Upload
others
View
7
Download
0
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
Figure 1 Windmill (Matthew P Rader, n.d)
FEA AND CFD
ANALYSIS OF WIND
TURBINE USING
SOLIDWORKS Submitted on 29-June-2020
ABSTRACT The wind is a renewable and sustainable source of energy. The need for a shift to a sustainable energy source in increasing day by day. Wind turbines are used to harvest electricity from kinetic energy found in wind. The aim of this project is to analyze an existing wind turbine 3D model using Solidworks and based on the results suitable design improvements are suggested.
Sreeshob Sindhu Anand Applied Computational Modelling
1 | P a g e
1 | P a g e
Contents 1. Introduction .............................................................................................................................................. 4
2. Design Specifications ................................................................................................................................ 5
2.1 Initial Design ........................................................................................................................................ 5
2.1.1 Pole .............................................................................................................................................. 6
2.1.2 Hub ............................................................................................................................................... 6
2.1.3 Blade ............................................................................................................................................ 6
2.1.4 Assembly ...................................................................................................................................... 6
2.2 Final Design ......................................................................................................................................... 6
2.3 Material Selection ............................................................................................................................... 7
3 Method ...................................................................................................................................................... 8
3.1 CFD Analysis ........................................................................................................................................ 8
3.2 Finite Element Analysis ..................................................................................................................... 11
3.2.1 Material Selection ...................................................................................................................... 11
3.2.2 Contact Sets ............................................................................................................................... 11
3.2.3 Fixtures ....................................................................................................................................... 15
3.2.3 External Loads ............................................................................................................................ 16
3.2.4 Mesh .......................................................................................................................................... 16
4. Results ..................................................................................................................................................... 17
4.1 CFD Results ........................................................................................................................................ 17
4.2 Finite Element Analysis Results ......................................................................................................... 23
4.2.1 Mesh Convergence Study .......................................................................................................... 27
5. Discussion ................................................................................................................................................ 29
5.1 Initial design analysis findings ........................................................................................................... 29
5.2 Design improvements: ...................................................................................................................... 29
5.3 Comparison of CFD analysis on initial and final design: ................................................................... 29
5.4 Comparison of FEA results of initial and final design: ...................................................................... 29
5.5 Sources of Errors and ........................................................................................................................ 30
5.6 Design limitations.............................................................................................................................. 30
7. Glossary and List of Abbreviations .......................................................................................................... 31
8. Reference ................................................................................................................................................ 32
9. Student Declaration ................................................................................................................................ 33
10. Appendix ............................................................................................................................................... 34
2 | P a g e
2 | P a g e
List of Figures
Figure 1 Windmill (Matthew P Rader, n.d) ................................................................................................... 0
Figure 2 Windmill Model (Sharma. 2015) ..................................................................................................... 4
Figure 3 Improved Design ............................................................................................................................. 4
Figure 4 Design of Pole, Hub and Blade (Sharma.2015) ............................................................................... 5
Figure 5 Base of the pole .............................................................................................................................. 7
Figure 6 Improved pole design. .................................................................................................................... 7
Figure 7 Steps to select the flow parameters ............................................................................................... 8
Figure 8 Computational domain for improved design .................................................................................. 9
Figure 9 Basic Mesh for initial design model .............................................................................................. 10
Figure 10 Material Properties ..................................................................................................................... 11
Figure 12 Fixture for final design ............................................................................................................... 15
Figure 11 Fixture for initial design .............................................................................................................. 15
Figure 13 Initial design pressure plot .......................................................................................................... 19
