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Structural Design, Optimisation and Manufacturing of a Composite Wind

Tunnel Axial Fan Blade

Conference Paper · June 2007

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STRUCTURAL DESIGN, OPTIMISATION AND MANUFACTURING OF
A COMPOSITE WIND TUNNEL AXIAL FAN BLADE
Linus Fagerberg1 and Karl-Otto Strömberg2
1
LUTAB, Professor Sten Luthander Ingenjörsbyrå AB
Gävlegatan 22, 113 30 Stockholm, Sweden
e-mail: linus.fagerberg@lutab.se
2
FlexProp
Kilgränd 4, 302 40 Halmstad, Sweden
e-mail: karl-otto.stromberg@flexprop.se

Keywords: Structural Dynamics, Modelling and Optimisation

Abstract: Development in simulation technology deriving from improvements in software as

well as computer resources has widened the arena of practical numerical optimisation.
Optimisation is now a fast and effective method to be used in development of new products.
Traditionally optimisation has only been used in the final stages of the design cycle where the
existing design has limited the possible improvements.

This paper describes how optimisation (using the method of moving asymptotes) was used in
the design of a wind tunnel axial fan blade. This paper includes both the theoretical part of the
design process and the practical explanation of how the blade was manufactured. The wind
tunnel axial fan blade has extreme performance and was built using sandwich techniques,
carbon fibre reinforcements and infusion of epoxy in a rigid mould. The numerical modelling
was performed in ANSYS and included strength as well as stiffness analysis. The ROpt
system from ALFGAM Optimering was used to optimise the face thicknesses in each part of
the blade and minimise the weight of the blade while keeping the desired eigen frequency and
strains.

The use of optimisation is increasing day by day in industry since the gains are so large when
there is a synergy between advanced modelling techniques, optimisation methods and
practical engineering.

1. INTRODUCTION
Axial fans are normally used when large flow and moderate pressure is required which is the
case in wind tunnels. There are several different types of wind tunnels depending on speed
range, particular purpose (such as climate or acoustic testing) in addition to conventional test
for drag. But wind tunnels are of course not a typical axial fan application, especially not if
the wind tunnel is built for full scale testing of vehicles as cars, busses and trucks. In addition
to large dimensions performance is optimised to minimise sound excitation and to enhance
efficiency especially if the wind tunnel is deigned for acoustic tests. Low sound emission is
crucial for accurate measure of sound excitation and it is safe to state that an acoustic wind
tunnel is a demanding application where the blades are crucial for its performance.

An acoustic wind tunnel is normally equipped with a large number of blades (to our
knowledge the largest number of blades yet used in a wind tunnel is 44, see Figure 1) and the
corda of each blade becomes short and the blade will have a long and slender design. To fulfil
all requirements the blades has to be carefully designed and it is necessary to utilise materials

1
with high strength and high specific stiffness as carbon composite materials and it is essential
to optimise the blade performance to ensure minimum sound emission in combination with
best possible efficiency. In designing the blades there is a careful balance of the following:

• the need for high natural frequency

• number of blades
• efficiency
• strength
• geometrical tolerance
• production issues
• impact and toughness
• the attachment to the hub (in itself a delicate design challenge).

Aerodynamic design interact with structural design but the systems available are not fully
integrated due to commercial reasons and continued development of both aerodynamic and
structural design. Structural and aerodynamic design has to be done for each new set of design
criteria. It is easily understood that the process involves acoustic, structural, material and
manufacturing expertise and that several design proposals have to be investigated before
structural response and aerodynamics are acceptable.

The number of tested designs can be quite numerous. It is therefore crucial that geometry and
load data are easily imported into the structural design system. It is to our best knowledge
necessary to make use of structural optimisation in combination with an effective post
processor to keep cost and lead-time at acceptable levels. Structural optimisation is the only
way to ensure, that each set of design parameters is tested thoroughly with reasonable time
and cost.

Figure 1. Acoustic windtunnel, blades manufactured by FlexProp in 1999. The axial fan was
designed by Fläkt Woods [1] who also supplied the picture.

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In this paper we will present how an acoustic wind tunnel turbine blade was designed and
manufactured. We will not only focus on the initial design, dimensioning or manufacturing
but also on the complete chain where optimisation software is one of the key instruments.

