joints. One important adhesive joint is situated at the trailing edge, which refers to the downstream edge where...... the air-flow rejoins and leaves the blade. Maintenance inspections of wind turbine rotor blades show that among other forms of damage, local debonding of the shells along the trailing edge is a frequent failure type. The cause of trailing edge failure in wind turbine blades is complex, and detailed...

  12. Noise from Propellers with Symmetrical Sections at Zero Blade Angle

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deming, A F

    1937-01-01

    A theory has been deduced for the "rotation noise" from a propeller with blades of symmetrical section about the chord line and set at zero blade angle. Owing to the limitation of the theory, the equations give without appreciable error only the sound pressure for cases where the wave lengths are large compared with the blade lengths. With the aid of experimental data obtained from a two-blade arrangement, an empirical relation was introduced that permitted calculation of higher harmonics. The generality of the final relation given is indicated by the fundamental and second harmonic of a four-blade arrangement.

  13. Fatigue strength ofcomposite wind turbine blade structures

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ardila, Oscar Gerardo Castro

    Wind turbines are normally designed to withstand 20-30 years of life. During this period, the blades, which are the main rotating structures of a wind turbine, are subjected to high fluctuating load conditions as a result of a combination of gravity, inertia, and aeroelastic forces. For this reason......, fatigue is one of the foremost concerns during the design of these structures. However, current standard fatigue methods used for designing wind turbine blades seem not to be completely appropriate for these structures because they are still based on methods developed for metals and not for composite...... materials from which the blades are made. In this sense, the aim of this work is to develop more accurate and reliable fatigue-life prediction models for composite wind turbine blades. In this project, two types of fatigue models are implemented: fatigue-life models and damage mechanics models. In the first...

  14. Influence of Icing on the Modal Behavior of Wind Turbine Blades

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sudhakar Gantasala

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available Wind turbines installed in cold climate sites accumulate ice on their structures. Icing of the rotor blades reduces turbine power output and increases loads, vibrations, noise, and safety risks due to the potential ice throw. Ice accumulation increases the mass distribution of the blade, while changes in the aerofoil shapes affect its aerodynamic behavior. Thus, the structural and aerodynamic changes due to icing affect the modal behavior of wind turbine blades. In this study, aeroelastic equations of the wind turbine blade vibrations are derived to analyze modal behavior of the Tjaereborg 2 MW wind turbine blade with ice. Structural vibrations of the blade are coupled with a Beddoes-Leishman unsteady attached flow aerodynamics model and the resulting aeroelastic equations are analyzed using the finite element method (FEM. A linearly increasing ice mass distribution is considered from the blade root to half-length and thereafter constant ice mass distribution to the blade tip, as defined by Germanischer Lloyd (GL for the certification of wind turbines. Both structural and aerodynamic properties of the iced blades are evaluated and used to determine their influence on aeroelastic natural frequencies and damping factors. Blade natural frequencies reduce with ice mass and the amount of reduction in frequencies depends on how the ice mass is distributed along the blade length; but the reduction in damping factors depends on the ice shape. The variations in the natural frequencies of the iced blades with wind velocities are negligible; however, the damping factors change with wind velocity and become negative at some wind velocities. This study shows that the aerodynamic changes in the iced blade can cause violent vibrations within the operating wind velocity range of this turbine.

  15. Flutter of Darrieus wind turbine blades

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ham, N. D.

    1978-01-01

    The testing of Darrieus wind turbines has indicated that under certain conditions, serious vibrations of the blades can occur, involving flatwise bending, torsion, and chordwise bending. A theoretical method of predicting the aeroelastic stability of the coupled bending and torsional motion of such blades with a view to determining the cause of these vibrations, and a means of suppressing them was developed.

  16. A CLINICAL ASSESSMENT OF MACINTOSH BLADE, MILLER BLADE AND KING VISIONTM VIDEOLARYNGOSCOPE FOR LARYNGEAL EXPOSURE AND DIFFICULTY IN ENDOTRACHEAL INTUBATION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Apoorva Mahendera

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available CONTEXT Previous studies suggest glottic view is better achieved with straight blades while tracheal intubation is easier with curved blades and videolaryngoscope is better than conventional laryngoscope. AIMS Comparison of conventional laryngoscope (Macintosh blade and Miller blade with channelled videolaryngoscope (King Vision TM with respect to laryngeal visualisation and difficulty in endotracheal intubation. SETTINGS AND DESIGN This prospective randomised comparative study was conducted at a tertiary care hospital (in ASA I and ASA II patients after approval from the Institutional Ethics Committee. METHODS We compared Macintosh, Miller, and the King VisionTM videolaryngoscope for glottic visualisation and ease of tracheal intubation. Patients undergoing elective surgeries under general anaesthesia requiring endotracheal intubation were randomly divided into three groups (N=180. After induction of anaesthesia, laryngoscopy was performed and trachea intubated. We recorded visualisation of glottis (Cormack-Lehane grade-CL, ease of intubation, number of attempts, need to change blade, and need for external laryngeal manipulation. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS Demographic data, Mandibular length, Mallampati classification were compared using ANOVA, Chi-square test, Kruskal-Wallis Test, where P value <0.005 is statically significant. RESULTS CL grade 1 was most often observed in King Vision -TM VL group (90% which is followed by Miller (28.33%, and Macintosh group (15%. We found intubation was to be easier (grade 1 with King Vision -TM VL group (73.33%, followed by Macintosh (38.33%, and Miller group (1.67%. External manipulation (BURP was needed more frequently in patients in Miller group (71.67%, followed by Macintosh (28.33% and in King Vision -TM VL group (6.67%. All (100% patients were intubated in the 1 st attempt with King Vision -TM VL group, followed by Macintosh group (90% and Miller group (58.33%. CONCLUSIONS In patients with normal airway

  17. Using wind speed from a blade-mounted flow sensor for power and load assessment on modern wind turbines

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. M. Pedersen

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available In this paper an alternative method to evaluate power performance and loads on wind turbines using a blade-mounted flow sensor is investigated. The hypothesis is that the wind speed measured at the blades has a high correlation with the power and loads such that a power or load assessment can be performed from a few hours or days of measurements.In the present study a blade-mounted five-hole pitot tube is used as the flow sensor as an alternative to the conventional approach, where the reference wind speed is either measured at a nearby met mast or on the nacelle using lidar technology or cup anemometers. From the flow sensor measurements, an accurate estimate of the wind speed at the rotor plane can be obtained. This wind speed is disturbed by the presence of the wind turbine, and it is therefore different from the free-flow wind speed. However, the recorded wind speed has a high correlation with the actual power production as well as the flap-wise loads as it is measured close to the blade where the aerodynamic forces are acting.Conventional power curves are based on at least 180 h of 10 min mean values, but using the blade-mounted flow sensor both the observation average time and the overall assessment time can potentially be shortened. The basis for this hypothesis is that the sensor is able to provide more observations with higher accuracy, as the sensor follows the rotation of the rotor and because of the high correlation between the flow at the blades and the power production. This is the research question addressed in this paper.The method is first tested using aeroelastic simulations where the dependence of the radial position and effect of multiple blade-mounted flow sensors are also investigated. Next the method is evaluated on the basis of full-scale measurements on a pitch-regulated, variable-speed 3.6 MW wind turbine.It is concluded that the wind speed derived from the blade-mounted flow sensor is highly correlated with the

  18. Damping measurements in flowing water

    Science.gov (United States)

    Coutu, A.; Seeley, C.; Monette, C.; Nennemann, B.; Marmont, H.

    2012-11-01

    Fluid-structure interaction (FSI), in the form of mass loading and damping, governs the dynamic response of water turbines, such as Francis turbines. Water added mass and damping are both critical quantities in evaluating the dynamic response of the turbine component. Although the effect of fluid added mass is well documented, fluid damping, a critical quantity to limit vibration amplitudes during service, and therefore to help avoiding possible failure of the turbines, has received much less attention in the literature. This paper presents an experimental investigation of damping due to FSI. The experimental setup, designed to create dynamic characteristics similar to the ones of Francis turbine blades is discussed, together with the experimental protocol and examples of measurements obtained. The paper concludes with the calculated damping values and a discussion on the impact of the observed damping behaviour on the response of hydraulic turbine blades to FSI.

  19. Damping measurements in flowing water

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Coutu, A; Monette, C; Nennemann, B; Marmont, H; Seeley, C

    2012-01-01

    Fluid-structure interaction (FSI), in the form of mass loading and damping, governs the dynamic response of water turbines, such as Francis turbines. Water added mass and damping are both critical quantities in evaluating the dynamic response of the turbine component. Although the effect of fluid added mass is well documented, fluid damping, a critical quantity to limit vibration amplitudes during service, and therefore to help avoiding possible failure of the turbines, has received much less attention in the literature. This paper presents an experimental investigation of damping due to FSI. The experimental setup, designed to create dynamic characteristics similar to the ones of Francis turbine blades is discussed, together with the experimental protocol and examples of measurements obtained. The paper concludes with the calculated damping values and a discussion on the impact of the observed damping behaviour on the response of hydraulic turbine blades to FSI.

  20. Retention system and method for the blades of a rotary machine

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pedersen, Poul D.; Glynn, Christopher C.; Walker, Roger C.

    2002-01-01

    A retention system and method for the blades of a rotary machine for preventing forward or aft axial movement of the rotor blades includes a circumferential hub slot formed about a circumference of the machine hub. The rotor blades have machined therein a blade retention slot which is aligned with the circumferential hub slot when the blades are received in correspondingly shaped openings in the hub. At least one ring segment is secured in the blade retention slots and the circumferential hub slot to retain the blades from axial movement. A key assembly is used to secure the ring segments in the aligned slots via a hook portion receiving the ring segments and a threaded portion that is driven radially outwardly by a nut. A cap may be provided to provide a redundant back-up load path for the centrifugal loads on the key. Alternatively, the key assembly may be formed in the blade dovetail.

  1. A study for soundness of turbine blade root using ultrasonic and phased array

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gil, Doo Song; Park, Sang Ki; Cho, Yong Sang; Lee, Sang Gug; Huh, Kuang Bum

    2003-01-01

    Power plant is consisted of many component parts for the generation of the electricity, and occasionally, turbine equipment may be caused in break-down because of the damage of the blade root. Phased array ultrasonic testing system has become available for practical application in complicated geometry such as turbine blade root, tenon, disc in power industry. This research describes the characteristics of phased array ultrasonic testing signal for various type of blade roots in thermal Power Plant turbines. This application of Phased array ultrasonic testing system has been promoted mainly to save inspection time and labor cost of turbine inspection. The characteristic of phased array ultrasonic testing signal for power plant component in very simple to understand but to difficult for perform the inspection. This paper is focused on the safety of the turbine equipment by the ultrasonic measurement and phased array analysis. As a result of the test through ultrasonic and phased array method, we have concluded that the main damage in these turbine blade root parts could be generated by the concentrated stress and centrifugal force.

  2. Blade vortex interaction noise reduction techniques for a rotorcraft

    Science.gov (United States)

    Charles, Bruce D. (Inventor); Hassan, Ahmed A. (Inventor); Tadghighi, Hormoz (Inventor); JanakiRam, Ram D. (Inventor); Sankar, Lakshmi N. (Inventor)

    1996-01-01

    An active control device for reducing blade-vortex interactions (BVI) noise generated by a rotorcraft, such as a helicopter, comprises a trailing edge flap located near the tip of each of the rotorcraft's rotor blades. The flap may be actuated in any conventional way, and is scheduled to be actuated to a deflected position during rotation of the rotor blade through predetermined regions of the rotor azimuth, and is further scheduled to be actuated to a retracted position through the remaining regions of the rotor azimuth. Through the careful azimuth-dependent deployment and retraction of the flap over the rotor disk, blade tip vortices which are the primary source for BVI noise are (a) made weaker and (b) pushed farther away from the rotor disk (that is, larger blade-vortex separation distances are achieved).

