Wind loads on wind turbine blades

What are the loads applied to a wind turbine?

Wind turbines are subject to various loads applied to their entirestructure.They are defined as aerodynamic loads that aregenerated by a rotor blade, and operating on it are greatly variable in intensity because of the stochastic character of the wind field. Inertia and gravitational loadsare also taken into account in this study [17]. ... ...

How can wind turbine loads be predicted?

Present design practices and recognized standards for wind turbine loads and safety, e.g., IEC 61400-1,5 require ultimate loads from the fluctuating wind to be predicted using both discrete gust models and advanced simulations of the 3-D stochastic turbulent wind field as input to comprehensive aero-elastic models.

What are the major loading conditions applied to a wind turbine blade?

The major loading conditions applied to the blade are not static. Fatigue loading can occur when a material is subjected to a repeated non continuous load which causes the fatigue limit of the material to be exceeded. It is possible to produce a wind turbine blade capable of operating within the fatigue limit of its materials.

What are the aerodynamic design principles for a wind turbine blade?

The aerodynamic design principles for a modern wind turbine blade are detailed, including blade plan shape/quantity, aerofoil selection and optimal attack angles. A detailed review of design loads on wind turbine blades is offered, describing aerodynamic, gravitational, centrifugal, gyroscopic and operational conditions. 1. Introduction

What are the dominant loads acting on wind turbine blades?

The dominant loads acting on the wind turbine blades are the torque and the normal force, which depend on the dominant flow conditions as a function of the relative velocity ( Vrel) and the angle of attack ( α ). Blade Element Momentum (BEM) theory is utilized to estimate the dominant loads and flow conditions.

Why are wind turbines subject to different loads?

... Wind turbines are subject to various loads applied to their entirestructure.They are defined as aerodynamic loads that aregenerated by a rotor blade, and operating on it are greatly variable in intensity because of the stochastic character of the wind field.