Figure 14 Final Design pressure plot ........................................................................................................... 19
Figure 15 Velocity Plot of initial design ....................................................................................................... 20
Figure 16 Velocity Plot for final design ....................................................................................................... 20
Figure 17 Surface plot of initial design........................................................................................................ 21
Figure 18 Surface plot of final design ......................................................................................................... 21
Figure 19 Flow trajectories of initial design ................................................................................................ 22
Figure 20 Flow trajectories of final design .................................................................................................. 22
Figure 21 Stress plot of initial design .......................................................................................................... 24
Figure 22 Stress plot of final design ............................................................................................................ 25
Figure 23 Displacement plot of initial design.............................................................................................. 25
Figure 24 Displacement plot of final design ............................................................................................... 26
Figure 25 Factor of safety plot of initial design .......................................................................................... 26
Figure 26 Factor of safety plot of final design ............................................................................................ 27
Figure 27 Initial Design (DOF vs Displacement) Plot ................................................................................... 28
Figure 28 Initial Design (DOF vs Stress) Plot ............................................................................................... 28
Figure 29 Final Design (DOF vs Displacement) Plot .................................................................................... 28
Figure 30 Final Design (DOF vs Stress) Plot ................................................................................................. 28
3 | P a g e
3 | P a g e
List of Tables
Table 1 Material Properties .......................................................................................................................... 7
Table 2 Flow Parameters .............................................................................................................................. 8
Table 3 Goals Set ........................................................................................................................................... 9
Table 4 Mass properties .............................................................................................................................. 10
Table 5 Contact Sets with figures................................................................................................................ 12
Table 6 Resultant Forces for the final design .............................................................................................. 16
Table 7 Resultant forces for the initial design ............................................................................................ 16
Table 8 Mesh details for initial and final design ......................................................................................... 17
Table 9 CFD results for the initial design .................................................................................................... 18
Table 10 CFD results for final design ........................................................................................................... 18
Table 11 Initial design FEA results............................................................................................................... 23
Table 12 Final design FEA results ................................................................................................................ 23
4 | P a g e
4 | P a g e
1. Introduction New Zealand has the best wind resources among any country in the world because of its
geographical location. There are places in New Zealand where the wind blows hard enough 97%
of the time in a year to power the wind turbines. This means that the wind turbines in these
locations can generate electricity 363 days of the year. But there is room for improvement in the
wind turbine designs. The main disadvantages of wind energy are the initial cost and technology
immaturity. Manufacturing and construction of wind farms are extremely expensive, but the
positive thing is that after the construction the fuel for wind turbines (Wind) is free and the
maintenance costs are very less compared to other forms of energy. The manufacturing costs can
be reduced by improving the design and materials used.
In the modern era the engineers use simulation tools to solve engineering problems for the design and development process. Solidworks is one of the most widely used software for simulation. This is an efficient analytical tool that allows the creator to visualize the actions of elements under various conditions. For this experiment we use Solidworks to do the FEA and CFD.
The aim of this project is to improve the design model of a wind turbine that is created by Vimoh
Sharma in Solidworks. The 3D model is downloaded from the Grabcad library. To make design
improvements we need to know the forces acting on the turbine and the stress due to the force.
First CFD and FEA analysis is conducted on the initial design and then according to the results the
initial design is improved to get better results. Refer to figure 2 and 3 to look at the initial and
final designs. The detailed 2D drawings of both the designs are included in the appendix of this
report.
Figure 3 Improved Design Figure 2 Windmill Model (Sharma. 2015)
5 | P a g e
5 | P a g e
Based on the CFD and FEA results on the initial design, the final design is created. In the initial
design the pole holding the blades and the hub was of same diameter. So, the stress on the base
of the pole was much more than the yield strength of the material. In the final design, the
diameter of the base of the pole is increased and CFD and FEA is done on the improved design.
2. Design Specifications
2.1 Initial Design For this experiment the design model of wind turbine is downloaded from Grabcad library. The
3D model of wind turbine is created by Vimoh Sharma and uploaded to Grabcad library. The
design consists of 3 main parts, the pole with the rotor and shaft, the hub, and the blade. All the
components are assembled by mate tool in Solidworks to make the design model. All the contact
surfaces are connected by bonded contact sets. Refer to figure 4 for the isometric views of each
parts. The 2D drawings each part is attached in the appendix.
Three-part design:
• Pole
• Hub
• Blade
Figure 4 Design of Pole, Hub and Blade (Sharma.2015)
6 | P a g e
6 | P a g e
2.1.1 Pole
The pole has a uniform diameter through its whole length as shown in figure 4. Above the pole
the shaft and the rotor box are mounted. The shaft is to attach the hub which holds the three
blades of the wind turbine. The 2D drawings of the pole is attached in the appendix.