  3. Estimation of gas turbine blades cooling efficiency

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Moskalenko, A.B.; Kozhevnikov, A.

    2016-01-01

    This paper outlines the results of the evaluation of the most thermally stressed gas turbine elements, first stage power turbine blades, cooling efficiency. The calculations were implemented using a numerical simulation based on the Finite Element Method. The volume average temperature of the blade

  4. Gas turbine engine turbine blade damaging estimate in maintenance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ель-Хожайрі Хусейн

    2004-01-01

    Full Text Available  The factors determining character and intensity of corrosive damages of gas turbine blades are analyzed in the article. The classification of detrimental impurities polluting gas turbine airflow duct and injuring blade erosion damages are given. Common features of the method of turbine blade corrosive damage estimation are shown in the article.

  5. A CFD analysis of blade row interactions within a high-speed axial compressor

    Science.gov (United States)

    Richman, Michael Scott

    Aircraft engine design provides many technical and financial hurdles. In an effort to streamline the design process, save money, and improve reliability and performance, many manufacturers are relying on computational fluid dynamic simulations. An overarching goal of the design process for military aircraft engines is to reduce size and weight while maintaining (or improving) reliability. Designers often turn to the compression system to accomplish this goal. As pressure ratios increase and the number of compression stages decrease, many problems arise, for example stability and high cycle fatigue (HCF) become significant as individual stage loading is increased. CFD simulations have recently been employed to assist in the understanding of the aeroelastic problems. For accurate multistage blade row HCF prediction, it is imperative that advanced three-dimensional blade row unsteady aerodynamic interaction codes be validated with appropriate benchmark data. This research addresses this required validation process for TURBO, an advanced three-dimensional multi-blade row turbomachinery CFD code. The solution/prediction accuracy is characterized, identifying key flow field parameters driving the inlet guide vane (IGV) and stator response to the rotor generated forcing functions. The result is a quantified evaluation of the ability of TURBO to predict not only the fundamental flow field characteristics but the three dimensional blade loading.

  6. Structural health monitoring of wind turbine blades

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rumsey, Mark A.; Paquette, Joshua A.

    2008-03-01

    As electric utility wind turbines increase in size, and correspondingly, increase in initial capital investment cost, there is an increasing need to monitor the health of the structure. Acquiring an early indication of structural or mechanical problems allows operators to better plan for maintenance, possibly operate the machine in a de-rated condition rather than taking the unit off-line, or in the case of an emergency, shut the machine down to avoid further damage. This paper describes several promising structural health monitoring (SHM) techniques that were recently exercised during a fatigue test of a 9 meter glass-epoxy and carbon-epoxy wind turbine blade. The SHM systems were implemented by teams from NASA Kennedy Space Center, Purdue University and Virginia Tech. A commercial off-the-shelf acoustic emission (AE) NDT system gathered blade AE data throughout the test. At a fatigue load cycle rate around 1.2 Hertz, and after more than 4,000,000 fatigue cycles, the blade was diagnostically and visibly failing at the out-board blade spar-cap termination point at 4.5 meters. For safety reasons, the test was stopped just before the blade completely failed. This paper provides an overview of the SHM and NDT system setups and some current test results.

  7. Effect of steady deflections on the aeroelastic stability of a turbine blade

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kallesøe, Bjarne Skovmose

    2011-01-01

    This paper deals with effects of geometric non-linearities on the aeroelastic stability of a steady-state defl ected blade. Today, wind turbine blades are long and slender structures that can have a considerable steady-state defl ection which affects the dynamic behaviour of the blade. The fl...... apwise blade defl ection causes the edgewise blade motion to couple to torsional blade motion and thereby to the aerodynamics through the angle of attack. The analysis shows that in the worst case for this particular blade, the edgewise damping can be decreased by half. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons......, Ltd....

  8. Study on Determination Method of Fatigue Testing Load for Wind Turbine Blade

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liao, Gaohua; Wu, Jianzhong

    2017-07-01

    In this paper, the load calculation method of the fatigue test was studied for the wind turbine blade under uniaxial loading. The characteristics of wind load and blade equivalent load were analyzed. The fatigue property and damage theory of blade material were studied. The fatigue load for 2MW blade was calculated by Bladed, and the stress calculated by ANSYS. Goodman modified exponential function S-N curve and linear cumulative damage rule were used to calculate the fatigue load of wind turbine blades. It lays the foundation for the design and experiment of wind turbine blade fatigue loading system.

  9. Numerical Validation of a Vortex Model against ExperimentalData on a Straight-Bladed Vertical Axis Wind Turbine

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eduard Dyachuk

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available Cyclic blade motion during operation of vertical axis wind turbines (VAWTs imposes challenges on the simulations models of the aerodynamics of VAWTs. A two-dimensional vortex model is validated against the new experimental data on a 12-kW straight-bladed VAWT, which is operated at an open site. The results on the normal force on one blade are analyzed. The model is assessed against the measured data in the wide range of tip speed ratios: from 1.8 to 4.6. The predicted results within one revolution have a similar shape and magnitude as the measured data, though the model does not reproduce every detail of the experimental data. The present model can be used when dimensioning the turbine for maximum loads.

  10. Performance improvement of small-scale rotors by passive blade twist control

    OpenAIRE

    Lv, Peng; Prothin, Sebastien; Mohd Zawawi, Fazila; Bénard, Emmanuel; Morlier, Joseph; Moschetta, Jean-Marc

    2015-01-01

    A passive twist control is proposed as an adaptive way to maximize the overall efficiency of the small-scale rotor blade for multifunctional aircrafts. Incorporated into a database of airfoil characteristics, Blade Element Momentum Theory is implemented to obtain the blade optimum twist rates for hover and forward flight. In order to realize the required torsion of blade between hover and forward flight, glass/epoxy laminate blade is proposed based on Centrifugal Force Induced Twist concept. ...

  11. Guidelines to Interpret Results of Mechanical Blade Test

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Arias Vega, F.; Sanz Martin, J. C.

    1999-01-01

    This report shows the interpretation of full scale rotor blade test results and describes the engineering testing models and coefficients for any feasible rotor blade design, in order to accept and to certify any final manufactured blade as an allowable product, fit for use and working with a completely security during all the wind turbines lifetime. This work was carried out at the Wind Energy Division of the CIEMAT.DER and it is based on the authors technical experience in this field, after many years working on testing blades. Also, this paper contains results of the European wind turbine Standards II relevant to the European Project: JOULE III R.D. where the Wind Energy Division took part as participant too. (Author)

  12. Guidelines to Interpret Results of Mechanical Blade Test

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Arias Vega, F.; Sanz Martin, J. C. [Ciemat, Madrid (Spain)

    2000-07-01

    This report shows the interpretation of full scale rotor blade test results and describes the engineering testing models and coefficients for any feasible rotor blade design, in order to accept and to certify any final manufactured blades as an allowable product, fit for use and working with a completely security during all the windturbine's lifetime. This work was carried out at the Wind Energy Division of the CIEMAT.DER and it is based on the author's technical experience in this field, after many years working on testing blades. Also, this paper contains results of the European wind turbine Standards II relevant to the European Project: JOULE III R.D. where the Wind Energy Division took part as participant too. (Author)

  13. Implicit geometric representations for optimal design of gas turbine blades

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mansour, T.; Ghaly, W.

    2004-01-01

    Shape optimization requires a proper geometric representation of the blade profile; the parameters of such a representation are usually taken as design variables in the optimization process. This implies that the model must possess three specific features: flexibility, efficiency, and accuracy. For the specific task of aerodynamic optimization for turbine blades, it is critical to have flexibility in both the global and local design spaces in order to obtain a successful optimization. This work is concerned with the development of two geometric representations of turbine blade profiles that are appropriate for aerodynamic optimization: the Modified Rapid Axial Turbine Design (MRATD) model where the blade is represented by five low-order curves that satisfy eleven designer parameters; this model is suitable for a global search of the design space. The second model is NURBS parameterization of the blade profile that can be used for a local refinement. The two models are presented and are assessed for flexibility and accuracy when representing several typical turbine blade profiles. The models will be further discussed in terms of curve smoothness and blade shape representation with a multi-NURBS curve versus one curve and its effect on the flow field, in particular the pressure distribution along the blade surfaces, will be elaborated. (author)

  14. Sub-scale Inverse Wind Turbine Blade Design Using Bound Circulation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kelley, Christopher; Berg, Jonathan

    2014-11-01

    A goal of the National Rotor Testbed project at Sandia is to design a sub-scale wind turbine blade that has similitude to a modern, commercial size blade. However, a smaller diameter wind turbine operating at the same tip-speed-ratio exhibits a different range of operating Reynolds numbers across the blade span, thus changing the local lift and drag coefficients. Differences to load distribution also affect the wake dynamics and stability. An inverse wind turbine blade design tool has been implemented which uses a target, dimensionless circulation distribution from a full-scale blade to find the chord and twist along a sub-scale blade. In addition, airfoil polar data are interpolated from a few specified span stations leading to a smooth, manufacturable blade. The iterative process perturbs chord and twist, after running a blade element momentum theory code, to reduce the residual sum of the squares between the modeled sub-scale circulation and the target full-scale circulation. It is shown that the converged sub-scale design also leads to performance similarity in thrust and power coefficients. Sandia National Laboratories is a multi-program laboratory managed and operated by Sandia Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corporation, for the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract DE-AC04-94AL85000.

  15. Aero-Thermo-Structural Design Optimization of Internally Cooled Turbine Blades

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dulikravich, G. S.; Martin, T. J.; Dennis, B. H.; Lee, E.; Han, Z.-X.

    1999-01-01

    A set of robust and computationally affordable inverse shape design and automatic constrained optimization tools have been developed for the improved performance of internally cooled gas turbine blades. The design methods are applicable to the aerodynamics, heat transfer, and thermoelasticity aspects of the turbine blade. Maximum use of the existing proven disciplinary analysis codes is possible with this design approach. Preliminary computational results demonstrate possibilities to design blades with minimized total pressure loss and maximized aerodynamic loading. At the same time, these blades are capable of sustaining significantly higher inlet hot gas temperatures while requiring remarkably lower coolant mass flow rates. These results suggest that it is possible to design internally cooled turbine blades that will cost less to manufacture, will have longer life span, and will perform as good, if not better than, film cooled turbine blades.

  16. Effect of a rough surface on the aerodynamic characteristics of a two-bladed wind-powered engine with cylindrical blades

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tanasheva, N. K.; Kunakbaev, T. O.; Dyusembaeva, A. N.; Shuyushbayeva, N. N.; Damekova, S. K.

    2017-11-01

    We have reported the results of experiments on determining the drag coefficient and the thrust coefficient of a two-bladed wind-powered engine based on the Magnus effect with rotating rough cylinders in the range of air flow velocity of 4-10 m/s (Re = 26800-90000) for a constant rotation number of a cylindrical blade about its own axis. The results show that an increase in the Reynolds number reduces the drag coefficient and the thrust coefficient. The extent of the influence of the relative roughness on the aerodynamic characteristics of the two-bladed wind-powered engine has been experimentally established.

