TY - JOUR
T1 - Combined preliminary-detailed design of wind turbines
AU - Bortolotti, Pietro
AU - Bottasso, Carlo L.
AU - Croce, Alessandro
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 Author(s).
PY - 2016/2/9
Y1 - 2016/2/9
N2 - This paper is concerned with the holistic optimization of wind turbines. A multi-disciplinary optimization procedure is presented that marries the overall sizing of the machine in terms of rotor diameter and tower height (often termed "preliminary design") with the detailed sizing of its aerodynamic and structural components. The proposed combined preliminary-detailed approach sizes the overall machine while taking into full account the subtle and complicated couplings that arise due to the mutual effects of aerodynamic and structural choices. Since controls play a central role in dictating performance and loads, control laws are also updated accordingly during optimization. As part of the approach, rotor and tower are sized simultaneously, even in this case capturing the mutual effects of one component over the other due to the tip clearance constraint. The procedure, here driven by detailed models of the cost of energy, results in a complete aero-structural design of the machine, including its associated control laws. The proposed methods are tested on the redesign of two wind turbines, a 2.2 MW onshore machine and a large 10 MW offshore one. In both cases, the optimization leads to significant changes with respect to the initial baseline configurations, with noticeable reductions in the cost of energy. The novel procedures are also exercised on the design of low-induction rotors for both considered wind turbines, showing that they are typically not competitive with conventional high-efficiency rotors.
AB - This paper is concerned with the holistic optimization of wind turbines. A multi-disciplinary optimization procedure is presented that marries the overall sizing of the machine in terms of rotor diameter and tower height (often termed "preliminary design") with the detailed sizing of its aerodynamic and structural components. The proposed combined preliminary-detailed approach sizes the overall machine while taking into full account the subtle and complicated couplings that arise due to the mutual effects of aerodynamic and structural choices. Since controls play a central role in dictating performance and loads, control laws are also updated accordingly during optimization. As part of the approach, rotor and tower are sized simultaneously, even in this case capturing the mutual effects of one component over the other due to the tip clearance constraint. The procedure, here driven by detailed models of the cost of energy, results in a complete aero-structural design of the machine, including its associated control laws. The proposed methods are tested on the redesign of two wind turbines, a 2.2 MW onshore machine and a large 10 MW offshore one. In both cases, the optimization leads to significant changes with respect to the initial baseline configurations, with noticeable reductions in the cost of energy. The novel procedures are also exercised on the design of low-induction rotors for both considered wind turbines, showing that they are typically not competitive with conventional high-efficiency rotors.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84995491185&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.5194/wes-1-71-2016
DO - 10.5194/wes-1-71-2016
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84995491185
SN - 2366-7443
VL - 1
SP - 71
EP - 88
JO - Wind Energy Science
JF - Wind Energy Science
IS - 1
ER -