2. ORGANISATION
A wind tunnel is a complex and large facility at a price of approximately 100 M€ and
involves numerous people with different expertise. The tunnel itself and particularly the fan
involve expertise from aerodynamics, structures, manufacturing, logistics and composite
materials. It is easily understood that one of the challenges with a complex project as a wind
tunnel is to be able to communicate effectively without misunderstandings. It is also
important to understand that structural response and aerodynamic performance are not
isolated issues; to the contrary it is absolutely necessary that aerodynamic design and
structural design are performed simultaneously. There is an intense negotiation between
aerodynamics and structural response throughout of the whole design process and it is crucial
that in-data and results are distributed in a structured way and format. Structural optimisation,
in combination with ROpt, provides an environment that significantly improves the
possibilities of structured communication and project management. In addition to the
optimisation process in it self the possibility of smooth and effective communication as a
consequence of the chosen method/software is of equal importance. One has also to take in
consideration that is common that the different experts are scattered around the world,
resulting in different language, different culture and different time zones.

The blade serving as the example of this paper was developed in 2005 and the structural
design and manufacturing of the blades were made by ALFGAM Optimering AB [2]
respectively FlexProp AB. During that time one of the authors of this paper, Linus Fagerberg,
was employed by ALFGAM to conduct the optimisation of the blades. This paper is now
written in cooperation of the three companies FlexProp, ALFGAM and LUTAB. LUTAB and
ALFGAM are now cooperating allowing LUTAB to use the ROpt software.

3. PRODUCT AND PRINCIPAL DESIGN

ALFGAM and FlexProp has designed and manufactured axial fan blades for different, but
always demanding, applications since 1995. The very first project was a booster axial fan, of
6 MW, for a power plant in south of Sweden, Karlshamns Kraftvärmeverk. The development
started due to the need for a fan that could work in an environment with a significant amount
of sulpharic acid. ALFGAM and FlexProp has since then designed and manufactured a
significant amount of axial fan blades with an excellent track record. There have not been any
problems due to manufacturing or design failure in contrary the robustness of the blades has
minimised the damages due to other causes as things left behind like tools, computers and
other debris and in one occasion a broken blade hub. One of the blades was loose but still in
position and due to the robust design and low weight of the blade the damage was kept to a
minimum. The wind tunnel was stopped for 8 days while the blade was repaired at FlexProp,
the stop include a shipment USA – Sweden back and forth.

The large experience of fan blade design and manufacturing techniques collected throughout
the years has condensed to a well-proven principal design which are used and tailored to the
specific need of each individual application or wind tunnel. The principal design can be
divided into the following subsections and are explained in the bulleted list below.

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 • A blade foot reinforcement of steel allowing a pre-stressed bolted joint without
compression of the composite ultimately risking of relaxation of the joint
• A core of PVC foam which is milled to the exact shape to fit in the mould with just
enough room for the composite face sheets
• Pre manufactured composite reinforcements in the blade foot and blade tip which
increase the toughness of the blade foot and allow for small adjustment of the blade
length to compensate for manufacturing tolerances of the hub and tunnel diameter
• A supporting beam-like layup of UD fabrics supplying bending stiffness to the blade.
• A thin shell of quasi-isotropic layup giving torsion stiffness to the blade
• A reinforcement at the leading edge of the blade increasing impact resistance.

The interface in-between the hub and the blade is basically a flange attachment, bolted to the
hub by four bolts. The bolts are pre-stressed and were designed so that they have to be
supported by metallic material. This was done to avoid the challenge to have to predict long
term creep properties in the composite materials. The radius in-between the blade and the
blade foot are fairly sharp due to aerodynamic criteria. The stresses due to lifting force and
centrifugal loads have to be transmitted into the bolts. The design challenge is to avoid
unnecessary inter-laminar stresses, especially in the sharp radius in-between the blade and the
blade hub. By introducing a specially designed steel reinforcement both inter-laminar stresses
and creep stresses were avoided, see Figure 2.

Figure 2. Lower part of the blade during dressing Figure 3. Dressed blade in mould prior to the top
of the UD fibres. The internal steel blade foot half of the mould is assembled.
is visible.

The blade geometry tolerance has to be taken into consideration in the principal design phase.
Laminate structure, choice of material and principal design has to be evaluated from a
tolerance perspective. The demand is high for accurate results in order to fulfil several design
criteria. It is not unusual with demands for design accuracy to be within +/-3% and a
manufacturing tolerance in between +/-2%. Resonance between the blade and the tunnel

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would immediately result into unacceptable sound excitation in addition to possible structural
problems. There were several frequencies in the tunnel that had to be avoided ensuring that
there would not be any resonance and the blades were designed to have as high natural
frequency as possible but still within a narrow span. To be able to predict performance within
such accuracy, it has been necessary to refine material data, based on previous designs. The
eigen frequencies have corresponding eigen modes.