  17. Aircraft rotor blade with passive tuned tab

    Science.gov (United States)

    Campbell, T. G. (Inventor)

    1985-01-01

    A structure for reducing vibratory airloading in a rotor blade with a leading edge and a trailing edge includes a cut out portion at the trailing edge. A substantially wedge shaped cross section, inertially deflectable tab, also with a leading edge and a trailing edge is pivotally mounted in the cut out portion. The trailing edge of the tab may move above and below the rotor blade. A torsion strap applies force against the tab when the trailing edge of the tab is above and below the rotor blade. A restraining member is slidably movable along the torsion strap to vary torsional biasing force supplied by the torsion bar to the tab. A plurality of movable weights positioned between plates vary a center of gravity of the tab. Skin of the tab is formed from unidirectional graphite and fiberglass layers. Sliders coupled with a pinned degree of freedom at rod eliminate bending of tab under edgewise blade deflection.

  18. On the inverse problem of blade design for centrifugal pumps and fans

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kruyt, N. P.; Westra, R. W.

    2014-06-01

    The inverse problem of blade design for centrifugal pumps and fans has been studied. The solution to this problem provides the geometry of rotor blades that realize specified performance characteristics, together with the corresponding flow field. Here a three-dimensional solution method is described in which the so-called meridional geometry is fixed and the distribution of the azimuthal angle at the three-dimensional blade surface is determined for blades of infinitesimal thickness. The developed formulation is based on potential-flow theory. Besides the blade impermeability condition at the pressure and suction side of the blades, an additional boundary condition at the blade surface is required in order to fix the unknown blade geometry. For this purpose the mean-swirl distribution is employed. The iterative numerical method is based on a three-dimensional finite element method approach in which the flow equations are solved on the domain determined by the latest estimate of the blade geometry, with the mean-swirl distribution boundary condition at the blade surface being enforced. The blade impermeability boundary condition is then used to find an improved estimate of the blade geometry. The robustness of the method is increased by specific techniques, such as spanwise-coupled solution of the discretized impermeability condition and the use of under-relaxation in adjusting the estimates of the blade geometry. Various examples are shown that demonstrate the effectiveness and robustness of the method in finding a solution for the blade geometry of different types of centrifugal pumps and fans. The influence of the employed mean-swirl distribution on the performance characteristics is also investigated.

  19. On the inverse problem of blade design for centrifugal pumps and fans

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kruyt, N P; Westra, R W

    2014-01-01

    The inverse problem of blade design for centrifugal pumps and fans has been studied. The solution to this problem provides the geometry of rotor blades that realize specified performance characteristics, together with the corresponding flow field. Here a three-dimensional solution method is described in which the so-called meridional geometry is fixed and the distribution of the azimuthal angle at the three-dimensional blade surface is determined for blades of infinitesimal thickness. The developed formulation is based on potential-flow theory. Besides the blade impermeability condition at the pressure and suction side of the blades, an additional boundary condition at the blade surface is required in order to fix the unknown blade geometry. For this purpose the mean-swirl distribution is employed. The iterative numerical method is based on a three-dimensional finite element method approach in which the flow equations are solved on the domain determined by the latest estimate of the blade geometry, with the mean-swirl distribution boundary condition at the blade surface being enforced. The blade impermeability boundary condition is then used to find an improved estimate of the blade geometry. The robustness of the method is increased by specific techniques, such as spanwise-coupled solution of the discretized impermeability condition and the use of under-relaxation in adjusting the estimates of the blade geometry. Various examples are shown that demonstrate the effectiveness and robustness of the method in finding a solution for the blade geometry of different types of centrifugal pumps and fans. The influence of the employed mean-swirl distribution on the performance characteristics is also investigated. (paper)

  20. Resonant Vibrations Resulting from the Re-Engineering of a Constant-Speed 2-Bladed Turbine to a Variable-Speed 3-Bladed Turbine

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Fleming, P.; Wright, A. D.; Finersh, L. J.

    2010-12-01

    The CART3 (Controls Advanced Research Turbine, 3-bladed) at the National Wind Technology Center has recently been converted from a 2-bladed constant speed machine to a 3-bladed variable speed machine designed specically for controls research. The purpose of this conversion was to develop an advanced controls field-testing platform which has the more typical 3-bladed configuration. A result of this conversion was the emergence of several resonant vibrations, some of which initially prevented operation of the turbine until they could be explained and resolved. In this paper, the investigations into these vibrations are presented as 'lessons-learned'. Additionally, a frequency-domain technique called waterfall plotting is discussed and its usefulness in this research is illustrated.

  1. Definition of a 5MW/61.5m wind turbine blade reference model.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Resor, Brian Ray

    2013-04-01

    A basic structural concept of the blade design that is associated with the frequently utilized %E2%80%9CNREL offshore 5-MW baseline wind turbine%E2%80%9D is needed for studies involving blade structural design and blade structural design tools. The blade structural design documented in this report represents a concept that meets basic design criteria set forth by IEC standards for the onshore turbine. The design documented in this report is not a fully vetted blade design which is ready for manufacture. The intent of the structural concept described by this report is to provide a good starting point for more detailed and targeted investigations such as blade design optimization, blade design tool verification, blade materials and structures investigations, and blade design standards evaluation. This report documents the information used to create the current model as well as the analyses used to verify that the blade structural performance meets reasonable blade design criteria.

  2. Tiltrotor research aircraft composite blade repairs: Lessons learned

    Science.gov (United States)

    Espinosa, Paul S.; Groepler, David R.

    1991-01-01

    The XV-15, N703NA Tiltrotor Research Aircraft located at the NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California, currently uses a set of composite rotor blades of complex shape known as the advanced technology blades (ATBs). The main structural element of the blades is a D-spar constructed of unidirectional, angled fiberglass/graphite, with the aft fairing portion of the blades constructed of a fiberglass cross-ply skin bonded to a Nomex honeycomb core. The blade tip is a removable laminate shell that fits over the outboard section of the spar structure, which contains a cavity to retain balance weights. Two types of tip shells are used for research. One is highly twisted (more than a conventional helicopter blade) and has a hollow core constructed of a thin Nomex-honeycomb-and-fiberglass-skin sandwich; the other is untwisted with a solid Nomex honeycomb core and a fiberglass cross-ply skin. During initial flight testing of the blades, a number of problems in the composite structure were encountered. These problems included debonding between the fiberglass skin and the honeycomb core, failure of the honeycomb core, failures in fiberglass splices, cracks in fiberglass blocks, misalignment of mated composite parts, and failures of retention of metal fasteners. Substantial time was spent in identifying and repairing these problems. Discussed here are the types of problems encountered, the inspection procedures used to identify each problem, the repairs performed on the damaged or flawed areas, the level of criticality of the problems, and the monitoring of repaired areas. It is hoped that this discussion will help designers, analysts, and experimenters in the future as the use of composites becomes more prevalent.

  3. Tiltrotor Research Aircraft composite blade repairs - Lessons learned

    Science.gov (United States)

    Espinosa, Paul S.; Groepler, David R.

    1992-01-01

    The XV-15, N703NA Tiltrotor Research Aircraft located at the NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California, currently uses a set of composite rotor blades of complex shape known as the advanced technology blades (ATBs). The main structural element of the blades is a D-spar constructed of unidirectional, angled fiberglass/graphite, with the aft fairing portion of the blades constructed of a fiberglass cross-ply skin bonded to a Nomex honeycomb core. The blade tip is a removable laminate shell that fits over the outboard section of the spar structure, which contains a cavity to retain balance weights. Two types of tip shells are used for research. One is highly twisted (more than a conventional helicopter blade) and has a hollow core constructed of a thin Nomex-honeycomb-and-fiberglass-skin sandwich; the other is untwisted with a solid Nomex honeycomb core and a fiberglass cross-ply skin. During initial flight testing of the blades, a number of problems in the composite structure were encountered. These problems included debonding between the fiberglass skin and the honeycomb core, failure of the honeycomb core, failures in fiberglass splices, cracks in fiberglass blocks, misalignment of mated composite parts, and failures of retention of metal fasteners. Substantial time was spent in identifying and repairing these problems. Discussed here are the types of problems encountered, the inspection procedures used to identify each problem, the repairs performed on the damaged or flawed areas, the level of criticality of the problems, and the monitoring of repaired areas. It is hoped that this discussion will help designers, analysts, and experimenters in the future as the use of composites becomes more prevalent.

  4. Stress analysis of composite wind turbine blade by finite element method

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yeh, Meng-Kao; Wang, Chen-Hsu

    2017-10-01

    In this study, the finite element analysis software ANSYS was used to analyze the composite wind turbine blade. The wind turbine blade model used is adopted from the 5 MW model of US National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). The wind turbine blade is a sandwich structure, comprising outermost carbon fiber cloth/epoxy composites, the inner glass fiber/vinylester layers, and PVC foam core, together with stiffeners. The wind pressure is converted into the load on the blade structure. The stress distribution and deformation of wind turbine blade were obtained by considering different pitch angles and at different angular positions. The Tsai-Hill criterion was used to determine the failure of wind turbine blade. The results show that at the 0° pitch angle, the wind turbine blade is subjected to the largest combined load and therefore the stress is the largest; with the increasing pitch angle, the load gradually decreases and the stress is also smaller. The stress and displacement are the greatest when the wind blade is located at 120° angular position from its highest vertex.

  5. The effect of a heated skate blade on the ice surface

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hache, A. [Moncton Univ., NB (Canada). Dept. of Physics and Astronomy

    2007-05-15

    A new hockey skate using a heated blade, called the Therma Blade, cuts ice friction by half, thereby improving skating performance but has created questions about melting and damage of the ice surface. This paper discussed the effect of the heated skate blade on the ice surface. The paper discussed the thermal power produced by the Therma Blade skate, the ice melting capacity of the therma blade, and the ice temperature profile around the heated blade. It also examined the power dissipation by friction comparing the cold versus the heated blade. Units and definitions as well as conversion factors were also presented in appendix format. Constants and technical specifications were listed in an appendix. It was concluded that the maximum melting capacity of the therma blade is 0.7 grams of ice per skate per minute. This is the upper limit as set by the laws of physics, and this requires the skate to be completely static over ice at 0 degrees Celsius and all the power drawn by the battery to reach the ice friction force. 5 refs., 1 tab., 2 figs.

  6. Design procedure for a wind-wheel with self-adjusting blade mechanism

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gennady A. Oborsky

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available Developed is a wind-wheel design equipped with the self-adjusting blade. The blade is positioned eccentrically to the balance wheel and can freely rotate around its axis. Elaborated is the method of calculating the energy characteristics for a wind-wheel with the self-adjusting blade, considering not only the wind force but the force of air counter flow resistance to the blade’s rotation. Initially, the blade being located at an angle α = 45 to the wheel rotation plane, the air flow rotates the wheel with the maximum force. Thus, the speed of rotation increases that involves the increase in air counter flow resistance and results in blade turning with respective angle α reduction. This, consequently, reduces the torque. When the torsional force and the resistance enter into equilibrium, the blade takes a certain angle α, and the wheel speed becomes constant. This wind-wheel design including a self-adjusting blade allows increasing the air flow load ratio when compared to the wind-wheel equipped with a jammed blade.

