Flexible blades for tidal turbines

Ignazio Maria Viola; Susan Tully; Jean-Baptiste Richon; Abel Arredondo Galeana; Rowan Muir

Abstract / Description of output

The combination of highly turbulent flow and wave-induced currents within a tidal stream leads to continuous load variations on the blades of tidal turbines and limits their survivability and fatigue endurance. We propose the use of flexible turbine blades to decrease the amplitude of the load fluctuations and thus increase their durability. We developed a numerical model of a turbine blade; we show the extreme flow variations that it experiences and we show that a blade with a flexible trailing edge can result in reduced amplitude load fluctuations. Preliminary results of ongoing complementary experiments have confirmed the predicted trends.

Original language	English
Publication status	Published - 23 Apr 2015
Event	4th Oxford Tidal Energy Workshop - Oxford, United Kingdom Duration: 23 Mar 2015 → 24 Mar 2015

Conference

Conference	4th Oxford Tidal Energy Workshop
Country/Territory	United Kingdom
City	Oxford
Period	23/03/15 → 24/03/15

2 Finished

Flexible-Blades: Flow control to mitigate fatigue load through the use of flexible tidal turbine blades
Viola, I. M., Richon, J., Tully, S., Arredondo, A., Le Mestre, R. & Muir, R.
EPSRC
1/10/14 → 30/06/15
Project: Research
Unsteady hydrodynamics of tidal turbines
Viola, I. M., Tully, S. & Scarlett, G.
1/09/13 → 1/08/18
Project: University Awarded Project Funding

1 Article

Mitigation of Rotor Thrust Fluctuations through Passive Pitch
Dai, W., Broglia, R. & Viola, I. M., Jul 2022, In: Journal of fluids and structures. 112, 103599.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Open Access
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Cite this

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title = "Flexible blades for tidal turbines",

abstract = "The combination of highly turbulent flow and wave-induced currents within a tidal stream leads to continuous load variations on the blades of tidal turbines and limits their survivability and fatigue endurance. We propose the use of flexible turbine blades to decrease the amplitude of the load fluctuations and thus increase their durability. We developed a numerical model of a turbine blade; we show the extreme flow variations that it experiences and we show that a blade with a flexible trailing edge can result in reduced amplitude load fluctuations. Preliminary results of ongoing complementary experiments have confirmed the predicted trends.",

author = "Viola, {Ignazio Maria} and Susan Tully and Jean-Baptiste Richon and {Arredondo Galeana}, Abel and Rowan Muir",

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note = "4th Oxford Tidal Energy Workshop ; Conference date: 23-03-2015 Through 24-03-2015",

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T1 - Flexible blades for tidal turbines

AU - Viola, Ignazio Maria

AU - Tully, Susan

AU - Richon, Jean-Baptiste

AU - Arredondo Galeana, Abel

AU - Muir, Rowan

PY - 2015/4/23

Y1 - 2015/4/23

N2 - The combination of highly turbulent flow and wave-induced currents within a tidal stream leads to continuous load variations on the blades of tidal turbines and limits their survivability and fatigue endurance. We propose the use of flexible turbine blades to decrease the amplitude of the load fluctuations and thus increase their durability. We developed a numerical model of a turbine blade; we show the extreme flow variations that it experiences and we show that a blade with a flexible trailing edge can result in reduced amplitude load fluctuations. Preliminary results of ongoing complementary experiments have confirmed the predicted trends.

AB - The combination of highly turbulent flow and wave-induced currents within a tidal stream leads to continuous load variations on the blades of tidal turbines and limits their survivability and fatigue endurance. We propose the use of flexible turbine blades to decrease the amplitude of the load fluctuations and thus increase their durability. We developed a numerical model of a turbine blade; we show the extreme flow variations that it experiences and we show that a blade with a flexible trailing edge can result in reduced amplitude load fluctuations. Preliminary results of ongoing complementary experiments have confirmed the predicted trends.

M3 - Abstract

T2 - 4th Oxford Tidal Energy Workshop

Y2 - 23 March 2015 through 24 March 2015

ER -

Flexible blades for tidal turbines

Abstract / Description of output

Conference

Fingerprint

Projects

Flexible-Blades: Flow control to mitigate fatigue load through the use of flexible tidal turbine blades

Unsteady hydrodynamics of tidal turbines

Research output

Mitigation of Rotor Thrust Fluctuations through Passive Pitch

Cite this