FSI Simulation of a Small Size Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine to investigate The Effects of Blade Thickness and Material on Blade Deformation

In the recent years, wind energy had a faster growth compared with the other renewable energies. The interaction between fluid and structure becomes more important as the wind turbine size and its power production capacity increases. In the present research, the effect of wind speed and blade materials on static deformation of a small size horizontal axis wind turbine blade has investigated. The shaft torque and root flap bending moment values obtained from simulation are in a good agreement with experimental data. Results demonstrated that the deformation of the blade increases as the wind speed grows although the increase rate has declined in the mean wind speed range because of the occurrence of separation phenomenon on the blade surface. The effect of blade components materials on blade deformation was investigated and the least deformed configurations were introduced. The thickness of the designated blade components has been investigated by means of the maximum strain theory. The final thickness of the skin, spur and root was estimated by 2.1 mm, 2.8 mm and 10 mm respectively which are 30% less than the primary one.