For this slender cantilever structure the dominating modes are different types of bending and
twisting. To control the bending modes of the blade a broad band of UD fabrics were dressed
along the length of the blade going from root to tip, see Figure 2. The thickness of this beam-
like support of the blade can then be tailored to achieve the desired eigenfrequencies with
respect to bending modes. The completed blade is covered with a thin mat of near quasi-
isotropic layup and the thickness of this layer is designed so the twisting eigen modes are
controlled.

A wind tunnel is an instrument used for accurate measurement of drags and sound excitation
and is normally handled with the utmost care. But once in a while things are left behind in the
tunnel during maintenance or test assembly that cause significant damage due to the high
blade velocity when the tunnel is running. It is necessary that the blades are robust and
especially the leading edge of the blades needs to be designed to resist impact. To increase the
impact resistance of the leading edge of the blades extra layers of the quasi-isotropic fabric is
added to the exposed region increasing its toughness.

4. MATERIAL
From previous experience on building fan blades it was decided to use the following well-
proven materials. Face sheets on the fan blade where made of carbon fibre reinforced epoxy.
The core is manufactured from PVC foam and the load bearing blade foot is made of steel.

Carbon fibre is required in the face sheets to meet the high demands on eigen frequencies.
There are several proven and commercially available fibres with high stiffness and strength
that can be used from TORAYCA [3] or some other fibre manufacturer supplying fibres with
equivalent properties. Fibres with higher modulus where investigated but the commercial
available fibre were found to be the best alternative during dimensioning of the blades.
Suppliers like Devold [4], Sigmatex [5] and SEAL [6] are all able to provide such fibre in the
formats necessary. The matrix in the face sheets is a cold-cured epoxy-based system. The
fibres were ordered with the appropriate sizing to insure the quality of the manufacturing
process. Good cold-curing epoxy based systems can be supplied by for example Huntsman
[7].

The core material is relatively lightweight and has good material properties. It has been used
by FlexProp in several fan blades and there are well-proven manufacturing techniques
available. The constraints on the core (which decides its minimum density) is most often not
mechanical coming from the loading conditions of the blade but linked to manufacturing
issues. It is simply not possible to mill a too lightweight core to the designed shape within the
necessary tolerances. Suitable PVC foam cores are available from for example the Diabgroup
[8].

The steel used in the blade foot is of extra high strength quality with a high yield strength of
approximately 700 MPa. This is needed to withstand the fatigue loading and to be able to

5
resist the high stresses arising in the blade foot. Steels of appropriate quality are delivered by
several manufacturers, for example SSAB Oxelösund [9].

5. MANUFACTURING TECHNIQUES
The choice of manufacturing method is very much driven by the chosen principal design in
combination with the demand for accurate geometrical tolerances. A resin transfer moulding
(RTM) process was chosen considering the combination of demands for material properties,
laminate structure, previous experience, structural and geometrical tolerances. Figure 3 show
the dressed blade in the mould prior to the top half of the mould is assembled. The mould is
manufactured from aluminium and has integrated water piping and instrumentation to control
the temperature throughout the entire process.

By using the RTM technique it is possible to combine different fibre materials, use intricate
fibre layup and create a solid, rigid structure with predictable and repeatable properties. It is
still a challenge to use a minimum of tests to stabilise the process parameters and it requires
significant experience.

6. ROPT METHODOLOGY AND SOFTWARE

When a ROpt optimisation is to be performed the first step is to decide:

• What is to be analysed
• What kind of variables are available in the design
• What are the constraints and objective function of the problem

This is probably one of the most important steps in the optimisation process and one which
highly governs the results. Strictly the optimised solution is only optimal within its available
design space. It is virtually always possible to enhance an optimised design by increasing the
number of variables or releasing one of the active constrains.

The principal methods of structural optimisation is often roughly divided into three different
groups; topology, shape and property optimisation. The ROpt software is focusing on shape
and property branches and has no topology optimisation engine. Topology optimisation is
mostly used early in the design process to develop the concept of the design. Once the
preliminary design is established it is easier to use shape or property optimisation to enhance
the performance.

