Vibration Analysis of a Small Wind Turbine Blade

摘要

Composite materials have various complicated characteristics according to use of theconstituent materials and boundary conditions. Therefore, it is difficult to analyze properties of compositematerials. The composite materials are well known by their excellent combination of high structuralstiffness and low weight. Their anisotropy allows the designer to tailor the material in order to achieve thedesired performance requirements. Thus, it is necessary to develop tools that allow the designer to obtaindesigns, considering the structural requirements and functional characteristics. For efficient use ofcomposite materials in engineering applications, the dynamic behavior (i.e. natural frequencies) should beknown. This paper focuses on the behavior of small wind turbine blades manufactured from compositematerials. Two small wind turbine blades are manufactured from the Glass Fiber Reinforced Plastic(GFRP) and GFRP with steel wire mesh reinforcement. Finite Element Analysis (FEA) was carried outby using finite element software ANSYS 16.0. From FEA theoretical natural frequencies and mode shapesof blades manufactured from the GFRP and GFRP with steel wire mesh reinforcement were obtained.Experimental free vibration test of manufactured blades were carried out to find the practical naturalfrequencies and mode shapes. Finally the results obtained from the FEA and experimental test for theblade manufactured from GFRP and GFRP with steel wire mesh are compared.