  7. Experimental investigation of turbine blade-tip excitation forces

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martinez-Sanchez, Manuel; Jaroux, Belgacem; Song, Seung Jin; Yoo, Soom-Yung; Palczynski, Taras

    1994-01-01

    Results of a program to investigate the magnitude and parametric variations of rotordynamic forces which arise in high power turbines due to blade-tip leakage effects are presented. Five different unshrouded turbine configurations and one configuration shrouded with a labyrinth seal were tested with static offsets of the turbine shaft. The forces along and perpendicular to the offset were measured directly with a rotating dynometer. Exploration of casing pressure and flow velocity distributions was used to investigate the force-generating mechanisms. For unshrouded turbines, the cross-forces originate mainly from the classical Alford mechanisms while the direct forces arise mainly from a slightly skewed pressure pattern. The Alford coefficient for cross-force was found to vary between 2.4 and 4.0, while the similar direct force coefficient varied from 1.5 to 3.5. The cross-forces are found to increase substantially when the gap is reduced from 3.0 to 1.9% of blade height, probably due to viscous blade-tip effects. The forces also increase when the hub gap between stator and rotor decreases. The force coefficient decreased with operating flow coefficient. In the case of the shrouded turbine, most of the forces arise from nonuniform seal pressures. This includes about 80% for the transverse forces. The rest appears to come from uneven work extraction. Their level is about 50% higher in the shrouded case.

  8. Aerodynamic shape optimization of non-straight small wind turbine blades

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shen, Xin; Yang, Hong; Chen, Jinge; Zhu, Xiaocheng; Du, Zhaohui

    2016-01-01

    Graphical abstract: Small wind turbine blades with 3D stacking lines (sweep and bend) have been considered and analyzed with an optimization code based on the lifting surface method. The results indicated that the power capture and the rotor thrust can be improved with these more complex geometries. The starting behavior of the small wind turbines can be improved by the optimization of the blade chord and twist angle distribution. - Highlights: • The small wind turbine blade was optimized with non-straight shape. • Lifting surface method with free wake was used for aerodyanmic performace evaluation. • The non-straight shape can be used to increase energy production and decrease the thrust. • The energy production should be sacrificed in order to increase the starting behavior. - Abstract: Small wind turbines usually operate in sub-optimal wind conditions in order to satisfy the demand where it is needed. The aerodynamic performance of small horizontal axis wind turbines highly depends on the geometry. In the present study, the geometry of wind turbine blades are optimized not only in terms of the distribution of the chord and twist angle but also with 3-dimensional stacking line. As the blade with 3-dimensional stacking line is given sweep in the plan of rotation and dihedral in the plan containing the blade and rotor axis, the common used blade element momentum method can no longer provide accurate aerodynamic performance solution. A lifting surface method with free wake model is used as the aerodynamic model in the present work. The annual energy production and the starting performance are selected as optimization objective. The starting performance is evaluated based on blade element method. The optimization of the geometry of the non-straight wind turbine blades is carried out by using a micro-genetic algorithm. Results show that the wind turbine blades with properly designed 3-dimensional stacking line can increase the annual energy production and have

  9. Operational modal analysis and wavelet transformation for damage identification in wind turbine blades

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ulriksen, Martin Dalgaard; Tcherniak, Dmitri; Kirkegaard, Poul Henning

    2014-01-01

    The presented study demonstrates an application of a previously proposed modal and wavelet analysis-based damage identification method to a wind turbine blade. A trailing edge debonding was introduced to a SSP 34m blade mounted on a test rig. Operational modal analysis (OMA) was conducted to obtain...... are captured in the CWT by significantly magnified transform coefficients, thus providing combined damage detection, localization, and size assessment. It was found that due to the nature of the proposed method, the value of the identification results highly depends on the number of employed measurement points....... Since only a limited number of measurement points were utilized in the experiments, valid damage identification can only be obtained when employing high-frequency modes....

  10. Structural fatigue test results for large wind turbine blade sections

    Science.gov (United States)

    Faddoul, J. R.; Sullivan, T. L.

    1982-01-01

    In order to provide quantitative information on the operating life capabilities of wind turbine rotor blade concepts for root-end load transfer, a series of cantilever beam fatigue tests was conducted. Fatigue tests were conducted on a laminated wood blade with bonded steel studs, a low cost steel spar (utility pole) with a welded flange, a utility pole with additional root-end thickness provided by a swaged collar, fiberglass spars with both bonded and nonbonded fittings, and, finally, an aluminum blade with a bolted steel fitting (Lockheed Mod-0 blade). Photographs, data, and conclusions for each of these tests are presented. In addition, the aluminum blade test results are compared to field failure information; these results provide evidence that the cantilever beam type of fatigue test is a satisfactory method for obtaining qualitative data on blade life expectancy and for identifying structurally underdesigned areas (hot spots).

  11. Fundamentals for remote structural health monitoring of wind turbine blades - a pre-project

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Soerensen, B.F.; Lading, L.; Sendrup, P. (and others)

    2002-05-01

    This summary-report describes the results of a pre-project that has the aim of establishing the basic technical knowledge to evaluate whether remote surveillance of the rotor blades of large off-shore wind turbines has technical and economical potential. A cost-benefit analysis was developed, showing that it is economically attractive to use sensors embedded in the blade. Specific technical requirements were defined for the sensors capability to detect the most important damage types in wind turbine blades. Three different sensor types were selected for use in laboratory experiments and full-scale tests of a wind turbine blade developing damage: 1) detection of stress wave emission by acoustic emission, 2) measurement of modal shape changes by accelerometers and 3) measurement of crack opening of adhesive joint by a fibre optics micro-bend displacement transducer that was developed in the project. All types of sensor approaches were found to work satisfactory. The techniques were found to complement each other: Acoustic emission has the capability of detecting very small damages and can be used for locating the spatial position and size of evolving damages. The fibre optics displacement transducer was found to work well for detecting adhesive failure. Modelling work shows that damage in a wind turbine blade causes a significant change in the modal shape when the damage is in the order of 0.5-1 m. Rough estimates of the prices of complete sensor systems were made. The system based on acoustic emission was the most expensive and the one based on accelerometers was the cheapest. NDT methods (ultrasound scanning and X-ray inspection) were found to be useful for verification of hidden damage. Details of the work are described in annexes. (au)

  12. The Influence of Eroded Blades on Wind Turbine Performance Using Numerical Simulations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Matthias Schramm

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available During their operation, wind turbine blades are eroded due to rain and hail, or they are contaminated with insects. Since the relative inflow velocity is higher at the outer than at the inner part of the blades, erosion occurs mostly at the outer blade region. In order to prevent strong erosion, it is possible to install a leading edge protection, which can be applied to the blades after the initial installation, but changes the shape of the initial airfoil sections. It is unclear how this modification influences the aerodynamic performance of the turbine. Hence, it is investigated in this work. The NREL 5 MW turbine is simulated with clean and eroded blades, which are compared to coated blades equipped with leading edge protection. Aerodynamic polars are generated by means of Computational Fluid Dynamics, and load calculations are conducted using the blade element momentum theory. The analysis in this work shows that, compared to clean rotor blades, the worse aerodynamic behaviour of strongly eroded blades can lead to power losses of 9 % . In contrast, coated blades only have a small impact on the turbine power of less than 1 % .

  13. Full scale test SSP 34m blade, edgewise loading LTT. Extreme load and PoC{sub I}nvE Data report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nielsen, Magda; Roczek-Sieradzan, A.; Jensen, Find M. (and others)

    2010-09-15

    This report is the second report covering the research and demonstration project 'Experimental blade research: Structural mechanisms in current and future large blades under combined loading', supported by the EUDP program. A 34m wind turbine blade from SSP-Technology A/S has been tested in edgewise direction (LTT). The blade has been submitted to thorough examination by means of strain gauges, displacement transducers and a 3D optical measuring system. This data report presents results obtained during full scale testing of the blade up to 80% Risoe load, where 80% Risoe load corresponds to 100% certification load. These pulls at 80% Risoe load were repeated and the results from these pulls were compared. The blade was reinforced according to a Risoe DTU invention, where the trailing edge panels are coupled. The coupling is implemented to prevent the out of plane deformations and to reduce peeling stresses in the adhesive joints. Test results from measurements with the reinforcement have been compared to results without the coupling. The report presents only the relevant results for the 80% Risoe load and the results applicable for the investigation of the influence of the invention on the profile deformation. (Author)

  14. Designing for hot-blade cutting

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Brander, David; Bærentzen, Jakob Andreas; Clausen, Kenn

    2016-01-01

    In this paper we present a novel method for the generation of doubly-curved, architectural design surfaces using swept Euler elastica and cubic splines. The method enables a direct design to production workflow with robotic hot-blade cutting, a novel robotic fabrication method under development......-trivial constraints of blade-cutting in a bottom-up fashion, enabling an exploration of the unique architectural potential of this fabrication approach. The method is implemented as prototype design tools in MatLAB, C++, GhPython, and Python and demonstrated through cutting of expanded polystyrene foam design...

  15. Prediction of rotor blade-vortex interaction using Volterra integrals

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wong, A.; Nitzsche, F. [Carleton Univ., Dept. of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Ottawa, Ontario (Canada)]. E-mail: Fred_Nitzsche@carleton.ca; Khalid, M. [National Research Council Canada, Inst. for Aerospace Research, Ottawa, Ontario (Canada)

    2004-07-01

    The theory of Volterra integral equations for nonlinear system is applied to the prediction of the nonlinear aerodynamic response of an NACA 0012 airfoil experiencing blade-vortex interaction. The phenomenon is first modeled in two-dimensions using an Euler/Navier-Stoke code, and the resulting unsteady aerodynamic flow field sequences are appropriately combined to form a training dataset. The Volterra kernels are identified in the time-domain characteristics of the selected data, which is in turn used to predict the nonlinear aerodynamic response of the airfoil. The Volterra kernel based data is then compared against a standard airfoil response. The predicted lift time histories of the airfoil are shown to be in good agreement with the aerodynamic data. (author)

  16. Prediction of rotor blade-vortex interaction using Volterra integrals

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wong, A.; Nitzsche, F.; Khalid, M.

    2004-01-01

    The theory of Volterra integral equations for nonlinear system is applied to the prediction of the nonlinear aerodynamic response of an NACA 0012 airfoil experiencing blade-vortex interaction. The phenomenon is first modeled in two-dimensions using an Euler/Navier-Stoke code, and the resulting unsteady aerodynamic flow field sequences are appropriately combined to form a training dataset. The Volterra kernels are identified in the time-domain characteristics of the selected data, which is in turn used to predict the nonlinear aerodynamic response of the airfoil. The Volterra kernel based data is then compared against a standard airfoil response. The predicted lift time histories of the airfoil are shown to be in good agreement with the aerodynamic data. (author)

  17. A shape adaptive airfoil for a wind turbine blade

    Science.gov (United States)

    Daynes, Stephen; Weaver, Paul M.

    2011-04-01

    The loads on wind turbine components are primarily from the blades. It is important to control these blade loads in order to avoid damaging the wind turbine. Rotor control technology is currently limited to controlling the rotor speed and the pitch of the blades. As blades increase in length it becomes less desirable to pitch the entire blade as a single rigid body, but instead there is a requirement to control loads more precisely along the length of the blade. This can be achieved with aerodynamic control devices such as flaps. Morphing technologies are good candidates for wind turbine flaps because they have the potential to create structures that have the conflicting abilities of being load carrying, light-weight and shape adaptive. A morphing flap design with a highly anisotropic cellular structure is presented which is able to undergo large deflections and high strains without a large actuation penalty. An aeroelastic analysis couples the work done by aerodynamic loads on the flap, the flap strain energy and the required actuation work to change shape. The morphing flap is experimentally validated with a manufactured demonstrator and shown to have reduced actuation requirements compared to a conventional hinged flap.

