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Preliminary Study on a Fabric-Covered Wind Turbine

Blade

Jae-Sung Bae Dong-Guk Choi

School of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering School of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
Korea Aerospace University Korea Aerospace University
Goyang-city, Korea Goyang-city, Korea
Jsbae@kau.ac.kr codnkk@naver.com

Soo-Yong Lee Cheol Yoo

School of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering Wind Energy Laboratory
Korea Aerospace University Korea Institute of Energy Research
Goyang-city, Korea Jeju-si, Korea
leesy@kau.ac.kr C.Yoo@kier.re.kr

Dae-jin Kim
Wind Energy Laboratory
Korea Institute of Energy Research
Jeju-si, Korea
djk@kier.re.kr

Abstract— The present study introduces a fabric-covered
wind turbine blade design technology. The fabric-covered wind
turbine blade is composed of metal or composite spars, ribs, and
covering fabrics. In the present study its feasibility has been
investigated by comparing the structural properties of the blade
sections with those of the references. These properties are
calculated by VABS which implements a nonlinear 3D beam in to
a 2D cross sectional analysis and a 1D nonlinear beam analysis.
Keywords— Wind Energy, Wind Turbine, Balde, Fabric-
convered blade, VABS
proposed rib-spar-fabric structure of the WT blade is similar to
the truss-skin structure of the aircraft wing in World War I. The
feasibility study is performed to develop the new technology of
a fabric-covered WT blade for future wind energy. The
structural properties of the proposed rib-spar structure are
calculated by using VABS (Variational Asymptotic Beam
Sectional Analysis). These are compared to the reference’s
values to verify the possibility of the proposed technology.
II. STRUCTURAL PROPERTY ESTIMATIONS USING VABS

I. INTRODUCTION A. VABS (Variational Asymptotic Beam Sectional analysis)

VABS is a computer program implementing the various
For several decade wind turbine (WT) blades become
beam theories based on the concept of simplifying the original
bigger than bigger but conventional WT blade designs have
nonlinear 3D analysis of slender structures into a 2D cross-
still used fiberglass. Though fiberglass is cheaper than
sectional analysis and a 1D nonlinear beam analysis using a
advanced materials it is heavy and its manufacturing process is
powerful mathematical method which is called as the
extremely hands-on time intensive. This conventional design
variational asymptotic method. VABS takes a finite element
may not be good for the development of advanced WT blades.
mesh of the cross section including all the details of geometry
A new approach to design, manufacture, and install WT blades
and material as inputs to calculate the cross-sectional properties.
will be necessary in the near future. The use of architectural
It can perform a classical analysis for composite beam with
fabrics could change the conventional design of the WT blades
arbitrary layup angles such as Fig. 2 [2]. VABS has been used
[1]. This new blade design concept could reduce the
for the structural analysis and design of composite wings,
manufacturing costs of very large blade manufacturing 25% to
helicopter rotor blades, and WT blades [3-6] and it can
40%. This reduction makes wind energy as economical as
calculates the cross-sectional properties of wing, rotor blade,
fossil fuels.
and WT blade.
The present study introduces a fabric-covered WT blade
technology which is composed of metal or composite spar-rib
structures and covering fabrics as show in Fig. 1. This

978-1-4799-9982-8/15/$31.00 ©2015 IEEE

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Fig. 1. Fabric-covered WT blade [1]

Fig. 3. Property calculation process flow

where P is mass per unit length, xm2 and xm3 are the location of
mass center. i22 and i33 are the mass moments of inertia for each
x2 and x3 axes, and i23 is the product of inertia.
The stiffness matrix is arranged as (2) when the tension
center is not aligned with the principal bending axes. In case of
the tension center aligned with the principal bending axes, Sa
and EI23 become zero.