Length of the pole = 3000mm
Diameter = 80 mm
Length of shaft = 140.16mm
2.1.2 Hub
The hub has a cylindrical shape with a hemisphere attached in the front by using the fillet tool. It
also has three circular cutouts to hold the blade. It also has a cylindrical cutout in the middle for
attaching it to the shaft. The 2D drawings of the hub is attached in the appendix.
Diameter of hub = 100mm
Diameter of blade cutouts =80mm
Diameter for shaft cutout = 30mm
Length of shaft cutout = 110mm
2.1.3 Blade
The shape of the blade resembles the shape of the sword, it has a small cylindrical section
which is attached to the hub during assembly. Refer figure 4 to look at the blade design.
Total length = 1001.13mm
2.1.4 Assembly
All the three parts are assembled using the mate tool in Solidworks. The hub is inserted into the
shaft till a length of 30mm.The blades are attached to the three cutouts in the hub.
2.2 Final Design The design improvements are made based on the FEA and CFD results performed on the initial
model. The design improvements are only made to the pole, as per the new design the
diameter of the pole gradually increases from top to bottom as shown in figure 6. This is done
to reduce the stress on the lower section of the pole. A base is added to the hold the pole firmly
to the ground, refer to figure 6 for the design. No changes are made to the hub and blades. The
2D drawings of both the base and improved design of pole in included in the appendix.
7 | P a g e
7 | P a g e
Figure 6 Improved pole design.
The same assembly technique for the initial design is used, all the parts are assembled with
mate tool and using only bonded contact sets.
2.3 Material Selection The latest materials used to manufacture wind turbines are fiber reinforced glass and carbon
fiber composites. In this experiment we are selecting carbon fiber composites which has better
properties than the fiber reinforced glass. The difference between the material is its costs, the
carbon fiber composites are much more expensive.
Table 1 Material Properties
Property Value Units
Elastic Modulus 70000 N/mm^2
Poisson’s Ratio 0.4-0.8 Not Applicable
Shear Modulus 4000 N/mm^2
Mass Density 1780 Kg/m^3
Tensile Strength 2000 N/mm^2
Yield Strength 60 N/mm^2
Thermal Expansion Co-efficient 2.1E-06 /K
Figure 5 Base of the pole
8 | P a g e
8 | P a g e
3 Method In this project FEA and CFD analysis is done on both initial design and improved design. For the
analysis and making design improvements Solidworks is used. First the CFD analysis is
performed on the initial design and the results from the CFD analysis is used to get the external
loads in the FEA analysis. Then from the analysis of the initial design, design improvements are
made to reduce the stress in the critical areas and make the design safer.
3.1 CFD Analysis The CFD analysis (Flow simulation) in Solidworks enables the designers to understand the
effects of moving fluids (liquids and gases) around their design. The Flow simulation in
Solidworks can simulate fluid flow, heat transfer and fluid forces on the design, which helps the
designers to calculate design performance and capabilities.
In this project the CFD analysis is done on both the designs. For both the design analysis all the
parameters are the same. This is because here a design improvement is made, the flow type
and boundary conditions are not changing.
Table 2 Flow Parameters
Analysis Type
External
Fluid
Air (Gases)
Velocity in Z direction
100 m/s
Figure 7 Steps to select the flow parameters
9 | P a g e
9 | P a g e
Here the wind flows around the wind turbine therefore the flow is external, and the fluid is air.
So, in the wizard external flow and air is selected. The speed of the air is taken as 100 m/s as an
extreme condition.
The next step is to set the computational domain. This is the space in which Solidworks
simulates the fluid flow, always the 3D model should be inside the computational domain to
obtain correct results. Refer figure 8 to look at the computational domain.
Figure 8 Computational domain for improved design
Table 3 Goals Set
Global Goals
Static Pressure
Total Pressure
Density of Air
Velocity of Air
Drag Force
Equation Goals
Drag Coefficient
10 | P a g e
10 | P a g e
All the goals mentioned in the table 3 should be inserted. The equation for Drag Coefficient is:
• Drag Coefficient= (2*{Drag Force})/ (({Density of Air} *{Velocity of Air} ^2) *Surface Area)
The mass properties of two models are shown in table 4.