  18. Non-intrusive aerodynamic loads analysis of an aircraft propeller blade

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ragni, D.; Oudheusden, B.W. van; Scarano, F. [Delft University of Technology, Faculty of Aerospace Engineering, Delft (Netherlands)

    2011-08-15

    The flow field in a cross-sectional plane of a scaled Beaver DHC aircraft propeller has been measured by means of a stereoscopic PIV setup. Phase-locked measurements are obtained in a rotational frequency range from 18,900 to 21,000 rpm, at a relative Mach number of 0.6 at 3/4 propeller radius. The use of an adapted formulation of the momentum equation in differential form for rotating frame of references, integrated with isentropic relations as boundary conditions, allowed to compute the pressure field around the blade and the surface pressure distribution directly from the velocity data in the compressible regime. The procedure, extended to the computation of the aerodynamic lift and drag coefficients by a momentum contour integral approach, proved to be able to couple the aerodynamical loads to the flow field on the moving propeller blade, comparing favorably with a numerical simulation of the entire scaled model. Results are presented for two propeller rotation speeds and three different yawing angles. (orig.)

  19. Non-intrusive aerodynamic loads analysis of an aircraft propeller blade

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ragni, D.; van Oudheusden, B. W.; Scarano, F.

    2011-08-01

    The flow field in a cross-sectional plane of a scaled Beaver DHC aircraft propeller has been measured by means of a stereoscopic PIV setup. Phase-locked measurements are obtained in a rotational frequency range from 18,900 to 21,000 rpm, at a relative Mach number of 0.6 at ¾ propeller radius. The use of an adapted formulation of the momentum equation in differential form for rotating frame of references, integrated with isentropic relations as boundary conditions, allowed to compute the pressure field around the blade and the surface pressure distribution directly from the velocity data in the compressible regime. The procedure, extended to the computation of the aerodynamic lift and drag coefficients by a momentum contour integral approach, proved to be able to couple the aerodynamical loads to the flow field on the moving propeller blade, comparing favorably with a numerical simulation of the entire scaled model. Results are presented for two propeller rotation speeds and three different yawing angles.

  20. 3D pressure imaging of an aircraft propeller blade-tip flow by phase-locked stereoscopic PIV

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ragni, D.; Oudheusden, B.W. van; Scarano, F. [Delft University of Technology, Faculty of Aerospace Engineering, Delft (Netherlands)

    2012-02-15

    The flow field at the tip region of a scaled DHC Beaver aircraft propeller, running at transonic speed, has been investigated by means of a multi-plane stereoscopic particle image velocimetry setup. Velocity fields, phase-locked with the blade rotational motion, are acquired across several planes perpendicular to the blade axis and merged to form a 3D measurement volume. Transonic conditions have been reached at the tip region, with a revolution frequency of 19,800 rpm and a relative free-stream Mach number of 0.73 at the tip. The pressure field and the surface pressure distribution are inferred from the 3D velocity data through integration of the momentum Navier-Stokes equation in differential form, allowing for the simultaneous flow visualization and the aerodynamic loads computation, with respect to a reference frame moving with the blade. The momentum and pressure data are further integrated by means of a contour-approach to yield the aerodynamic sectional force components as well as the blade torsional moment. A steady Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes numerical simulation of the entire propeller model has been used for comparison to the measurement data. (orig.)

  1. 3D pressure imaging of an aircraft propeller blade-tip flow by phase-locked stereoscopic PIV

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ragni, D.; van Oudheusden, B. W.; Scarano, F.

    2012-02-01

    The flow field at the tip region of a scaled DHC Beaver aircraft propeller, running at transonic speed, has been investigated by means of a multi-plane stereoscopic particle image velocimetry setup. Velocity fields, phase-locked with the blade rotational motion, are acquired across several planes perpendicular to the blade axis and merged to form a 3D measurement volume. Transonic conditions have been reached at the tip region, with a revolution frequency of 19,800 rpm and a relative free-stream Mach number of 0.73 at the tip. The pressure field and the surface pressure distribution are inferred from the 3D velocity data through integration of the momentum Navier-Stokes equation in differential form, allowing for the simultaneous flow visualization and the aerodynamic loads computation, with respect to a reference frame moving with the blade. The momentum and pressure data are further integrated by means of a contour-approach to yield the aerodynamic sectional force components as well as the blade torsional moment. A steady Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes numerical simulation of the entire propeller model has been used for comparison to the measurement data.

  2. Ergonomic Evaluation of Vibrations of a Rototiller with New Blade

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    H Gholami

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available Introduction One of the most important problems arising with operation of the conventional rototillers is severe vibration of the machine handle which is transmitted to the user’s hands, arms and shoulders. Long period exposure of the hand-transmitted vibration may cause various diseases such as white finger syndrome. Therefore in this study, vibrations of a new type of rototiller with ridged blades were investigated at the position of handle/hand interface in different working conditions. Finally, the maximum allowable exposure time to the rototiller users in continuous tillage operation was obtained according to ISO 5349-1. Materials and Methods Experiments were carried out in one of the farms with silty clay soil texture, located in Sari city, Mazandaran province, Iran. Vibration measurements were performed according to ISO 5349-1 and ISO 5349-2 standards in two different modes, including in situ mode and tillage mode. Vibrational parameters were obtained in three blade rotational speeds, i.e., low speed (140-170 rpm, medium speed (170-200, and high speed (200-230. Blade rotational speed varied by changing engine speed using the throttle control lever. In each experiment, different vibrational values were individually recorded in three directions (x, y, and z. Experimental design and data analysis were performed in a Randomized Complete Block Design with three replications using the SPSS16 software. Results and Discussion Based on the obtained results in this study, the RMS of acceleration increased by increasing in rotational speed for all of the conducted experiments. The reason is that number of cutting per unit of time and consequently the frequency of changing in the dynamic forces exerting on the blades dramatically increases with increasing the rotational speed of the blades. Noteworthy is that in most cases the variation of acceleration in the tillage mode showed similar trend with vibrational values in the idling mode. This

  3. Identification and management of cracking in 410 stainless turbine blade roots

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Clark, M.A.; Lehockey, E.M.; Thompson, I.; Massey, R.

    2003-01-01

    Between April and June of 2002, cracks were discovered in the fir-tree roots of several row 10 low-pressure 410 martensitic stainless steel turbine blades from an operating CANDU station. In total, 9 blades were eventually identified by MPI to have flaw indications near the inlet face between the first and second serrations. Among the population of blades examined fractography revealed cracks propagated by two different mechanisms: fatigue and stress corrosion cracking. In 7 of the 9 blades, the fracture surface morphology confirmed crack propagation by high-cycle fatigue, as evidenced by the beachmarks and ratchet marks produced by multiple initiation sites An analysis of the beachmarks suggested that cracks propagated independently and subsequently coalesced into a unified crack front. No significant pitting or other corrosion was found to accompany these defects, which might suggest a corrosion fatigue mechanism. Likewise, no consistent spatial relationship could be established between the crack path and either prior austenite grain boundaries, MnS stringer inclusions, or other metallurgical anomalies, which indicates their role in crack nucleation was minimal. Although hardness values measured were generally consistent with OEM's specifications, some evidence for over-tempering was observed (ripening of grain boundary precipitates/carbides, etc.). However, the specific role of these factors in promoting the fatigue failure could not be conclusively identified. Spacing between beachmarks within cracks among the (7) fatigued blades appeared similar suggesting that these cracks propagated under the influence of a common stress regime. Furthermore, the bulk of crack advance appeared to have occurred primarily at operating speeds given the number of beachmarks present far exceeded that expected to evolve solely from the stress transients generated during start/stop cycles. By correlating the array of major beachmarks with operating history, it was tentatively

  4. Influence of Thermal Effects During Blade-Casing Contact Experiments

    OpenAIRE

    Millecamps , Antoine; Brunel , Jean-François; Dufrenoy , Philippe; Garcin , François; Nucci , Marco

    2009-01-01

    International audience; In rotating machinery, notably in modern high efficiency compressors, a critical requirement for optimal performance consists in minimizing radial clearances between the rotating bladed disk and the casing. This solution significantly increases the risks of contact between rotating bladed disk and casing and may lead in specific conditions to catastrophic behavior (component failure, etc.). The physical phenomena and mechanisms involved in blade-casing contact interact...

  5. Stress analysis and life prediction of gas turbine blade

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hsiung, H. C.; Dunn, A. J.; Woodling, D. R.; Loh, D. L.

    1988-01-01

    A stress analysis procedure is presented for a redesign of the Space Shuttle Main Engine high pressure fuel turbopump turbine blades. The analysis consists of the one-dimensional scoping analysis to support the design layout and the follow-on three-dimensional finite element analysis to confirm the blade design at operating loading conditions. Blade life is evaluated based on high-cycle fatigue and low-cycle fatigue.

  6. Fundamentals for remote structural health monitoring of wind turbine blades - a preproject. Annex C. Fibre transducer for damage detection in adhesive layers of wind turbine blades

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sendrup, P.

    2002-01-01

    displacement transducer for detection of damage in adhesive layers of wind turbine blades. It was chosen to base the transducer on the fibre optic micro-bend principle. The report contains the result of measurementsand optical simulations of light transmittance through optical fibres with micro......-bends and a suggestion for a micro-bend transducer design specifically suitable for detection of damage in adhesive layers between larger composite structures, as the shellsin a wind turbine blade. Such a damage will cause the joined parts to move slightly relative to each other, and the transducer is designed to change...... optic micro-bend transducer would be in the range between0.5%/um to 1 %/um depending on the number of bends on the fibre. A measurement on the final transducer showed that the sensitivity was 1.2 %/um. A large 50 % change in transmittance, that is easy to measure, is then obtained for displacements...

  7. Conjugate calculation of a film-cooled blade for improvement of the leading edge cooling configuration

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Norbert Moritz

    2013-03-01

    Full Text Available Great efforts are still put into the design process of advanced film-cooling configurations. In particular, the vanes and blades of turbine front stages have to be cooled extensively for a safe operation. The conjugate calculation technique is used for the three-dimensional thermal load prediction of a film-cooled test blade of a modern gas turbine. Thus, it becomes possible to take into account the interaction of internal flows, external flow, and heat transfer without the prescription of heat transfer coefficients. The focus of the investigation is laid on the leading edge part of the blade. The numerical model consists of all internal flow passages and cooling hole rows at the leading edge. Furthermore, the radial gap flow is also part of the model. The comparison with thermal pyrometer measurements shows that with respect to regions with high thermal load a qualitatively and quantitatively good agreement of the conjugate results and the measurements can be found. In particular, the region in the vicinity of the mid-span section is exposed to a higher thermal load, which requires further improvement of the cooling arrangement. Altogether the achieved results demonstrate that the conjugate calculation technique is applicable for reasonable prediction of three-dimensional thermal load of complex cooling configurations for blades.

  8. Aeroelastic equations of motion of a Darrieus vertical-axis wind-turbine blade

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kaza, K. R. V.; Kvaternik, R. G.