The Rapid Optimisation (ROpt) software is developed by ALFGAM and its history goes back
to the 1980’s when Dan Holm developed the OASIS/ALADDIN and XOpt software during
his Ph.D. work at the Department of Aeronautics at The Royal Institute of Technology
(KTH). In its early versions the software also included a finite element solver BASIS and the
optimisation routine worked directly on the stiffness matrix of the problem. This approach is
still used by some optimisation software available today. The current version of ROpt does
not include a FE solver but can be tailored to work with any commercially available solver,
FE, MBD or CFD. Different solvers and combination of software can be used in the same
optimisation with ROpt. Any analytical evaluation programme working with input files and
able to run a batch process can be linked to ROpt. This versatility is one of the key benefits of
the ROpt approach and makes it suitable to a large range of problems.

6
The central optimisation routine is based on the method of moving asymptotes, MMA,
developed by Krister Svanberg, KTH [10]. Svanberg still develops parts of the code in the
ROpt software. Simplified, it can be said that the MMA routine uses an approximation of the
optimisation problem based on gradients. That is, first an initial solution is evaluated and
thereafter a disturbed system is solved. The effect of the disturbed variable gives effects on
the objective function and constraints. After all variables are evaluated the MMA core can
evaluate the response and calculate the next step of the optimisation. Naturally there is more
to the system than this simplification gives at hand but it is a simple and straightforward
description.

The ROpt system has through its development been available to researchers and Ph.D.
students in Sweden and several publications have benefited from the software. This enhance
the development of ROpt and the core of the software has for example been used in so vastly
different applications as optimising the shape of the bulb of a ship in the paper by J.J.
Maisonnevue, S. Harries et. al. [11], and designing car interior head impact zones presented in
R. Juntikka [12].

7. OPTIMISATION CASE
In the current case a 3D CAD geometry was supplied from the customer together with loading
conditions to be used for the design of the fan blade. The geometry of the actual blade was
somewhat simplified and prepared for the analysis. This was achieved by removing the front
and tail radius of the blade and hence creates a clean-cut geometry. The foot of the blade as
depicted in the CAD file, see Figure 4, were not dimensioned with respect to the loading and
were to be seen only as an outer shape of the foot with an inner load bearing structure.
Therefore the blade foot was removed and replaced with the load bearing inner structure.

Figure 4. 3D CAD model showing the blade foot with three bolt holes on each side of the blade.

It was also believed to be possible to design the foot with four bolts instead of six which
would facilitate a better connection between the carbon fibre shells and the blade foot. The
decision to move from six to four bolts was taken together with FlexProp. The two cross
directional beams are connected with an additional beam forming a shape similar to an H.

All finite element (FE) calculations have been performed in ANSYS [13] and the optimisation
work and parametric studies has been performed in ROpt. In the FE model, the entire
enclosed blade volume has been modelled with 20 node brick solid elements. The material

7
properties for the core material are assigned to all elements except those in the structural blade
foot where steel is used. As already stated, the geometry of the blade was carefully prepared
for the calculations by removing the radius at the leading and trailing edge of the blade. The
modification does not affect the structural response of the blade. Only the load bearing steel
part of the blade foot was included in the analysis (not the shape foot). The carbon fibre
laminates were modelled using 8 node layered shell elements where the elements were
mapped into the meshed volume using node translations. This was necessary to achieve the
correct bending stiffness of the fan blade. This modelling implies that the materials overlay
each other and to make sure that the correct weight was calculated the density of the carbon
fibre laminate was reduced with the density of the core material. All elements have quadratic
shape displacement function (20 and 8 nodes) and the mesh is nicely mapped, see Figure 5.

Figure 5. FE model with mapped mesh. Figure 6. Pressure distribution along the fan blade.

The load case description delivered was supplied in the form of an excel spread sheet. The
two loads addressed during the structural design are the centrifugal load (from the high-speed
rotation) and the pressure at the sides of the blade coming from the surrounding air. The
pressure distribution was supplied as line-loads applied in two perpendicular directions, one
along the rotational axis of the fan (parallel to the shaft) and one tangential to the rotation
direction of the fan blade. The axial force can be compared to the “lift” force on an aeroplane
wing and the tangential force to the “drag” of the wing.

To incorporate the pressure distribution into the finite element calculations the line-loads
where recalculated into directed pressures. Using ROpt it is a quite simple task to apply the
correct pressure distribution to the fan blade once it is known. The projected pressures are
calculated from the excel spreadsheet line-loads and calibrated against the known reaction
forces. The pressure distribution is shown in Figure 6. The rotational velocity gives, in
combination with correct densities and geometric representation, the correct centrifugal force.

