JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #61 - November/December 2010 - 52

KNOW-HOW
Software

Enhancing blade performance

g…/… Four factors dirve the development of superior wind blades

Supporting design innovation The digital imperative
It is important to support innovation by providing flexible composite engineering software that lets designers freely explore design alternatives without imposing constraints on how blades are designed or manufactured. This enables design studies to be conducted more efficiently so a broader range of design concepts, materials and processes can be evaluated more quickly. Improved blade customization enables manufacturers to bring new concepts and techniques to market faster, including segmented blade designs and modular blade systems that have the potential to drastically reduce transportation costs. By supporting innovation, a comprehensive composite design solution can play a critical role in helping manufacturers discover breakthrough technologies that can result in long-term competitive advantages.

Wind turbines in general have increased in size by a factor of 10 over the last 20 to 25 years. They are reaching dimensions that represent true engineering challenges, whether in the 1.5MW to 3MW range for land-based applications, or 3MW to 6MW range for offshore wind farm projects. While increasing the size of wind turbines enables more efficient power generation, larger blades present major challenges. Many aerodynamic studies have been undertaken to improve the efficiency of blade profiles for better energy extraction and reduced noise and vibrations because the potential pay-off is great. Indeed, even a one percent improvement in the efficiency of a blade will yield massive cumulative gains over the typical 20-year lifespan of a wind turbine. Implementing a well integrated approach to blade sizing, design and analysis allows further optimization of the design that will lead to the incremental improvements necessary to yield such gains. This enables more iterations to be performed early in the development cycle so there will be better accuracy in the modelling and analysis of the blade behaviour.

The above figure shows laminates represented as solids. FiberSIM ® can automate the creation of solids representing the laminates based on the ply and core definition. This feature is essential for rapidly generating mockup surfaces, strip surfaces for spar mating, and tooling surfaces.

A company well positioned to develop superior composite wind turbine blades should possess extensive composite expertise in multiple related industries, in-depth technical expertise to promote innovation and be able to provide essential input for developing state-of-the-art blades. A robust solution should include a detailed engineering master model, a complete and efficient toolset for complex ply layup design and a means for facilitating rapid and reliable design change management. It will provide a design for manufacturing methodology that spans conceptual, preliminary and detailed design. It should also enable design for manufacturing for multiple processes, a concurrent design and analysis process and rapid iterations for early sizing and optimization. Further, it should support accurate design validation and manufacturing automation, provide a seamless link from 3D CAD to manufacturing, and directly interface with multiple manufacturing systems. It should provide open and flexible access to best-in-class tools and integrate leading-edge complementary products, including CAE software, CAM software, manufacturing systems and data management systems. If the wind industry is to continue its phenomenal pace of growth, turbine blade manufacturers will need to embrace the idea of a digital product development process so they can support increasing levels of automation and scale-up production to meet the demand of the market. n
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An accurate composite layup definition will also enable a better analysis process for damage and failure prediction, including crack propagation through the laminates, de-lamination phenomena and fatigue issues.

A comprehensive solution should bring design and analysis integration to the next level by establishing strategic partnerships with the leading providers of concept design, optimization and computer-aided engineering (CAE) software to enable a truly concurrent design and analysis process.

jec composites magazine / No61 November - December 2010

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JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #61 - November/December 2010

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #61 - November/December 2010