Title: Finite element structural study of the VGOT wind turbine

Authors: Alejandro D. Otero, Fernando L. Ponta

Addresses: ISEP Group, College of Engineering, University of Buenos Aires, Paseo Colon 850 (C1063ACV), Buenos Aires, Argentina. ' Department of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 216 Talbot Lab., 104 S. Wright Street, Urbana, IL 61801, USA

Abstract: We analyse the implementation of the finite element method to simulate the structural behaviour of the blade-wagons of variable-geometry oval-trajectory (VGOT) Darrieus wind turbines. The key feature of a VGOT machine is that each blade, instead of rotating around a central vertical axis, slides over rails mounted on a wagon formed by a tubular reticulated structure supported by standard train bogies. The structure should be designed to absorb the efforts in the vertical and traverse directions of the railroad due to the aerodynamic loads, the weight of the components and the centrifugal acceleration along the curved tracks. We show some results for the tip deflection and the tip torsion of the blade, the frontal and lateral angle variations in the blade bottom and the Von Misses tensions of five sample beams, all of them in function of the trajectory-length parameter; and some examples of the deformed configuration of the reticulated structure.

Keywords: innovative concepts; vertical-axis wind turbines; VAWT; VAWT-large machines; wind Darrieus rotors; structural behaviour; numerical simulation; finite element method; FEM; wind power; wind energy; renewable energy.

DOI: 10.1504/IJGEI.2004.005767

International Journal of Global Energy Issues, 2004 Vol.21 No.3, pp.221 - 235

Published online: 01 Dec 2004 *

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