University of Twente Student Theses
Simulation of rain droplet impact and erosion on leading edge protection of wind turbine blades
Janardhan, Gautam Geeta (2021) Simulation of rain droplet impact and erosion on leading edge protection of wind turbine blades.
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| Abstract: | Transitioning towards renewable energy, offshore wind farms show high potential amongst the renewable sources of energy. In efforts to maximize outputs, the dimensions of these wind turbines have increased. This resulted in higher tip speeds (more than 100m/s), which when combined with the interactions with rain droplets causes damage over time. The accelerated rates of erosion along the turbine adversely affects the performance of the wind turbine, which reduces the levelized cost of energy and annual energy production. To prevent erosion, protective coatings like leading edge protection (LEP) are implemented, however, the current solutions are not ideal as they fail to protect the turbines at higher speeds. Hence, a new optimized solution is required that can be adapted across the industry to prevent erosion of wind turbine blades. This thesis studied the droplet-substrate interaction for different materials by modeling this fluid-structure interaction in Abaqus using a combination of Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) and Lagrangian methods. Thermoplastics are used to define the LEP which is co-bonded to an epoxy substrate across a discrete interface and a continuous interphase. To ensure comparability between the results, a standard model was developed to have a good resolution of the stress field while having a relatively low computational time. This model was then adapted to different LEP materials like TPU and ABS for the aforementioned simulations. Studying the stress fields for the discrete and continuous interphases, the influence of LEP thickness on wave propagation through the system was studied. This was achieved by studying the response of pure polymeric materials for varying LEP thicknesses. Then the discrete interface was defined for an epoxy substrate and LEP using the standard model. The interfaces/interphases were varied and the stress fields were studied. From these stress fields, stress concentrations and possible damage locations were determined. This, combined with the geometric and material parameters of the system helped to establish the performance of the studied LEP materials. This thesis derives a set of design guidelines for an integrated LEP (InLEP) solution to prevent rain erosion in wind turbine blades. |
| Item Type: | Essay (Master) |
| Faculty: | ET: Engineering Technology |
| Subject: | 52 mechanical engineering |
| Programme: | Mechanical Engineering MSc (60439) |
| Link to this item: | https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/88244 |
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