Mechanical Analysis of a 1.2 MW-40 m Long Horizontal Axis Composite Material Wind Turbine Blade by S-N Fatigue Cycle and Goodman Diagrams in Windpower Engineering

Abstract

The critical issue for generating electricity device driven by kinetic energy of the wind remains as the design of the wind turbine blade and its structure. A 1.2 MW and 40 m long blade horizontal-axis wind turbine with a hybrid composite configuration by carbon and glass fiber ply was developed to analyze structural design in virtual environment imitating extreme wind speed conditions. When designing a wind turbine, using finite element analysis modeling by ANSYS may help produce the desired simulation of the structure so as to ensure a certain level of structural safety. A few literatures are openly accessible on the physical design activity of multi-megawatt blades as it is held private by the designer and engineers. In this report, von Mises criteria, fatigue analysis and Goodman diagram for a fiberglass material of comprehensive wind turbine blade model was established and examined with regard to typical failure conditions to identify the structural modules of the wind turbine blade. The wind blade was exposed to finite element analyses to show its capability to survive the intense loading circumstances i.e. varying heavy mechanical loads, stresses and strain due to more difficultness to cope with static loads as the material becomes fatigued. The computational evaluation outcomes displayed that the designed turbine blade structure was safe, and the stress and strain value was low.