Table 4 Mass properties
Design Surface Area (m^2)
Mass (Kg) Volume (m^3)
Initial Design 1.66 26.36 0.03
Final Design 1.96 36.22 0.04
Global mesh is created with local mesh level at 3 for both CFD analysis. Figure 9 shows the basic
mesh for the initial design.
Figure 9 Basic Mesh for initial design model
After creating the mesh, the run the study to obtain the results.
11 | P a g e
11 | P a g e
3.2 Finite Element Analysis The finite element analysis in Solidworks is used to test how a design model reacts to physical
effect like bending, heat, vibration, and other impacts. With the help of FEA simulation, its easy
to determine premature design failures, quicker design changes to reduce costs and weight,
determine designs factor of safety.
3.2.1 Material Selection
In the Solidworks materials library a new material is created with the mass properties
mentioned in table 1. The same material is applied to all the components/parts in the assembly.
Figure 10 Material Properties
For the analysis of both the model’s same material as shown in figure 10 is selected.
3.2.2 Contact Sets
All the contact information with images initial model and final model is specified in table 5. There are 8 contact sets and one global contact in the initial design and 9 contact sets and one
global contact in final design. All the contact sets are bonded contact pairs.
12 | P a g e
12 | P a g e
Table 5 Contact Sets with figures
Contact Contact Image Contact Properties
Contact Set-1
Type: Bonded contact pair
Entites: 2 face(s)
Contact Set-2
Type: Bonded contact pair
Entites: 2 face(s)
Contact Set-3
Type: Bonded contact pair
Entites: 2 face(s)
13 | P a g e
13 | P a g e
Contact Contact Image Contact Properties
Contact Set-4
Type: Bonded contact pair
Entites: 2 face(s)
Contact Set-5
Type: Bonded contact pair
Entites: 2 face(s)
Contact Set-6
Type: Bonded contact pair
Entites: 2 face(s)
14 | P a g e
14 | P a g e
Contact Contact Image Contact Properties
Contact Set-7
Type: Bonded contact pair
Entites: 2 face(s)
Contact Set-8
Type: Bonded contact pair
Entites: 2 face(s)
Contact Set-9
Type: Bonded contact pair
Entites: 2 face(s)
15 | P a g e
15 | P a g e
Contact Contact Image Contact Properties
Global Contact
Type: Bonded Component
s: 1 component(s)
Options: Compatible mesh
3.2.3 Fixtures
In both the designs the fixtures are added in the bottom face of the pole.In the improved design
there is a base plate added to the design so the fixture is added in the bottom face of the base.
Figure 12 Fixture for final design
Figure 11 Fixture for initial design
16 | P a g e
16 | P a g e
3.2.3 External Loads
Solidworks incorporates CFD and FEA analysis, this allows the designers to resulting force from
the CFD analysis as the load inputs in the FEA analysis. The results from the CFD analysis is
directly imported to the FEA.
The external loads this analysis is the force due to the fluid flow and the shear stress due to the
fluid flow. The pressure due to the fluid flow around the 3D model exerts a force on the body,
these results are directly loaded from the flow simulation. Table 6 and 7 shows the values of
external loads in initial and final design.
Table 6 Resultant Forces for the final design
Components X Y Z Resultant
Reaction force(N) -37.6251 -221.473 -2089.04 2101.08
Reaction Moment (N.m) 0 0 0 0
Table 7 Resultant forces for the initial design
Components X Y Z Resultant
Reaction force(N) 55.2073 -1577.14 -1506.62 2181.81
Reaction Moment (N.m) 0 0 0 0
3.2.4 Mesh
For the initiand and final design FEA analysis, 6 different mesh is used, and 6 different studies
are conducted. This helps to get more accurate results. Take look at the results to see the mesh
convergence study. Table 8 shows the mesh details with number of nodes and degrees of
freedom.
The 6 different mesh is created to get a much more accurate value for the results like stress,
displacement, and factor of safety.
After creating the mesh, the study is conducted and the stress, displacement and factor of
safety plots are created.