The boundary conditions (BC) on the blade foot are applied by assigning a rigid connection
between all nodes at the surfaces of the bolt holes with a node at the global origin. The node
at the global origin is locked in all translations and rotations. This type of BC gives high
stresses close to the edges of the bolt holes but makes the analysis of the fan blade easier and
simplifies the comparison between the FE reaction forces with those supplied. The principle
of the BC’s is shown in Figure 7.

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 Figure 7. Boundary conditions on the FE model. Figure 8. Structural blade foot with web plates.
The BC are also visible.

To strengthen the transition from steel blade foot to the actual blade a few web plates are
implemented in the structure, see Figure 8. The figure also clearly show the H shaped load
bearing internal foot with the four bolt holes.

Before the optimisation of the fan blade, the objective function was formulated as to minimise
the weight of the fan blade. The optimisation constraints are formulated based on the eigen
frequencies and the strains in the different parts of the blade. Both objective function and
optimisation constraints where coupled to the FE model using ROpt.

Figure 9. Area divisions in the FE model.

Ten different design variables where included in the optimisation procedure. They control the
different layer thicknesses and the length of the web plates. The shell elements in the FE
model were divided into several areas. In each area the thickness of each layer is controlled to
achieve a high degree of optimisation of the shell. All area sections are shown in Figure 9.
Each area in the shell was assigned a design variable controlling its thickness. In an initial
optimisation run the variables were considered continuous and that makes the optimisation
routine using MMA run smoother. After the initial run an additional optimisation run was
performed using the found optimal solution as the starting point for a similar optimisation but

9
with the variables discrete allowing each area of the blade skin to be a multiple of the
available mat thickness of 0.4 mm.

In the design stage, the fan blade should not only be designed for structural strength but also
for the eigen frequency. The lowest accepted eigen frequency should be 38 Hz. Therefore it
was decided to design the fan blade with lowest eigen-frequency at 41 Hz as the design goal
to ensure a tolerance margin. This allow for any possible deviations in manufacturing and
materials.

The structural requirements on the blades are that they should also be designed considering
fatigue limits, and not only ultimate load. Therefore the strains in the carbon fibre laminates is
to be less than one third of the ultimate yield strain of the carbon fibre and the stresses in the
structural steel foot should be less than 300 MPa value based on infinite life for the material.
Based on experience, the demand on the high eigen frequency is dominant in this type of
application.

Figure 10. The first four eigen modes of the optimised blade.

The optimised blade had a lowest eigen frequency of 41.75 Hz. The extra 0.75 Hz is due to
the fact that the variables were discrete. Figure 10 show the first four eigen modes of the
optimised blade.

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8. RESULT
The wind tunnel fulfils the customer’s expectations and the blades have been in service for
approximately one year and perform as predicted. Before the blades were approved each
blade was checked regarding weight and eigenfrequency. Geometry was checked against the
mould.

The blade consists of 10 different parts and the nominal calculated weight is 20 252 gr. The
steel reinforcement in the blade foot is dominates and represents almost 50% of the total
weight, see Figure 10. The core, carbon fibre and matrix system represent approximately 15%
each of the total weight. The average weight of all 16 blades were 20 111 grams with a
standard deviation of 0.6%. The predicted weight deviated from the average weight within
0.7%.

Core
Blade foot
Carbon fiber
Matrix system
Webb
Miscellaneous

Figure 11. Weight distribution of blade components. The miscellaneous Figure 12. Blade during eigen
part comprises the solid top, a few pipes used for manufacturing and frequency testing in static (non
staples used when dressing the blade. rotational) conditions.

To be able to evaluate the eigenfrequency the blade has to be measured in static conditions,
attached to a solid support, see Figure 12. If the effect of centrifugal forces was excluded from
the numerical analyse and blade tip reinforcement was included the first resonance frequency
was predicted to be 36.83 Hz.

The first resonance frequency was measured and showed an mean first resonance frequency
of 37.3 Hz with an standard deviation of 0.5% which correlates to 40.28 Hz in service.
The minimum allowed first resonance frequency was 38 Hz in service which was achieved for
all 16 blades. The lowest measured frequency was 37.2 which correlate to 40.18 Hz in
service. The accuracy in the prediction was within 1.7 %.

The accuracy in the numerical analyse is significant and is achieved due to a wide experience
from similar projects, normally an accuracy within 2% is regarded as good and an accuracy
within 5% acceptable.

