A preliminary design methodology for fatigue life prediction of polymer composites for tidal turbine blades
Kennedy, Ciaran R. Ó Brádaigh, Conchúr M. Leen, Sean B.
Kennedy, Ciaran R.
Ó Brádaigh, Conchúr M.
Leen, Sean B.
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Repository DOI
Publication Date
2012-07
Type
Article
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Citation
Kennedy, CR,Leen, SB,Bradaigh, CMO (2012) 'A preliminary design methodology for fatigue life prediction of polymer composites for tidal turbine blades'. Proceedings Of The Institution Of Mechanical Engineers Part L-Journal Of Materials-Design And Applications, 226 :203-218.
Abstract
Tidal turbine blades experience significant fatigue cycles during operation and it is expected that fatigue strength will be a major consideration in their design. Glass fibre reinforced polymers are a candidate low-cost material for this application. This article presents a methodology for preliminary fatigue design of glass fibre reinforced polymer tidal turbine blades. The methodology combines: (a) a hydrodynamic model for calculation of local distributions of fluid-blade forces; (b) a finite element structural model for prediction of blade strain distributions; (c) a fatigue damage accumulation model, which incorporates mean stress effects; and (d) uniaxial fatigue testing of two candidate glass fibre reinforced polymer materials (for illustrative purposes). The methodology is applied here for the preliminary design of a three-bladed tidal turbine concept, including tower shadow effects, and comparative assessment of pitch-and stall-regulated control with respect to fatigue performance.
Funder
Publisher
SAGE
Publisher DOI
10.1177/1464420712443330
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Ireland