17 | P a g e
17 | P a g e
Table 8 Mesh details for initial and final design
Mesh Initial Design Final Design
Degrees of freedom
Number of Nodes
Degrees of Freedom
Number of nodes
Mesh 1 20550 6874 19806 6833
Mesh 2 23085 7723 23157 7976
Mesh 3 66615 22237 28392 9817
Mesh 4 162750 54328 63393 22010
Mesh 5 348972 116447 128481 44218
Mesh 6 2572965 85112 367890 125897
4. Results In this study the CFD results are used as the external loads in the FEA analysis. For both the
initial design and final design CFD and FEA analysis is conducted. In the FEA analysis mesh
convergence study is also conducted. In CFD Solidworks automatically gets the converged
values for the results.
The main area of focus in CFD analysis is the pressure due to the fluid flow and the shear stress.
4.1 CFD Results All the results for the global goals and equation goals are as shown in table 9 and 10. As we can
see for both the design studies the value of pressure and velocity of air remains same. This is
because both the studies are conducted on the same conditions, so the pressure and velocity of
air is not changed. There is a significant difference in the value of drag force, this is due to the
design improvements made, this is discussed in detail in the discussion section of this report.
18 | P a g e
18 | P a g e
Table 9 CFD results for the initial design
Goal Name Unit Value Average Value Minimum Value Maximum Value
Static Pressure [Pa] 101326.7447 101326.4832 101326.2618 101326.7447
Total Pressure [Pa] 107464.4754 107464.4577 107464.0594 107464.8926
Density of air [kg/m^3] 1.203693958 1.203691761 1.203688699 1.203694928
Velocity of air [m/s] 99.8691924 99.87107801 99.8691924 99.87646197
Drag Force [N] 2552.898977 2569.691199 2547.083631 2616.756919
Drag coefficient No Unit 0.256198381 0.25787427 0.255609643 0.26256859
Table 10 CFD results for final design
Goal Name Unit Value Averaged Value Minimum Value Maximum Value
Static Pressure [Pa] 101342.9495 101342.5812 101341.3582 101342.9495
Total Pressure [Pa] 107441.3848 107441.2793 107440.8392 107441.8942
Density of air [kg/m^3] 1.203756594 1.203753238 1.203745029 1.203756594
Velocity of Air [m/s] 99.49290485 99.49560706 99.49078856 99.51167625
Drag Force [N] 2077.224723 2089.442994 2077.224723 2110.909581
Drag coefficient No Unit 0.177883025 0.178920065 0.177883025 0.18070117
19 | P a g e
19 | P a g e
Figure 14 Final Design pressure plot
Figure 13 Initial design pressure plot
20 | P a g e
20 | P a g e
Figure 15 Velocity Plot of initial design
Figure 16 Velocity Plot for final design
21 | P a g e
21 | P a g e
Figure 17 Surface plot of initial design
Figure 18 Surface plot of final design
22 | P a g e
22 | P a g e
Figure 19 Flow trajectories of initial design
Figure 20 Flow trajectories of final design
23 | P a g e
23 | P a g e
4.2 Finite Element Analysis Results As shown in table 8, six different types of mesh are used to get more accurate results. The mesh
convergence study is conducted, and degrees of freedom vs stress/displacement plots are
created with MATLAB. MATLAB code is attached in the appendix of this report.
Table 11 Initial design FEA results
Mesh DOF
No of Nodes
Displacement (mm)
Max Stress (N/m^2)
Min Stress (N/m^2)
Mesh 1 20550 6874 8.35E+01 7.03E+07 3.10E+02
Mesh 2 23085 7723 8.35E+01 7.12E+07 1.11E+02
Mesh 3 66615 22237 9.27E+01 7.78E+07 1.57E+02
Mesh 4 162750 54328 9.50E+01 7.86E+07 5.48E+01
Mesh 5 348972 116447 9.75E+01 7.73E+07 6.75E+01
Mesh 6 2572965 858112 9.92E+01 7.82E+07 4.78E+01
Table 12 Final design FEA results
Mesh DOF
No of Nodes
Displacement (mm)
Max Stress (N/m^2)
Min Stress (N/m^2)
Mesh 1 19806 6833 2.39E+01 2.09E+07 1.52E+02
Mesh 2 23157 7976 2.52E+01 2.07E+07 7.51E-01
Mesh 3 28392 9817 2.53E+01 2.09E+07 0.00E+00
Mesh 4 63393 22010 2.81E+01 2.26E+07 3.19E-01
Mesh 5 128481 44218 2.82E+01 2.39E+07 6.99E-01
Mesh 6 367890 125897 2.92E+01 2.65E+07 0.00E+00
24 | P a g e
24 | P a g e
The yield strength of the material (Carbon fiber composite) is 60 Mpa, as you can see in the
table 11 the maximum stress (indicated in red) on the initial design exceeds the yield strength
of the material in all mesh. This indicate that the design will fail when the stress is more than
the yield strength of the material.