    1979-01-01

    The second-degree nonlinear aeroelastic equations of motion for a slender, flexible, nonuniform, Darrieus vertical-axis wind turbine blade which is undergoing combined flatwise bending, edgewise bending, torsion, and extension are developed using Hamilton's principle. The blade aerodynamic loading is obtained from strip theory based on a quasi-steady approximation of two-dimensional incompressible unsteady airfoil theory. The derivation of the equations has its basis in the geometric nonlinear theory of elasticity and the resulting equations are consistent with the small deformation approximation in which the elongations and shears are negligible compared to unity. These equations are suitable for studying vibrations, static and dynamic aeroelastic instabilities, and dynamic response. Several possible methods of solution of the equations, which have periodic coefficients, are discussed.

  9. Flow performance of highly loaded axial fan with bowed rotor blades

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, L.; Liu, X. J.; Yang, A. L.; Dai, R.

    2013-12-01

    In this paper, a partial bowed rotor blade was proposed for a newly designed high loaded axial fan. The blade was positively bowed 30 degrees from hub to 30 percent spanwise position. Flows of radial blade and bowed blade fans were numerically compared for various operation conditions. Results show that the fan's performance is improved. At the designed condition with flow coefficient of 0.52, the efficiency of the bowed blade fan is increased 1.44% and the static pressure rise is increased 11%. Comparing the flow structures, it can be found that the separated flow in the bowed fan is reduced and confined within 20 percent span, which is less than the 35 percent in the radial fan. It means that the bowed blade generates negative blade force and counteracts partial centrifugal force. It is alleviates the radial movements of boundary layers in fan's hub region. Flow losses due to 3D mixing are reduced in the rotor. Inlet flow to downstream stator is also improved.

  10. Using wind speed from a blade-mounted flow sensor for power and load assessment on modern wind turbines

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pedersen, Mads M.; Larsen, Torben J.; Madsen, Helge Aa

    2017-01-01

    In this paper an alternative method to evaluate power performance and loads on wind turbines using a blade-mounted flow sensor is investigated. The hypothesis is that the wind speed measured at the blades has a high correlation with the power and loads such that a power or load assessment can...... be performed from a few hours or days of measurements. In the present study a blade-mounted five-hole pitot tube is used as the flow sensor as an alternative to the conventional approach, where the reference wind speed is either measured at a nearby met mast or on the nacelle using lidar technology or cup...... anemometers. From the flow sensor measurements, an accurate estimate of the wind speed at the rotor plane can be obtained. This wind speed is disturbed by the presence of the wind turbine, and it is therefore different from the free-flow wind speed. However, the recorded wind speed has a high correlation...

  11. Ways of TPP and NPP powerful steam turbine blade erosion decreasing in low flow rate regimes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Khrabrov, P.V.; Khaimov, V.A.; Matveenko, V.A.

    1986-01-01

    A systematized approach to the problem of efficient cooling of flow passage and exhaust parts of TPP and NPP steam turbines and prevention of erosion wear of inlet and outlet edges of operating blades is presented. Methods for LP casing cooling and sources of erosion-hazard moisture as well as the main technological and design measures to decrease the erosion of blades are determined

  12. Multi-dimensional optimization of small wind turbine blades

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sessarego, Matias; Wood, David

    2015-01-01

    used to reduce the rotor inertia to help minimize starting time. Two airfoils are considered: the 10% thick SG6043 which has excellent lift:drag performance at low Reynolds number and the SD7062 whose extra thickness (14%) has some structural advantages, particularly for the weaker material (c). All......This paper describes a computer method to allow the design of small wind turbine blades for the multiple objectives of rapid starting, efficient power extraction, low noise, and minimal mass. For the sake of brevity, only the first two and the last objectives are considered in this paper....... The optimization aimed to study a range of blade materials, from traditional fibreglass through sustainable alternatives to rapid prototyping plastic. Because starting performance depends on blade inertia, there is a complex interaction between the material properties and the aerodynamics. Example blades of 1.1 m...

  13. Dynamic stress of impeller blade of shaft extension tubular pump device based on bidirectional fluid-structure interaction

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kan, Kan; Liu, Huiwen; Yang, Chunxia [Hohai University, Nanjing (China); Zheng, Yuan [National Engineering Research Center of Water Resources Efficient Utilization and Engineering Safety, Nanjing (China); Fu, Shifeng; Zhang, Xin [Power China Huadong Engineering Corporation, Hangzhou (China)

    2017-04-15

    Current research on the stability of tubular pumps is mainly concerned with the transient hydrodynamic characteristics. However, the structural response under the influence of fluid-structure interaction hasn't been taken fully into consideration. The instability of the structure can cause vibration and cracks, which may threaten the safety of the unit. We used bidirectional fluid-structure interaction to comprehensively analyze the dynamic stress characteristics of the impeller blades of the shaft extension tubular pump device. Furthermore, dynamic stress of impeller blade of shaft extension tubular pump device was solved under different lift conditions of 0° blade angle. Based on Reynolds-average N-S equation and SST k-ω turbulence model, numerical simulation was carried out for three-dimensional unsteady incompressible turbulent flow field of the pump device whole flow passage. Meanwhile, the finite element method was used to calculate dynamic characteristics of the blade structure. The blade dynamic stress distribution was obtained on the basis of fourth strength theory. The research results indicate that the maximum blade dynamic stress appears at the joint between root of inlet side of the blade suction surface and the axis. Considering the influence of gravity, the fluctuation of the blade dynamic stress increases initially and decreases afterwards within a rotation period. In the meantime, the dynamic stress in the middle part of inlet edge presents larger relative fluctuation amplitude. Finally, a prediction method for dynamic stress distribution of tubular pump considering fluid-structure interaction and gravity effect was proposed. This method can be used in the design stage of tubular pump to predict dynamic stress distribution of the structure under different operating conditions, improve the reliability of pump impeller and analyze the impeller fatigue life.

  14. Aeroelastic behavior of composite rotor blades with swept tips

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yuan, Kuo-An; Friedmann, Peretz P.; Venkatesan, Comandur

    1992-01-01

    This paper presents an analytical study of the aeroelastic behavior of composite rotor blades with straight and swept tips. The blade is modeled by beam type finite elements. A single finite element is used to model the swept tip. The nonlinear equations of motion for the finite element model are derived using Hamilton's principle and based on a moderate deflection theory and accounts for: arbitrary cross-sectional shape, pretwist, generally anisotropic material behavior, transverse shears and out-of-plane warping. Numerical results illustrating the effects of tip sweep, anhedral and composite ply orientation on blade aeroelastic behavior are presented. It is shown that composite ply orientation has a substantial effect on blade stability. At low thrust conditions, certain ply orientations can cause instability in the lag mode. The flap-torsion coupling associated with tip sweep can also induce aeroelastic instability in the blade. This instability can be removed by appropriate ply orientation in the composite construction.

  15. Damage detection of rotating wind turbine blades using local flexibility method and long-gauge fiber Bragg grating sensors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hsu, Ting-Yu; Shiao, Shen-Yuan; Liao, Wen-I.

    2018-01-01

    Wind turbines are a cost-effective alternative energy source; however, their blades are susceptible to damage. Therefore, damage detection of wind turbine blades is of great importance for condition monitoring of wind turbines. Many vibration-based structural damage detection techniques have been proposed in the last two decades. The local flexibility method, which can determine local stiffness variations of beam-like structures by using measured modal parameters, is one of the most promising vibration-based approaches. The local flexibility method does not require a finite element model of the structure. A few structural modal parameters identified from the ambient vibration signals both before and after damage are required for this method. In this study, we propose a damage detection approach for rotating wind turbine blades using the local flexibility method based on the dynamic macro-strain signals measured by long-gauge fiber Bragg grating (FBG)-based sensors. A small wind turbine structure was constructed and excited using a shaking table to generate vibration signals. The structure was designed to have natural frequencies as close as possible to those of a typical 1.5 MW wind turbine in real scale. The optical fiber signal of the rotating blades was transmitted to the data acquisition system through a rotary joint fixed inside the hollow shaft of the wind turbine. Reversible damage was simulated by aluminum plates attached to some sections of the wind turbine blades. The damaged locations of the rotating blades were successfully detected using the proposed approach, with the extent of damage somewhat over-estimated. Nevertheless, although the specimen of wind turbine blades cannot represent a real one, the results still manifest that FBG-based macro-strain measurement has potential to be employed to obtain the modal parameters of the rotating wind turbines and then locations of wind turbine segments with a change of rigidity can be estimated effectively by

  16. Numerical study on a single bladed vertical axis wind turbine under dynamic stall

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bangga, Galih [Institute of Aerodynamics and Gas Dynamics, University of Stuttgart, Stuttgart (Germany); Hutomo, Go; Sasongko, Herman [Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, Surabaya (Indonesia); Wiranegara, Raditya [School of Mechanical Aerospace and Civil Engineering, University of Manchester, Manchester (United Kingdom)

    2017-01-15

    The aim of this study is to investigate the flow development of a single bladed vertical axis wind turbine using Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) methods. The blade is constructed using the NACA 0012 profile and is operating under stalled conditions at tip speed ratio of 2. Two dimensional simulations are performed using a commercial CFD package, ANSYS Fluent 15.0, employing the Menter-SST turbulence model. For the preliminary study, simulations of the NACA 0012 airfoil under static conditions are carried out and compared with available measurement data and calculations using the boundary layer code XFOIL. The CFD results under the dynamic case are presented and the resulting aerodynamic forces are evaluated. The turbine is observed to generate negative power at certain azimuth angles which can be divided into three main zones. The blade vortex interaction is observed to strongly influence the flow behavior near the blade and contributes to the power production loss. However, the impact is considered small since it covers only 6.4 % of the azimuth angle range where the power is negative compared to the dynamic stall impact which covers almost 22 % of the azimuth angle range.

  17. Integrated approach for stress based lifing of aero gas turbine blades

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abu, Abdullahi Obonyegba

    In order to analyse the turbine blade life, the damage due to the combined thermal and mechanical loads should be adequately accounted for. This is more challenging when detailed component geometry is limited. Therefore, a compromise between the level of geometric detail and the complexity of the lifing method to be implemented would be necessary. This research focuses on how the life assessment of aero engine turbine blades can be done, considering the balance between available design inputs and adequate level of fidelity. Accordingly, the thesis contributes to developing a generic turbine blade lifing method that is based on the engine thermodynamic cycle; as well as integrating critical design/technological factors and operational parameters that influence the aero engine blade life. To this end, thermo-mechanical fatigue was identified as the critical damage phenomenon driving the life of the turbine blade.. The developed approach integrates software tools and numerical models created using the minimum design information typically available at the early design stages. Using finite element analysis of an idealised blade geometry, the approach captures relevant impacts of thermal gradients and thermal stresses that contribute to the thermo-mechanical fatigue damage on the gas turbine blade. The blade life is evaluated using the Neu/Sehitoglu thermo-mechanical fatigue model that considers damage accumulation due to fatigue, oxidation, and creep. The leading edge is examined as a critical part of the blade to estimate the damage severity for different design factors and operational parameters. The outputs of the research can be used to better understand how the environment and the operating conditions of the aircraft affect the blade life consumption and therefore what is the impact on the maintenance cost and the availability of the propulsion system. This research also finds that the environmental (oxidation) effect drives the blade life and the blade coolant

  18. Performance/Noise Optimization of Centrifugal Fan Using Response Surface Method

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Shin, Donghui; Cheong, Cheolung [Pusan Nat’l Univ., Busan (Korea, Republic of); Heo Seung [Korea Aerospace Industries, Sacheon (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Tae-Hoon; Jung, Jiwon [LG Electronics, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

    2017-03-15

    In this study, centrifugal fan blades used to circulate cold air inside a household refrigerator were optimized to achieve high performance and low noise by using the response surface method, which is frequently employed as an optimization algorithm when multiple independent variables affect one dependent variable. The inlet and outlet blade angles, and the inner radius, were selected as the independent variables. First, the fan blades were optimized to achieve the maximum volume flow rate. Based on this result, a prototype fan blade was manufactured using a 3-D printer. The measured P-Q curves confirmed the increased volume flow rate of the proposed fan. Then, the rotation speed of the new fan was decreased to match the P-Q curve of the existing fan. It was found that a noise reduction of 1.7 dBA could be achieved using the new fan at the same volume flow rate.

