Experimental Techniques for Fatigue Analysis of a Small Wind Turbine Blade

Abstract

During the life span, a wind turbine blade experiences variety of the forces. These forces include gravitational force, centrifugal force, tangential force, thrust force, etc. Thrust force and gravitational forces create edgewise bending stress while the tangential forces (wind pressure) create flapwise bending stress. Centrifugal forces generate direct stress in the wind turbine blade. Most of the wind turbine blades fail due to bending in the flapwise direction. These induced stresses are cyclic in nature. Due to their cyclic nature blade is subjected to fatigue. So, in the design process of the blade, fatigue testing plays an important role. The expected service life of the turbine blade is about twenty years. Hence, it is important to design a blade for such a long life. Only a few researchers are working on fatigue testing of small wind turbine blades made of composite materials. Fatigue testing of the blades is carried out using computational and experimental techniques. This paper particularly focuses on bringing together some important experimental techniques used for fatigue analysis of small composite wind turbine blades.

Cite this Article

Shinde Vishvajeet C, Gandhare Balasaheb S, Kale Sandip A. Experimental Techniques for Fatigue Analysis of a Small Wind Turbine Blade. Journal of Experimental & Applied Mechanics. 2016; 7(1): 34–38p.