Passive load control for large wind turbines.
Wind energy research activities at Sandia National Laboratories focus on developing large rotors that are lighter and more cost-effective than those designed with current technologies. Because gravity scales as the cube of the blade length, gravity loads become a constraining design factor for very large blades. Efforts to passively reduce turbulent loading has shown significant potential to reduce blade weight and capture more energy. Research in passive load reduction for wind turbines began at Sandia in the late 1990's and has moved from analytical studies to blade applications. This paper discusses the test results of two Sandia prototype research blades that incorporate load reduction techniques. The TX-100 is a 9-m long blade that induces bend-twist coupling with the use of off-axis carbon in the skin. The STAR blade is a 27-m long blade that induces bend-twist coupling by sweeping the blade in a geometric fashion.
- Research Organization:
- Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), Albuquerque, NM, and Livermore, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC04-94AL85000
- OSTI ID:
- 1014619
- Report Number(s):
- SAND2010-3276C; TRN: US201111%%46
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Proposed for presentation at the AIAA-SDM Conference held April 11-14, 2010 in Orlando, FL.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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