  19. Performance/Noise Optimization of Centrifugal Fan Using Response Surface Method

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shin, Donghui; Cheong, Cheolung; Heo Seung; Kim, Tae-Hoon; Jung, Jiwon

    2017-01-01

    In this study, centrifugal fan blades used to circulate cold air inside a household refrigerator were optimized to achieve high performance and low noise by using the response surface method, which is frequently employed as an optimization algorithm when multiple independent variables affect one dependent variable. The inlet and outlet blade angles, and the inner radius, were selected as the independent variables. First, the fan blades were optimized to achieve the maximum volume flow rate. Based on this result, a prototype fan blade was manufactured using a 3-D printer. The measured P-Q curves confirmed the increased volume flow rate of the proposed fan. Then, the rotation speed of the new fan was decreased to match the P-Q curve of the existing fan. It was found that a noise reduction of 1.7 dBA could be achieved using the new fan at the same volume flow rate.

  20. Application of bamboo laminates in large-scale wind turbine blade design?

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Long WANG; Hui LI; Tongguang WANG

    2016-01-01

    From the viewpoint of material and structure in the design of bamboo blades of large-scale wind turbine, a series of mechanical property tests of bamboo laminates as the major enhancement materials for blades are presented. The basic mechanical characteristics needed in the design of bamboo blades are brie?y introduced. Based on these data, the aerodynamic-structural integrated design of a 1.5 MW wind turbine bamboo blade relying on a conventional platform of upwind, variable speed, variable pitch, and doubly-fed generator is carried out. The process of the structural layer design of bamboo blades is documented in detail. The structural strength and fatigue life of the designed wind turbine blades are certified. The technical issues raised from the design are discussed. Key problems and direction of the future study are also summarized.

  1. Detached-eddy simulation of flow around the NREL phase VI blade

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Johansen, Jeppe; Sørensen, Niels N.; Michelsen, J.A.

    2002-01-01

    the blade axis. Computed blade characteristics are compared with experimental data from the NREL/NASA Ames Phase VI unsteady experiment. The detached-eddy simulation model is a method for predicting turbulence in computational fluid dynamics computations, which combines a Reynolds-averaged Navier......-eddy simulation show considerably more three-dimensional flow structures compared to conventional two-equation Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes turbulence models, but no particular improvements are seen in the global blade characteristics. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.......The detached-eddy simulation model implemented in the computational fluid dynamics code EllipSys3D is used to calculate the flow around the non-rotating NREL Phase VI wind turbine blade. Results are presented for flow around a parked blade at fixed angle of attack and a blade pitching along...

  2. An economic analysis of BWR control rod blade management strategies. Final report

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Welsh, J.

    1995-12-01

    Nuclear power plants have available a number of alternative courses of action that can contribute to the reduction of personnel exposure to radiation. Possible actions at boiling water reactor (BWR) plants include accelerating the replacement of high-cobalt control rod blades (CRB) or the blades' high-cobalt pins and rollers with low or non-cobalt substitutes. To help utilities understand the exposure reduction and the economic costs and benefits associated with management alternatives, such as accelerated replacement of blades, pins and rollers, EPRI has initiated a project called Cost/Benefit Software for Analyses of Radiation Control Measures (RP1935-32). Through this project EPRI will incorporate engineering-economic techniques into a series of analytical tools that will provide useful insights about alternative exposure reduction options. Prototype software has been developed in an Excel worksheet to analyze issues associated with BWR control rod blade management options. The CRB replacement problem framework and analysis methodology incorporated into the software tool will help plant managers consider explicitly key engineering and economic issues that are relevant to exposure reduction decisions. This tool generates results that can help plant managers make decisions that are fiscally wise by showing all the cost and benefit implications associated with a management action under consideration. This report describes the general analytical approach for evaluating exposure reduction alternatives. The methodology used to analyze blade and pin and roller replacement alternatives, and the results of a case study application of the methodology and the software prototype at Commonwealth Edison

  3. Prediction of H.A.W.T. blade stall and performance

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Giannakidis, G.; Graham, J.M.R. [Imperial College, Dept. of Aeronautics, London (United Kingdom)

    1996-09-01

    A model is being developed for the prediction of Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine blade stall and performance coupled with a simple aeroelastic analysis model. For the aerodynamic calculation a two dimensional unsteady Navier-Stokes solver on a sectional basis on the blade is coupled with a three dimensional vortex lattice wake. Pressure coefficient distributions are calculated from the two dimensional viscous flow in each blade section. The aerodynamic computations are coupled with a vibrating beam model in order to incorporate flapwise deformations of the blade. (au) 17 refs.

  4. Characterization of a Viking Blade Fabricated by Traditional Forging Techniques

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vo, H.; Frazer, D.; Bailey, N.; Traylor, R.; Austin, J.; Pringle, J.; Bickel, J.; Connick, R.; Connick, W.; Hosemann, P.

    2016-12-01

    A team of students from the University of California, Berkeley, participated in a blade-smithing competition hosted by the Minerals, Metals, and Materials Society at the TMS 2015 144th annual meeting and exhibition. Motivated by ancient forging methods, the UC Berkeley team chose to fabricate our blade from historical smithing techniques utilizing naturally-occurring deposits of iron ore. This approach resulted in receiving the "Best Example of a Traditional Blade Process/Ore Smelting Technique" award for our blade named "Berkelium." First, iron-enriched sand was collected from local beaches. Magnetite (Fe3O4) was then extracted from the sand and smelted into individual high- and low-carbon steel ingots. Layers of high- and low-carbon steels were forge-welded together, predominantly by hand, to form a composite material. Optical microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy, and Vickers hardness mechanical testing were conducted at different stages throughout the blade-making process to evaluate the microstructure and hardness evolution during formation. It was found that the pre-heat-treated blade microstructure was composed of ferrite and pearlite, and contained many nonmetallic inclusions. A final heat treatment was performed, which caused the average hardness of the blade edge to increase by more than a factor of two, indicating a martensitic transformation.

  5. Enhancing wind turbines efficiency with passive reconfiguration of flexible blades

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cognet, Vincent P. A.; Thiria, Benjamin; Courrech Du Pont, Sylvain; MSC Team; PMMH Team

    2015-11-01

    Nature provides excellent examples where flexible materials are advantageous in a fluid stream. By folding, leaves decrease the drag caused by air stream; and birds' flapping is much more efficient with flexible wings. Motivated by this, we investigate the effect of flexible blades on the performance of a wind turbine. The effect of chordwise flexible blades is studied both experimentally and theoretically on a small wind turbine in steady state. Four parameters are varied: the wind velocity, the resisting torque, the pitch angle, and the blade's bending modulus. We find an optimum efficiency with respect to the bending modulus. By tuning our four parameters, the wind turbine with flexible blades has a high-efficiency range significantly larger than rigid blades', and, furthermore enhances the operating range. These results are all the more important as one of the current issues concerning wind turbines is the enlargement of their operating range. To explain these results, we propose a simple two-dimensional model by discretising the blade along the radius. We take into account the variation of drag and lift coefficients with the bending ability. This model matches experimental observations and demonstrates the contribution of the reconfiguration of the blade. Matiere et Systemes Complexes.

  6. Subsonic Swept Fan Blade

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gallagher, Edward J. (Inventor); Rogers, Thomas H. (Inventor)

    2017-01-01

    A gas turbine engine includes a spool, a turbine coupled to drive the spool, a propulsor coupled to be driven at a at a design speed by the turbine through the spool, and a gear assembly coupled between the propulsor and the spool. Rotation of the turbine drives the propulsor at a different speed than the spool. The propulsor includes a hub and a row of propulsor blades that extend from the hub. Each of the propulsor blades includes an airfoil body. The leading edge of the airfoil body has a swept profile such that, at the design speed, a component of a relative velocity vector of a working gas that is normal to the leading edge is subsonic along the entire radial span.

  7. Full Scale Test of SSP 34m blade, edgewise loading LTT

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nielsen, Magda; Jensen, Find Mølholt; Nielsen, Per Hørlyk

    This report is a part of the research project “Eksperimentel vingeforskning: Strukturelle mekanismer i nutidens og fremtidens store vinger under kombineret last” where a 34m wind turbine blade from SSP-Technology A/S has been tested in edgewise direction (LTT). The applied load is 60......% of an unrealistic extreme event, corresponding to 75% of a certificated extreme load. This report describes the background, the test set up, the tests and the results. For this project, a new solution has been used for the load application and the solution for the load application is described in this report...... as well. The blade has been submitted to thorough examination. More areas have been examined with DIC, both global and local deflections have been measured, and also 378 strain gauge measurements have been performed. Furthermore Acoustic Emission has been used in order to detect damage while testing new...

  8. Antenna Gain Impact on UWB Wind Turbine Blade Deflection Sensing

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Zhang, Shuai; Franek, Ondrej; Byskov, Claus

    2018-01-01

    Antenna gain impact on UWB wind turbine blade deflection sensing is studied in this paper. Simulations are applied with a 4.5-meter blade tip. The antennas with high gain (HG) and low gain (LG) in free space are simulated inside a blade. It is interesting to find that tip antennas with HG and LG...

  9. Optimization design of blade shapes for wind turbines

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Chen, Jin; Wang, Xudong; Shen, Wen Zhong

    2010-01-01

    For the optimization design of wind turbines, the new normal and tangential induced factors of wind turbines are given considering the tip loss of the normal and tangential forces based on the blade element momentum theory and traditional aerodynamic model. The cost model of the wind turbines...... and the optimization design model are developed. In the optimization model, the objective is the minimum cost of energy and the design variables are the chord length, twist angle and the relative thickness. Finally, the optimization is carried out for a 2 MW blade by using this optimization design model....... The performance of blades is validated through the comparison and analysis of the results. The reduced cost shows that the optimization model is good enough for the design of wind turbines. The results give a proof for the design and research on the blades of large scale wind turbines and also establish...

  10. A Retrospective Study of Blade Wound Characteristics in Suicide and Homicide.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Krywanczyk, Alison; Shapiro, Steven

    2015-12-01

    The distinction between self-inflicted blade wounds and blade wounds inflicted by another can be difficult in situations where there is little available history or context. We reviewed homicides and suicides in the past 10 years at the Vermont Office of the Chief Medical Examiner to define the characteristics of homicidal and suicidal blade wounds. All homicides and suicides involving blade wounds, not just those in which blade wounds were the cause of death, were included. Information regarding victim demographics, location and type of injuries, toxicology, and evidence of suicidality was gathered. Blade wounds were the cause of death in 85.7% of homicides but only in 36% of suicides. Hanging and gunshot wounds were the cause of death in 28% and 24% of suicides, respectively. Multiple stab wounds were found in 10% of homicides and in 0% of suicides, whereas multiple incised wounds were found in 60% of suicides and only 10% of homicides. However, several unusual instances of suicide were found, including suicides with clothing damage or bone or cartilage injury from blade wounds. No characteristics of blade wounds were definitive for homicide or suicide. History and circumstances of the scene are thus crucial in determining the manner of death.

