Predicted and Measured Deflection of a Modular, 3D-Printed Wind Turbine Blade Tip and Winglet
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Houchens, Brent C↗
Engineering topics
Maniaci, David Charles
Publications and source records attributed to Maniaci, David Charles.
Techno‐Economic Analysis of Additively‐Manufactured Wind Turbine Blade Tips That Enable Technology Integration
The Additively‐Manufactured, System‐Integrated Tip (AMSIT) project is leveraging the flexibility of 3D printing to integrate several technologies in a wind turbine blade tip, while reducing the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) produced. The design integration is demonstrated for a 200‐kW–scale turbine with 13‐m blades, with the outer 15% of the blade replaced with a 3D‐printed design. Aerodynamic performance is enhanced without increasing swept area through inclusion of a winglet and surface texturing, both challenging for traditional manufacturing. Longevity and durability are improved through integrated lightning and leading edge erosion protection. Increased power, reduced repair frequency, and ease of repair through blade modularity all contribute to reduced LCOE. The analysis is also extended to modern MW‐scale designs to estimate the impact of the technology at scale, demonstrating the potential to reduce LCOE significantly for modern onshore turbines, with even higher potential savings offshore.
3D printing↗
Wind Energy Instrumentation Development Roadmap
The current instrumentation for observing the complex flow fields in and around wind plants struggles to match the fidelity of existing simulation tools. As a result, these measurement limitations create a hurdle for validating and assessing the quality of the wind plant numerical models. This roadmap for instrumentation development recommendations was created to offer guidance on narrowing the gap between measurement and simulation fidelity. A process was established to identify where gaps in instrumentation exist for wind energy test campaigns by analyzing the capabilities of instrumentation for capturing the various important phenomena at the necessary resolution for both the science goal and validation objectives. To this end, a multi-disciplinary team of experts on instrumentation, wind energy, and atmospheric science was assembled to identify these significant instrumentation needs. A recommendation for instrumentation to be developed is provided, and the framework developed through this process is expected to be useful to the design of future test campaigns. The mapping tools developed for this process will be distributed as part of a future International Energy Agency Wind Technology Collaboration Program task on instrumentation development.
17 WIND ENERGY↗