jacques nader - large wind turbine blade design challenges and r&d needs

siemens.com/answersUnrestricted © Siemens AG 2016 All rights reserved.

Large Wind turbine blade design challenges and R&D NeedsJacques Nader - Siemens Wind Power

Unrestricted © Siemens AG 2016 All rights reserved.

Outline

q Introduction

q Historic overview

q Trends in blade design

q Future challenges

q Long term outlook


Wind Power and Renewables DivisionFacts at a glance

One of the world’s leading suppliers of wind power solutions

Acquired Danish wind turbine manufacturer Bonus Energy A/S in 2004

Installed Base: > 17,400 turbines with ~ 34 GW capacity

Installed in FY 2015: > 1,970 turbines with > 5.6 GW capacity

~12,800 employees globally incl. Wind Service

Siemens Wind Power facts


Onshore Wind – Siemens with considerable experience and track record of installed projects

ON installed base as of June 2016: >26 GW

20161980

1979: 2 x 22 kW (10.2m)Vindeby, Denmark

1998: 17 x 1.0-54Wilsikow, Germany

2009: 62 x 2.3-82Wellington, New Zealand

2011: 3 x 3.0-101Lejbølle, Denmark

Installed base

201020001990

First project First 1MW turbines First Commercial DDFirst project w/o subsidies

Cumulated Siemens onshore installations (GW)


Offshore Wind – Leading player with >7,3 GW installed base in strongest growing market

1991: 5 MW Vindeby, DK

2000: 40 MW Middelgrunden, DK

2011: 630 MWLondon Array, UK

First project MW turbines Master Agreement

2012: 1.8 GW DONG Master Agreement

GW project

202020151990

450 kW(ø35m)

(8 MW(ø154m)

Cumulated Siemens offshore installations (GW)

OF installed base as of June 2016: >7,3 GW

Installed base


Wind Turbine Blade R&D Competence Center in Boulder, Colorado

• Established in 2008

• Currently 30 full-time engineers

• Will be 45 by end of this year

• Rotor research, design and technology

• 30% PhD & 70% Masters

• Investing in American engineering

NISTNOAA

UCAR

NCAR

SWP

CU

Boulder

Attractive Location for Top Talent:

• Forbes: “Boulder Tops List of America’s Smartest Cities”

• Money: “Louisville Best Places to Live”


SWP 8.0-154 with 75 m bladesOne of the world’s largest fiberglass component cast in one piece

• 75 m long blades and a rotor diameter of 154 m.

• Blade weight of 25 tons equal to 16 mid-sized cars.

• The rotors swept area is equivalent to 2½ soccer fields.


Fundamental changes in shape and design30 years of blade development scaled to the same size

5 m blade from Bonus 27 kW

B75 m blade for SWT 8.0 MW

We have come a long way…


Fundamental changes in shape and design30 years of blade development scaled to the same size

5 m blade from Bonus 27 kW

B75 m blade for SWT 8.0-154

Two blades scaled to same size

• Profiles changed from 1930s aircraft types to modern custom-made types

• Solidity changed from ~10% to much less than 5%

• A75 m scaled version of the 27KW blade would weight over 50 Tones


PAST achievements: Aerodynamic shape designG2 Planform: from B45 to B59Designed 10 years apart

Dinoshell®

Dinotail®Flatback airfoils

Aeroelastic tailored blade

Pre-bend

Sweep

45 m blade

59 m blade

SWT-2.3-93

SWT-2.3-120

Stiff blade

Vortex Generators

High thickness airfoils


Add-ons: simple designed kits providing AEP increase, support the blade aerodynamics, reduce the blade soiling and noise emission.

.

Dinoshells®

Lift enhancing device applied at the root section of the blade

Vortex Generators

Vortex generators (VGs) are used from root to tip to increase aerodynamic performance and reduce impact of blade soiling

Dinotail®

A device applied at the trailing edge to reduce trailing edge sound emissions.

• Add-on are used to reduce noise, increase AEP and robustness

• Very popular and widely used

• Add-on can be included in the design from the beginning


IPC technology is to blades what is used to control a helicopter –rotor imbalance is reduced!

ATB technology is to blades what shock absorption is to a car – turbulent loads are reduced!

Tends in Loads & Controls intelligenceLoad reduction techniques

Pitc

hFl

ap M

omen

t

----- Baseline----- IPC

“IPC primarily compensates for 1P load imbalances (e.g. shear) resulting in lower fatigue loads”

Angle = 2.9 deg

200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800 2000

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

“ATB passively compensates for gust loads resulting in lower fatigue loads”

q Aero-elastic Tailored Blade (ATB)

q Individual Pitch Control (IPC)

q Real Time Condition Monitoring

q Active flaps


Tip deflection challenge Trade-Offs: Material vs Shape

Airfoil thickness

Spar cap thickness Spar cap width Material stiffness

∆∝𝑭𝑳𝟑

𝑬𝑰

Design element Desired trends Possible limiting factor

Airfoil Thickness Aero performance

Spar cap thickness Mass penalty, manufacturability

Spar cap width Mass penalty, manufacturability

Material Stiffness Cost increase, manufacturability


Tip deflection challengeMaterial vs. Shape, E vs. I, which one to invest in ?

glass

glass

carbon

carbon

Material Stiffness, E

Airfoil Thickness, I

• How much risk are we willing to take?• Is there a limit to airfoil thickness?• Is carbon an enabler or does it also limit us?• Depends on in-house design philosophy• Depends on manufacturing concepts• Structural topology

• A 75 m blade can have over 15m tip deflection

40 50 60 70 80

Theoretical cantilever tip deflection

Actual SWP trend

Tip

defle

ctio

n (m

)∆∝

𝐹𝐿3

𝐸𝐼

∆∝ 𝑳

Blade length (m)

Tip deflection challenge


Summary - Size

“Advancements in blade shape and structural designs combined

with optimized material selection and load reduction techniques

allow us to overcome the limitation imposed by the square-cube law”

“This enables additional AEP to the customer”


Future challenges

Leading edge erosion

Testing

Transportation

Manufacturing/automation

AEP

Tip deflection

Size


Generic long term outlook

Competitive wind energy LCOE

Cost efficient turbines Smart wind turbines and

farms


Thank you for your attention

Jacques NaderHead of Blade DesignSiemens Wind Power

1050 Walnut St, suite 303

Boulder, CO, 80303

E-mail:[email protected]

jacques nader - large wind turbine blade design challenges and r&d needs

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