  11. Further dual purpose evolutionary optimization of small wind turbine blades

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Clifton-Smith, M J; Wood, D H

    2007-01-01

    Much work has been done to maximise the power extraction of wind turbine blades. However, small wind turbines are also required to be self starting and whilst blades designed for maximum power extraction can be optimised analytically, these blades often have poor starting performance. The numeric method of Differential Evolution is used here to maximise for both power and starting performance. Standard blade element theory is used to calculate the power coefficient, and a modified blade element method for starting time. The chord and twist of each blade element make up the genes for evolution. Starting times can be improved by a factor of 20 with only a small reduction in power coefficient. With the introduction of the tip speed ratio as an additional gene, up to 10% improvement in power coefficient was achieved. A second study was done in another case where analytical optimisation is not possible; the inclusion of tip losses. The inclusion resulted in only a small increase in the optimum chord in the tip region which becomes less noticeable at lower tip speed ratios

  12. Performance and internal flow condition of mini centrifugal pump with splitter blades

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shigemitsu, T; Fukutomi, J; Kaji, K; Wada, T

    2012-01-01

    Mini centrifugal pumps having a diameter smaller than 100mm are employed in many fields. But the design method for the mini centrifugal pump is not established because the internal flow condition for these small-sized fluid machines is not clarified and conventional theory is not suitable for small-sized pumps. Therefore, mini centrifugal pumps with simple structure were investigated by this research. Splitter blades were adopted in this research to improve the performance and the internal flow condition of mini centrifugal pump which had large blade outlet angle. The original impeller without the splitter blades and the impeller with the splitter blades were prepared for an experiment. The performance tests are conducted with these rotors in order to investigate the effect of the splitter blades on performance and internal flow condition of mini centrifugal pump. On the other hand, a three dimensional steady numerical flow analysis is conducted with the commercial code (ANSYS-CFX) to investigate the internal flow condition in detail. It is clarified from the experimental results that the performance of the mini centrifugal pump is improved by the effect of the splitter blades. The blade-to-blade low velocity regions are suppressed in the case with the splitter blades and the total pressure loss regions are decreased. The effects of the splitter blades on the performance and the internal flow condition are discussed in this paper.

  13. Flow performance of highly loaded axial fan with bowed rotor blades

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen, L; Liu, X J; Yang, A L; Dai, R

    2013-01-01

    In this paper, a partial bowed rotor blade was proposed for a newly designed high loaded axial fan. The blade was positively bowed 30 degrees from hub to 30 percent spanwise position. Flows of radial blade and bowed blade fans were numerically compared for various operation conditions. Results show that the fan's performance is improved. At the designed condition with flow coefficient of 0.52, the efficiency of the bowed blade fan is increased 1.44% and the static pressure rise is increased 11%. Comparing the flow structures, it can be found that the separated flow in the bowed fan is reduced and confined within 20 percent span, which is less than the 35 percent in the radial fan. It means that the bowed blade generates negative blade force and counteracts partial centrifugal force. It is alleviates the radial movements of boundary layers in fan's hub region. Flow losses due to 3D mixing are reduced in the rotor. Inlet flow to downstream stator is also improved

  14. Investigation of HP Turbine Blade Failure in a Military Turbofan Engine

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mishra, R. K.; Thomas, Johny; Srinivasan, K.; Nandi, Vaishakhi; Bhatt, R. Raghavendra

    2017-04-01

    Failure of a high pressure (HP) turbine blade in a military turbofan engine is investigated to determine the root cause of failure. Forensic and metallurgical investigations are carried out on the affected blades. The loss of coating and the presence of heavily oxidized intergranular fracture features including substrate material aging and airfoil curling in the trailing edge of a representative blade indicate that the coating is not providing adequate oxidation protection and the blade material substrate is not suitable for the application at hand. Coating spallation followed by substrate oxidation and aging leading to intergranular cracking and localized trailing edge curling is the root cause of the blade failure. The remaining portion of the blade fracture surface showed ductile overload features in the final failure. The damage observed in downstream components is due to secondary effects.

  15. A multi-frequency fatigue testing method for wind turbine rotor blades

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Eder, Martin Alexander; Belloni, Federico; Tesauro, Angelo

    2017-01-01

    Rotor blades are among the most delicate components of modern wind turbines. Reliability is a crucial aspect, since blades shall ideally remain free of failure under ultra-high cycle loading conditions throughout their designated lifetime of 20–25 years. Full-scale blade tests are the most accurate...... means to experimentally simulate damage evolution under operating conditions, and are therefore used to demonstrate that a blade type fulfils the reliability requirements to an acceptable degree of confidence. The state-of-the-art testing method for rotor blades in industry is based on resonance...... higher modes contribute more significantly due to their higher cycle count. A numerical feasibility study based on a publicly available large utility rotor blade is used to demonstrate the ability of the proposed approach to outperform the state-of-the-art testing method without compromising fatigue test...

  16. A randomized controlled study to evaluate and compare Truview blade with Macintosh blade for laryngoscopy and intubation under general anesthesia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Timanaykar, Ramesh T; Anand, Lakesh K; Palta, Sanjeev

    2011-04-01

    The Truview EVO2™ laryngoscope is a recently introduced device with a unique blade that provides a magnified laryngeal view at 42° anterior reflected view. It facilitates visualization of the glottis without alignment of oral, pharyngeal, and tracheal axes. We compared the view obtained at laryngoscopy, intubating conditions and hemodynamic parameters of Truview with Macintosh blade. In prospective, randomized and controlled manner, 200 patients of ASA I and II of either sex (20-50 years), presenting for surgery requiring tracheal intubation, were assigned to undergo intubation using a Truview or Macintosh laryngoscope. Visualization of the vocal cord, ease of intubation, time taken for intubation, number of attempts, and hemodynamic parameters were evaluated. Truview provided better results for the laryngeal view using Cormack and Lehane grading, particularly in patients with higher airway Mallampati grading (P < 0.05). The time taken for intubation (33.06±5.6 vs. 23.11±57 seconds) was more with Truview than with Macintosh blade (P < 0.01). The Percentage of Glottic Opening (POGO) score was significantly higher (97.26±8) in Truview as that observed with Macintosh blade (83.70±21.5). Hemodynamic parameters increased after tracheal intubation from pre-intubation value (P < 0.05) in both the groups, but they were comparable amongst the groups. No postoperative adverse events were noted. Tracheal intubation using Truview blade provided consistently improved laryngeal view as compared to Macintosh blade without the need to align the oral, pharyngeal and tracheal axes, with equal attempts for successful intubation and similar changes in hemodynamics. However, the time taken for intubation was more with Truview.

  17. A randomized controlled study to evaluate and compare Truview blade with Macintosh blade for laryngoscopy and intubation under general anesthesia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ramesh T Timanaykar

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Background: The Truview EVO2 TM laryngoscope is a recently introduced device with a unique blade that provides a magnified laryngeal view at 42° anterior reflected view. It facilitates visualization of the glottis without alignment of oral, pharyngeal, and tracheal axes. We compared the view obtained at laryngoscopy, intubating conditions and hemodynamic parameters of Truview with Macintosh blade. Materials and Methods: In prospective, randomized and controlled manner, 200 patients of ASA I and II of either sex (20-50 years, presenting for surgery requiring tracheal intubation, were assigned to undergo intubation using a Truview or Macintosh laryngoscope. Visualization of the vocal cord, ease of intubation, time taken for intubation, number of attempts, and hemodynamic parameters were evaluated. Results: Truview provided better results for the laryngeal view using Cormack and Lehane grading, particularly in patients with higher airway Mallampati grading (P < 0.05. The time taken for intubation (33.06±5.6 vs. 23.11±57 seconds was more with Truview than with Macintosh blade (P < 0.01. The Percentage of Glottic Opening (POGO score was significantly higher (97.26±8 in Truview as that observed with Macintosh blade (83.70±21.5. Hemodynamic parameters increased after tracheal intubation from pre-intubation value (P < 0.05 in both the groups, but they were comparable amongst the groups. No postoperative adverse events were noted. Conclusion: Tracheal intubation using Truview blade provided consistently improved laryngeal view as compared to Macintosh blade without the need to align the oral, pharyngeal and tracheal axes, with equal attempts for successful intubation and similar changes in hemodynamics. However, the time taken for intubation was more with Truview.

  18. Demonstration of an elastically coupled twist control concept for tilt rotor blade application

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lake, R. C.; Nixon, M. W.; Wilbur, M. L.; Singleton, J. D.; Mirick, P. H.

    1994-01-01

    The purpose of this Note is to present results from an analytic/experimental study that investigated the potential for passively changing blade twist through the use of extension-twist coupling. A set of composite model rotor blades was manufactured from existing blade molds for a low-twist metal helicopter rotor blade, with a view toward establishing a preliminary proof concept for extension-twist-coupled rotor blades. Data were obtained in hover for both a ballasted and unballasted blade configuration in sea-level atmospheric conditions. Test data were compared with results obtained from a geometrically nonlinear analysis of a detailed finite element model of the rotor blade developed in MSC/NASTRAN.

  19. Optimized chord and twist angle distributions of wind turbine blade considering Reynolds number effects

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wang, L.; Tang, X. [Univ. of Central Lancashire. Engineering and Physical Sciences, Preston (United Kingdom); Liu, X. [Univ. of Cumbria. Sustainable Engineering, Workington (United Kingdom)

    2012-07-01

    The aerodynamic performance of a wind turbine depends very much on its blade geometric design, typically based on the blade element momentum (BEM) theory, which divides the blade into several blade elements. In current blade design practices based on Schmitz rotor design theory, the blade geometric parameters including chord and twist angle distributions are determined based on airfoil aerodynamic data at a specific Reynolds number. However, rotating wind turbine blade elements operate at different Reynolds numbers due to variable wind speed and different blade span locations. Therefore, the blade design through Schmitz rotor theory at a specific Reynolds number does not necessarily provide the best power performance under operational conditions. This paper aims to provide an optimal blade design strategy for horizontal-axis wind turbines operating at different Reynolds numbers. A fixed-pitch variable-speed (FPVS) wind turbine with S809 airfoil is chosen as a case study and a Matlab program which considers Reynolds number effects is developed to determine the optimized chord and twist angle distributions of the blade. The performance of the optimized blade is compared with that of the preliminary blade which is designed based on Schmitz rotor design theory at a specific Reynolds number. The results demonstrate that the proposed blade design optimization strategy can improve the power performance of the wind turbine. This approach can be further developed for any practice of horizontal axis wind turbine blade design. (Author)

  20. Design, fabrication, and test of a steel spar wind turbine blade

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sullivan, T. L.; Sirocky, P. J., Jr.; Viterna, L. A.

    1979-01-01

    The design and fabrication of wind turbine blades based on 60 foot steel spars are discussed. Performance and blade load information is given and compared to analytical prediction. In addition, performance is compared to that of the original MOD-O aluminum blades. Costs for building the two blades are given, and a projection is made for the cost in mass production. Design improvements to reduce weight and improve fatigue life are suggested.