Optimal Aero-Elastic Design of a Rotor with Bend-Twist Coupling

Michael K. McWilliam; Frederik Zahle; Antariksh Chandrashekhar Dicholkar; David Robert Verelst; Taeseong Kim

doi:10.1088/1742-6596/1037/4/042009

Optimal Aero-Elastic Design of a Rotor with Bend-Twist Coupling

Michael K. McWilliam^*, Frederik Zahle, Antariksh Chandrashekhar Dicholkar, David Robert Verelst, Taeseong Kim

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Conference article › Research › peer-review

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Abstract

Passive Bend-Twist Coupling (BTC) can be used in blades to alleviate loads and generate more Annual Energy Production (AEP). However, BTC is inherently aero-elastic, thus difficult to incorporate into the design with sequential design process. Multi-disciplinary Design Optimization (MDO) is an attractive approach for overcoming these challenges. This paper presents the re-design of a 100kW BTC rotor using the MDO rotor design package HAWTOpt2. In the preliminary design phase, MDO was used to assess the differences between elastic BTC (i.e. off-axis fibers) and geometric BTC (i.e. sweep). This work found that aero-elastic design optimization without BTC was able to achieve a 16% improvement, then with sweep a 18% improvement and with material coupling a 17% improvement. Due to the reduced stiffness of off-axis fibers, material coupled designs had more difficulty satisfying the tip deflection constraint. The geometric BTC concept was chosen for the final design. The design optimization was repeated with additional manufacturing constraints. The final design achieved a 12% improvement.

Original language	English
Article number	042009
Book series	Journal of Physics: Conference Series
Volume	1037
Issue number	4
Number of pages	13
ISSN	1742-6596
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/1037/4/042009
Publication status	Published - 2018
Event	The Science of Making Torque from Wind 2018 - Politecnico di Milano (POLIMI), Milan, Italy Duration: 20 Jun 2018 → 22 Jun 2018 Conference number: 7 http://www.torque2018.org/

Conference

Conference	The Science of Making Torque from Wind 2018
Number	7
Location	Politecnico di Milano (POLIMI)
Country/Territory	Italy
City	Milan
Period	20/06/2018 → 22/06/2018
Internet address	http://www.torque2018.org/

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Content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 licence. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.

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title = "Optimal Aero-Elastic Design of a Rotor with Bend-Twist Coupling",

abstract = " Passive Bend-Twist Coupling (BTC) can be used in blades to alleviate loads and generate more Annual Energy Production (AEP). However, BTC is inherently aero-elastic, thus difficult to incorporate into the design with sequential design process. Multi-disciplinary Design Optimization (MDO) is an attractive approach for overcoming these challenges. This paper presents the re-design of a 100kW BTC rotor using the MDO rotor design package HAWTOpt2. In the preliminary design phase, MDO was used to assess the differences between elastic BTC (i.e. off-axis fibers) and geometric BTC (i.e. sweep). This work found that aero-elastic design optimization without BTC was able to achieve a 16% improvement, then with sweep a 18% improvement and with material coupling a 17% improvement. Due to the reduced stiffness of off-axis fibers, material coupled designs had more difficulty satisfying the tip deflection constraint. The geometric BTC concept was chosen for the final design. The design optimization was repeated with additional manufacturing constraints. The final design achieved a 12% improvement. ",

author = "McWilliam, {Michael K.} and Frederik Zahle and Dicholkar, {Antariksh Chandrashekhar} and Verelst, {David Robert} and Taeseong Kim",

note = "Content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 licence. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.; The Science of Making Torque from Wind 2018, TORQUE 2018 ; Conference date: 20-06-2018 Through 22-06-2018",

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AU - Verelst, David Robert

AU - Kim, Taeseong

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N2 - Passive Bend-Twist Coupling (BTC) can be used in blades to alleviate loads and generate more Annual Energy Production (AEP). However, BTC is inherently aero-elastic, thus difficult to incorporate into the design with sequential design process. Multi-disciplinary Design Optimization (MDO) is an attractive approach for overcoming these challenges. This paper presents the re-design of a 100kW BTC rotor using the MDO rotor design package HAWTOpt2. In the preliminary design phase, MDO was used to assess the differences between elastic BTC (i.e. off-axis fibers) and geometric BTC (i.e. sweep). This work found that aero-elastic design optimization without BTC was able to achieve a 16% improvement, then with sweep a 18% improvement and with material coupling a 17% improvement. Due to the reduced stiffness of off-axis fibers, material coupled designs had more difficulty satisfying the tip deflection constraint. The geometric BTC concept was chosen for the final design. The design optimization was repeated with additional manufacturing constraints. The final design achieved a 12% improvement.

AB - Passive Bend-Twist Coupling (BTC) can be used in blades to alleviate loads and generate more Annual Energy Production (AEP). However, BTC is inherently aero-elastic, thus difficult to incorporate into the design with sequential design process. Multi-disciplinary Design Optimization (MDO) is an attractive approach for overcoming these challenges. This paper presents the re-design of a 100kW BTC rotor using the MDO rotor design package HAWTOpt2. In the preliminary design phase, MDO was used to assess the differences between elastic BTC (i.e. off-axis fibers) and geometric BTC (i.e. sweep). This work found that aero-elastic design optimization without BTC was able to achieve a 16% improvement, then with sweep a 18% improvement and with material coupling a 17% improvement. Due to the reduced stiffness of off-axis fibers, material coupled designs had more difficulty satisfying the tip deflection constraint. The geometric BTC concept was chosen for the final design. The design optimization was repeated with additional manufacturing constraints. The final design achieved a 12% improvement.

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Optimal Aero-Elastic Design of a Rotor with Bend-Twist Coupling

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