Design And Performance Assessment Of A Wind Turbine For Renewable Power Generation

Abstract

This is to perform the Unsteady Aerodynamics to better understand the unsteady aerodynamics and
structural responses of horizontal-axis wind turbines. The experiment consists of an extensively instrumented,
downwind, three-bladed, wind turbine. We are designing a two-bladed hub for the experiment. For this thesis, I
present the modules of the mechanical design and analysis of the hub. The hub design must be 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 control techniques for two-bladed turbines. The hub needs to meets all the
performance specifications except that it achieves 90% of the specified teeter range. In my thesis, I focus on the
analysis of the hub and other components. I perform solid-mechanical calculations, and a finite-element analysis,
and experimentally investigate the structural integrity of the hub and other components. The solid model is
generated in Catia-V5. Then the model is imported to Ansys through IGES / Catia-V5 format. The quality mesh is
prepared in Ansys for converged solution for analysis package with high optimizing results.