Conceptual Designs of the Structure of Inflatable Blades for Enabling Larger Turbines

Nicole Mendoza, Roland Feil, Nick Johnson, Benjamin Anderson

Research output: Contribution to conferencePaperpeer-review

1 Scopus Citations

Abstract

Over the last couple of decades, increasingly larger rotor diameters have enabled significant reductions in the levelized cost of energy for wind through higher energy capture and improved capacity factors. But for onshore turbines, this has been met with manufacturing and transportation challenges. To enable larger onshore rotors, an innovative inflatable blade concept is investigated that employs both traditional and onsite manufacturing. The design architecture consists primarily of an inflatable aerodynamic shell attached to a factory-manufactured primary structure. Multiple architectures, cross-sectional topologies, and material combinations for the primary structure are investigated, as well as multiple skin materials. Structural cross-sectional characteristics are compared to a traditional blade, and inflatability and cost evaluations are presented. Results show that a box-beam architecture using only composite materials yields significant mass reduction with mature technologies/processes and modest cost decrease compared to traditional blade construction. This low-TRL study demonstrates the inflatable blade concept’s techno-economic potential.

Original languageAmerican English
Pages1-13
Number of pages13
DOIs
StatePublished - 2021
EventAIAA Science and Technology Forum and Exposition, AIAA SciTech Forum 2021 - Virtual, Online
Duration: 11 Jan 202115 Jan 2021

Conference

ConferenceAIAA Science and Technology Forum and Exposition, AIAA SciTech Forum 2021
CityVirtual, Online
Period11/01/2115/01/21

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Inc, AIAA. All rights reserved.

NREL Publication Number

  • NREL/CP-5000-78609

Keywords

  • inflatable blade
  • novel wind turbine blade
  • on-site manufacturing
  • structural design and analysis

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Conceptual Designs of the Structure of Inflatable Blades for Enabling Larger Turbines'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this