In the improved design the stress never exceeds the yield strength of the material and so the
new design is safe. In figure 21 and 22 you can see the stress plot of both the designs, in the
final design stress plot there is no red indication which proves that the design is safe.
Figure 21 Stress plot of initial design
25 | P a g e
25 | P a g e
Figure 22 Stress plot of final design
Figure 23 Displacement plot of initial design
26 | P a g e
26 | P a g e
Figure 24 Displacement plot of final design
Figure 25 Factor of safety plot of initial design
27 | P a g e
27 | P a g e
Figure 26 Factor of safety plot of final design
4.2.1 Mesh Convergence Study
To make the FEA results more accurate mesh convergence study is conducted. This is the
reason why six different mesh is used in FEA. The results will be more accurate when fine mesh
is used. To show the mesh convergence the graph DOF vs Stress and DOF vs Displacement are
plotted. MATLAB is used to plot the graphs. The MATLAB codes used to plot the graph is
attached in the appendix of this report. Figure 27 and 28 shows the mesh convergence study of
initial design and figure 29 and 30 shows the mesh convergence study of final design.
From the graph we can state that the values of displacement and stress almost converge when
the DOF increases. This implies that when the mesh is finer and properly refined the results
become more accurate.
28 | P a g e
28 | P a g e
Figure 28 Initial Design (DOF vs Stress) Plot
Figure 30 Final Design (DOF vs Stress) Plot
Figure 27 Initial Design (DOF vs Displacement) Plot
Figure 29 Final Design (DOF vs Displacement) Plot
29 | P a g e
29 | P a g e
5. Discussion The final design is created according to the results obtained for the analysis of the initial design.
After doing the CFD and FEA we came to know where the maximum pressure is acting and the
stress concentration on the initial design.
5.1 Initial design analysis findings
• After the analysis of the initial design, the bottom section of the pole has the maximum
stress and it exceeds the yield strength of the material.
• From the surface plot of the initial design, we can see that the impact of fluid pressure is
more in the cylindrical section (Pole) and is indicate in red.
5.2 Design improvements:
• According to the simulation results the failure is more likely to occur in the bottom
section of the initial design.
• So, the diameter of the bottom section is increased from 80mm to 120mm. Therefore,
from the top to the bottom section the diameter gradually increases.
• Then a base section is added to the design. This is to hold the wind turbine to the
ground firmly. The base section will increase the stress flow and reduce stress
concentration.
5.3 Comparison of CFD analysis on initial and final design:
• The values of pressure, velocity and density remain constant in both the studies (initial
and final design). This is because the initial parameters for the flow are same for the
initial and final design. Refer table 9 and 10 for the CFD results.
• There is a significant difference in Drag force in both the designs. In the new design, the
drag force is less (approximately by 500 N). This implies that the design improvement is
effective, and the design is safer. Refer table 9 ad 10 for the exact values of drag force.
• As you can see from figure 17 and 18, on the initial design the maximum pressure was
on the center of the pole. But after the design improvement the maximum pressure is
now at the top of the pole.
• Even though there is no difference in the maximum value of pressure, the improved
design is much safer and is able withstand the pressure of the fluid. In figure 13 we can
see the section indicated in the red color, this because the pressure much more in that
area. On the other hand, in figure 14 there is no section indicated in red, this implies
that the design is safer.