Fig. 2. Example of VABS layup convention [2]

B. Structural Property Calculation Process of WT Blade

VABS calculates cross-sectional properties such as EI2, EI3, 
EA, GJ, and mass density. Figure 3 shows a process flow for
calculation of cross-sectional properties.
SD (xD!
x Design cross-section of a WT blade.
x Generate mesh for cross-section. (, (xx!
x Input material properties and required information, such
as layup angle and applied materials, at all the mesh
elements. The data have to make VABS input file
format.
x Run VABS and check the result.
VABS’s results include the cross-sectional mass matrix,
and stiffness matrices. The mass matrix is arranged as (1).
˜! ³³˜dxdx
VABS results are verified to compare the cross-section
properties of WT blade with those of NASTRAN results. The
composite beam has a cross-section such as circular tube as
shown in Fig. 4. A force of 1 N is applied at the end of beam.
Material used in the verification is carbon unidirectional
material (T300-5208) [7]. Layup pattern of the composite is
[0/r45/90]s and tube radius R is 50mm. The numerical results
were presented in Table I. The beam tip deflections by using
NASTRAN and VABS are 1.64E-5 mm and 1.725E-5 mm,
respectively. Error between those of NASTRAN and VABS is
5.4%. These results show that the results of VABS are in good
agreement with those of NASTRAN.


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Fig. 4. Composite tube with circurlar cross section
TABLE I. COMPARSION OF VABS AND NASTAN
Tip Deflection
(mm)
VABS 1.725E-5
NASTAN 1.636E-5
Error (%) 5.4
III. NUMERICAL RESULTS
A. Benchmark Model
The NREL 5MW baseline wind turbine model [9] was used
to apply the proposed design concept. This NREL WT model
has been studied and performed the structural analysis and
design [10, 11. The length and weight of the reference wind
turbine are 61.5 m and 17,740 kg, respectively. The number of
the blade cross-section shape is eight including two cylinder
shapes. Distributed cross-sectional properties of the blade are
given in Ref. [9]. The details of the blade configurations such
as blade geometry and airfoil type were referred to Refs. [8, 9,
11].
B. Structural Design of Blade
Conventional WT blade structure is composed of composite
shear web, composite spar cap, and honeycomb skin. These
composite shear web and spar cap compose a box beam.
The proposed fabric-covered blade is composed of spars,
ribs, and fabric skin similar to aircraft wing used in World War
II [12]. It was assumed that spars would take charge of almost
load and fabric skin and rib are parts to keep aerodynamic
configuration. To increase stiffness of blade, spar can be
composed of C-spar, main spar, and rear spar. Spar thickness
and location are determined to design the blade cross section.
When composite materials are used, lay-up patterns must be
determined.
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Fig. 5. NASTRAN analysis result
Fig. 6. Preliminary design of fabric-coverd blade
C. Results and Discussion
Fig. 6 shows the configuration of the preliminary designed
fabric-covered blade. Spars and ribs are assembled into the
main structure of the blade in Fig. 6. Fig. 7 and Fig. 8 show the
cross sections of the fabric-covered blade at R = 11.75 m and R
= 61.63 m, respectively. Main spar has two webs, upper flange,
and lower flange. A distance L between the two webs is same
at root and tip. The height of web decreases along blade length.
Rear spar is used to increase the edgewise stiffness and
torsional stiffness at root. Main spar and uniform thickness skin
are composed of C-spar to increase the torsional stiffness.
Materials used in the present analysis are carbon UD
(T300/5208) and aluminum alloy. To compatibility with the
reference wind turbine, it is assumed that the proposed blade
has the same structural and cross-sectional properties at root.
The cross-sectional properties of the blade were calculated
from 11.75m to tip.
Figs. 9 to 13 shows the calculated cross-sectional properties
of flapwise, edgewise, torsional, and extensional stiffness
throughout the blade length. In these calculations, ribs and
fabric skins were not considered. The flapwise and edgewise
stiffness of the proposed blade are compared to those of the
reference blade. For both carbon and aluminum alloy the
flapwise, edgewise, torsional, and extensional stiffness are
similar to those of the reference blade but the mass density is
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significantly lower than the reference blade. The total blade

