Morphing Blades: Theory and Proof of Principles

Ignazio Maria Viola, Gabriele Pisetta, Weidong Dai, Abel Arredondo-Galeana, Anna Young, Amanda S. M. Smyth

Research output: Chapter or section in a book/report/conference proceedingChapter in a published conference proceeding

3 Citations (SciVal)

Abstract

Tidal turbines experience large load fluctuations due to the unsteady environment and the shear in the tidal flow. Mitigating these fluctuations without affecting the mean load would result in lower capital and operational costs. In this paper we discuss how this could be achieved through blades that passively and elastically adapt their camber and angle of attack to counteract unsteady flow conditions. Firstly, we discuss the underlying principles of unsteady thrust mitigation. We show that complete cancellation of the thrust fluctuations would be possible if every blade section could pitch passively and independently
of neighbouring sections. Secondly, we provide proof of principle for two practical implementations through physical experiments and computational fluid dynamics simulations. We consider a blade that is rigid near the leading edge and flexible near the trailing edge. We show that the unsteady load mitigation is proportional to the ratio between the length of the flexible and rigid parts of the blade. For example, for a blade section where the flexibility is concentrated in a hinge at 3/4 of the chord, the amplitude of the fluctuations is 3/4 of the
original amplitude. Secondly, we consider a solid, rigid blade with a passive pitch mechanism. We show that, for a 1 MW turbine operating in shear flow, more than
80% of the unsteady loading is mitigated. These results demonstrate the potential effectiveness of morphing blades for mitigating thrust fluctuations on tidal turbines.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProceedings of the European Wave and Tidal Energy Conference
Pages2152-1 - 2152-11
Publication statusPublished - 2 Sept 2021
EventThe 14th European Wave and Tidal Energy Conference: EWTEC2021 - Plymouth, UK United Kingdom
Duration: 5 Sept 20215 Sept 2021
https://ewtec.org/ewtec-2021/

Conference

ConferenceThe 14th European Wave and Tidal Energy Conference
Abbreviated titleEWTEC2021
Country/TerritoryUK United Kingdom
CityPlymouth
Period5/09/215/09/21
Internet address

Bibliographical note

Conference is in early September, at which point the proceedings will be formally published.

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Morphing Blades: Theory and Proof of Principles'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this