5.4 Comparison of FEA results of initial and final design:
• From the table 11, in all six different mesh conditions the maximum stress exceeded
the yield strength of the material (60 MPa). In the initial design the maximum stress
value is more than 70 MPa in all mesh types. So, the design will fail at some stage as
30 | P a g e
30 | P a g e
per the simulation results. In figure 21 we can see that maximum stress is acting on
the bottom part of the pole.
• From table 12, in all six mesh types the maximum stress is less than the yield
strength of the material. In all the mesh types the maximum stress value is less than
30 Mpa. So, this implies that the design improvement made is effective and the
design is much safer now.
• Another point to note is that the displacement values for the final design is three
times less than that of the initial design.
5.5 Sources of Errors and
• Physical Approximation errors: These errors arise because of uncertainty in model
formulation and deliberate model simplification. Even though we know all the
parameters used in the model there will a degree of uncertainty, these errors could be
minimized to a certain extent and it becomes negligible. For example, the surface
roughness of the material, always there will be some degree of uncertainty.
• Mesh: In this project a mesh convergence study is conducted for both the designs. But
more advanced mesh options are available, and these could get much more accurate
results. If there is curved surface in the design the curvature mesh option is there in
Solidworks. Also, more advanced mesh techniques like H and P adaptive mesh options
are there.
• Fluid properties: Here the fluid is air and the composition and properties of air cannot
be fully determined. The Solidworks uses the default properties for flow simulation. This
could be minimized by finding the exact composition of the place where the design is
going to be implemented and applying that in Solidworks.
• Temperature: In the flow simulation the temperature is taken as 298K (24.85 C) but in
the real-world condition’s temperature varies with time (its colder in night and hot in
daytime). So, to reduce the errors due to this it will be better to temperature
accordingly.
5.6 Design limitations
• Material Properties: The material selected in this study is Carbon fiber composites, but
the material properties of the real wind turbine might differ.
• Model Dimensions: The model in this experiment has a height of 3 meters, the real
wind turbine will have around 10 to 20 meters. So, the model used for this analysis is
not a real representation of the actual wind turbine design. Its like a scaled down
version of the real wind turbine.
31 | P a g e
31 | P a g e
7. Glossary and List of Abbreviations
S/N Abbreviations Explanation
01 CFD Computational Fluid Dynamics
02 CAD Computer Aided Designing
03 3D model Mathematical representation of a
model in 3 dimensions
04 2D Model Drawings Mathematical representation of a
model in 2 dimensions
05 CFD Computational fluid dynamics
06 FEA Finite Element Analysis
07 DOF Degrees of Freedom
08 MPa Mega Pascals
32 | P a g e
32 | P a g e
8. Reference
P Rader, M. A wind turbine at Roscoe Wind Farm in Texas [Image]. Retrieved 25 June 2020, from https://unsplash.com/photos/f5Ue0h_QQNI.
Sharma, V. (2015, December 19). Wind Energy Turbine Model & Wind Blade Design [Solidworks]. Library@Grabcad. https://grabcad.com/library/windmill-13
Wind Energy Resources in NZ. Windenergy.org.nz. (2020). Retrieved 26 June 2020, from http://www.windenergy.org.nz/wind-energy-resources-in-nz.
Lloyd, D. (2014, December 11). Wind Energy: Advantages and Disadvantages. Large.stanford.edu. Retrieved 26 June 2020, from http://large.stanford.edu/courses/2014/ph240/lloyd2/.
Overview of materials for Epoxy/Carbon Fiber Composite. Matweb.com. Retrieved 28 June 2020, from http://www.matweb.com/search/datasheet_print.aspx?matguid=39e40851fc164b6c9bda29d798bf3726.
Oden, T., & Prudhomme, S. (2002). Estimation of Modeling Error in Computational Mechanics. Citeseerx.ist.psu.edu. Retrieved 29 June 2020, from http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.499.9915&rep=rep1&type=pdf.
W Slater, J. (2008). Uncertainty and Error in CFD Simulations. Grc.nasa.gov. Retrieved 29 June 2020, from https://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/wind/valid/tutorial/errors.html.
