Wind Impact Principal Strains and Deformation Evaluations of Rectangular Geometric Blades of Wind Turbine for Maximum Power Development in Nigeria

Mechanical Engineering

ABSTRACTIn this paper, wind impact principal strains and deformation evaluations of rectangular geometric blades of wind turbine for maximum power development in Nigeria was conducted. Researchers created four geometrical wind turbine rectangular blade models with rotor using Autodesk inventor. Maximum average wind speed of 3.89m/s gotten from NASA website was used to compute the wind site load acting on each blade and was used to run the finite element principal strain simulation. Results showed that the maximum values of 1st and 3rd principal strains were found to be 0.000000694726 and 0.00000000000000990017 respectively. These results indicated that the blades material would fail due to tensile strain rather than compressive strain. Therefore, excessive wind impact on rectangular blades of the wind turbine at XY, YY and ZZ axes must be avoided to achieve a reliable service, since they showed maximum strain values. In addition, strain largest magnitude was found to be much at the tips, bonded or welded points of blades. Furthermore, the equivalent strain was found to be 0.000000981997 and it was within permissible limit. This indicated that the rectangular blade geometry would give lower strain value and long lasting blades when used in the operation of wind turbines. The researchers concluded that the installation of a wind turbine with site orientation of the blades away from the mentioned axes, could contribute to maximum power development by reducing strains and blade sudden failure.

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