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The weight is significantly easier to predict than the structural response and there are a
potential to increase the accuracy especially on the core. Both density and volume on the core
deviated more that expected.

9. DISCUSSION
Structural optimisation is a powerful instrument to develop any product where performance is
essential for the success of the development process. To minimise cost and lead time it is
important that any pre-processor/post-processor used is effective to allow the project to take
advantage of the optimisation results without adding to much cost and time to the project for
each new principal design. The beauty of the structural optimisation system is the possibility
to evaluate a large number of different principal designs but an ineffective pre-
processor/postprocessor significantly reduces this advantage.

The optimisation process in it self is structured and require that all involved expertises relate
to this structure. This is normally no problem as it is easily understood by all participants in
the project that the system requires structured input and delivers structured results. This fact
speeds up communication quite significantly and all results become easily traceable and
understood by all participants. The structural optimisation system becomes the platform for
the discussions and enhances the dialogue and engagement from all project participants. To us
who have used both conventional FEM system and structural optimisation system it is
obvious that there are significant benefits to use a structured optimisation system from a
project management perspective.

10. CONCLUSIONS
It is shown throughout of several years of experience that the design and manufacturing
methods used ensure a robust and high quality product. It is also shown that each design is
well optimised within the chosen principal design; each design is as good as it possibly can be
within the restrictions each principal design has. There are different principal designs on the
market but there are few if any designs that can show such track record of robustness and
quality. The results have been achieved by constantly refining the principal design, design
methods, material and production methods.

Using structural optimisation has been a very important factor of the success, both
considering project management and design quality. Using structural optimisation has also
enhanced the development process as each run covers a vide variety of possibilities and the
learning process is quite much faster compared to conventional methods. This also means that
the knowledge base grows rapidly for each new project.

For FlexProp, as a manufacturer, it is quite obvious that structural optimisation is a very

powerful system and it provides several benefits compared to conventional methods. The
benefits could be concluded in the following three points.

• It is clear that the designs are of far better quality compared to the experience the
involved companies have from projects where structural optimisation was not used.
• The optimisation system used provides a structured process that is of great
importance from a project management perspective.
• The learning process using structural optimisation is faster compared to conventional
methods which is important to the development process in a wider perspective.

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 11. REFERENCES
[1] Fläkt Woods AB, Kvarnvägen, 351 87 VÄXJÖ, Sweden, http://www.flaktwoods.com.
[2] ALFGAM Optimering AB, Antennvägen 10, 135 48 TYRESÖ, Sweden,
http://www.alfgam.se.
[3] TORAYCA, Torayca Carbon Fiber, http://www.torayca.com.
[4] Devold AMT AS, N-6030 Langevåg, Norway, http://www.amt.no.
[5] Sigmatex UK Limited, Fairoak Lane, Whitehouse Ind. Est., Runcom, Cheshire, WA7
3DU, United Kingdom, http://www.sigmatex.com.
[6] SEAL, 247 Route 100, Somers, NY 10589, USA, http://www.saatiamericas.com.
[7] Huntsman, 500 Huntsman Way, Salt Lake City, Utah 84108, USA,
http://www.huntsman.com.
[8] Divinycell International AB, Box 201, SE-312 22 Laholm, Sweden,
http://www.diabgroup.com.
[9] SSAB Oxelösund, 613 80 Oxelösund, Sweden, http://www.ssabox.com.
[10] Svanberg, K., MMA - Method of Moving Asymptotes - A New Method for Structural
Optimization, Int Jour. for Num. Methods in Engineering, Vol. 24, 359-373, 1987.
[11] J.J. Maisonneuve, S. Harries, J. Marzi, H.C. Raven, U. Viaviani, H. Pippo, Towards
Optimal Design of Ship Hull Shapes, IMDC’03, Athens, May 2003.
[12] R. Juntikka, ”Energy absorbing material concepts for automotive accident injury
prevention”, ISBN 91-7283-843-4, Doctoral Thesis, KTH Aeronautical and Vehicle
Engineering, 2004.
[13] ANSYS Inc., ANSYS Release 11.0 Documentation, Southpointe, 275 Technology
Drive, Canonsburg, PA 15317, U.S.A, http://www.ansys.com.

12. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Dan Holm, ALFGAM Optimering AB and Magnus Plantin, FlexProp AB, have both
contributed significant to the presented results. Both Dan and Magnus have taken an active
part in the development of manufacturing technology and design methodology of wind tunnel
blades for more than 10 years.

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