spar mass can estimate by integral of mass density throughout
the blade length. The mass of the proposed carbon UD blade
spar without root area is estimated by 47.7% of the reference
blade. For aluminum alloy the mass is estimated to 61.4%.
When including root parts the masses for carbon UD and AL
alloy are estimated by 66.8% and 75.5%, respectively. Ribs
and fabric skin weights are expect to less than 6% of the
reference blade. Therefore, it can be concluded that the fabric-
covered blade structure can reduce the blade weight over 30%.
IV. CONCLUSION
The present study introduces the fabric-covered WT blade
design technology which could reduce the weight of the blade
significantly. The cross-sectional properties of the proposed
blade are calculated by using VABS and compared to those of
the reference blade. The numerical results show that the
proposed blade design could reduce the blade weight over 30%
compared to the reference blade although the present design
step is preliminary.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This work was supported by the New & Renewable Energy
Core Technology Program of the Korea Institute of Energy
Technology Evaluation and Planning (KETEP) granted
financial resource from the Ministry of Trade, Industry &
Energy, Republic of Korea (No. 20143030021130).
REFERENCES
[1] http://www.thevoltreport.com/fabric-wind-turbine-blades-for-the-new-
new-renewable-power/ .
[2] Wenbin Yu, “VABS Manual for Users,” February 2013.
[3] Peretz P. Friedmann, Bryan Glaz, Rafael Palacios, “A moderate
deflection composite helicopter rotor blade model with an improved
cross-sectional analysis,” International Journal of Solids and Structures,
Vol 46, pp. 2186-2200, May 2009.
[4] Hui Chen, Wenbin Yu, Mark Capellaro, “A critical assessment of
computer tools for calculating composite wind turbine blade properties,”
Wind Energy, Vol 13, pp. 497-516, December 2009.
[5] Uttam Kumar Chakravarty, “SectionBuilder: An innovative finite
elemen tool for analysis and design of composite rotor blade cross-
sections,” Composite Structures, Vol 92, pp.284-294, January 2010.
[6] Reza Koohi, Hossein Shahverdi, Hassan Haddadpour, “Nonlinear
aeroelastic analysis of a composite wing by finite element method,”
Composite Structures, Vol 113, pp.118-126, July 2014.
[7] Carl T. Herakovich, Mechanics of Fibrous Composites, John Wiley &
Song, Inc., New York, 1998.
[8] H. J. T. Kooijman,C. Lindenburg, D. Winkelaar, and E. L.van der Hooft,
“DOWEC 6MW Pre-Design: Aero-elastic modelling of the DOWEC
6MW pre-desogn in PHATAS,” DOWEC-F1W2-HJK-01-046/9 pubilc
version, September 2003.
[9] J. Jonkman, S. Butterfield, W. Musial, and G. Scott, “Definition of a 5-
MW reference wind turbine for offshore system develoment,” National
Renewable Energy Laboratory:NREL/TP-500-38060, February 2009.
[10] Federico Ghedin, “Structural design of a 5 MW wind turbine blade
equipped with boundary layer suction technology: Analysis and lay-up
optimisation a promising technongy,” Master’s Thesis, Eindhoven
University of Technology, September 2010.
[11] Brian R. Resor, “Definition of a 5MW/61.5m Wind Turbine Blade
Reference Model,” Sandia National Laboratories:SAND2013-2569,
April 2013.
[12] Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Aviation Maintenance
Technician Handbook-Airframe, U.S. Department of Transportation,
Vol 1, 2012.

9
x 10 Flapwise Stiffness
5
AL Alloy
4.5 Carbon UD
ref
4

3.5
Flapwise Stiffness (N-m2)

2.5

1.5

1
Fig. 7. Blade cross-section at R=11.75 m, chord=4.557 m
0.5

0
10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Blade Span (m)

Fig. 9. Distributed flapwise stiffness

Fig. 8. Blade cross-section at R=61.6333 m, chord=1.419 m

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9
x 10 Edgewise Stiffness 9
Extensional Stiffness (EA)
8 x 10
12
AL Alloy AL Alloy
7 Carbon UD Carbon UD
ref 10 ref
6
Edgewise Stiffness (N-m2)

Extensional Stiffness (N)

8
5

4 6

3
4
2

2
1

0 0
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Blade Span (m) Blade Span (m)

Fig. 10. Distributed edgewise stiffness Fig. 12. Distributed extensional stiffness

8
Torsional Stiffness (GJ) Mass Density
x 10 450
9
AL Alloy AL Alloy
8 Carbon UD 400 Carbon UD
ref ref
7 350
Torsional Stiffness (N-m2)

6 300
Mass Density (kg/m)

5 250

4 200

3 150

2 100

1 50

0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Blade Span (m)
Blade Span (m)

Fig. 11. Distributed torsional stiffness Fig. 13. Distributed mass density

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