33 | P a g e
33 | P a g e
9. Student Declaration
I have not copied any part of this report from any other person’s work, except as correctly referenced.
No other person has written any part of this report for me.
1. Student Name: Sreeshob Sindhu Anand
Student declaration of the above ___________________________________ signed.
34 | P a g e
34 | P a g e
10. Appendix
0.14
3.00 0.08
0.29
0.30
0.13 0.03
0.14
TRUE R0.04
Carbon FibreA A
B B
C C
D D
6
6
5
5
4
4
3
3
2
2
1
1
DRAWN
CHK'D
APPV'D
MFG
Q.A
UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED:DIMENSIONS ARE IN MILLIMETERSSURFACE FINISH:TOLERANCES: LINEAR: ANGULAR:
FINISH: DEBURR AND BREAK SHARP EDGES
NAME SIGNATURE DATE
MATERIAL:
DO NOT SCALE DRAWING REVISION
TITLE:
DWG NO.
SCALE:1:25 SHEET 1 OF 1
A4
WEIGHT:
base
SOLIDWORKS Educational Product. For Instructional Use Only.
0.08
0.08
0.11
0.81
Carbon FibreA A
B B
C C
D D
6
6
5
5
4
4
3
3
2
2
1
1
DRAWN
CHK'D
APPV'D
MFG
Q.A
UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED:DIMENSIONS ARE IN MILLIMETERSSURFACE FINISH:TOLERANCES: LINEAR: ANGULAR:
FINISH: DEBURR AND BREAK SHARP EDGES
NAME SIGNATURE DATE
MATERIAL:
DO NOT SCALE DRAWING REVISION
TITLE:
DWG NO.
SCALE:1:10 SHEET 1 OF 1
A4
WEIGHT:
blade
SOLIDWORKS Educational Product. For Instructional Use Only.
0.10
0.07
0.03
0.07
0.10
0.08
Carbon FibreA A
B B
C C
D D
6
6
5
5
4
4
3
3
2
2
1
1
DRAWN
CHK'D
APPV'D
MFG
Q.A
UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED:DIMENSIONS ARE IN MILLIMETERSSURFACE FINISH:TOLERANCES: LINEAR: ANGULAR:
FINISH: DEBURR AND BREAK SHARP EDGES
NAME SIGNATURE DATE
MATERIAL:
DO NOT SCALE DRAWING REVISION
TITLE:
DWG NO.
SCALE:1:5 SHEET 1 OF 1
A4
WEIGHT:
hub
SOLIDWORKS Educational Product. For Instructional Use Only.
3.00
0.81
0.13
0.08
0.15
0.73
0.72
A A
B B
C C
D D
6
6
5
5
4
4
3
3
2
2
1
1
DRAWN
CHK'D
APPV'D
MFG
Q.A
UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED:DIMENSIONS ARE IN MILLIMETERSSURFACE FINISH:TOLERANCES: LINEAR: ANGULAR:
FINISH: DEBURR AND BREAK SHARP EDGES
NAME SIGNATURE DATE
MATERIAL:
DO NOT SCALE DRAWING REVISION
TITLE:
DWG NO.
SCALE:1:33.3 SHEET 1 OF 1
A4
WEIGHT:
windmill
SOLIDWORKS Educational Product. For Instructional Use Only.
0.20
0.03
0.02
0.16
0.14
0.20
0.20 A A
B B
C C
D D
6
6
5
5
4
4
3
3
2
2
1
1
DRAWN
CHK'D
APPV'D
MFG
Q.A
UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED:DIMENSIONS ARE IN MILLIMETERSSURFACE FINISH:TOLERANCES: LINEAR: ANGULAR:
FINISH: DEBURR AND BREAK SHARP EDGES
NAME SIGNATURE DATE
MATERIAL:
DO NOT SCALE DRAWING REVISION
TITLE:
DWG NO.
SCALE:1:5 SHEET 1 OF 1
A4
WEIGHT:
Base holder
SOLIDWORKS Educational Product. For Instructional Use Only.
3.00
0.12 0.08
TRUE R0.06
Carbon fibreA A
B B
C C
D D
6
6
5
5
4
4
3
3
2
2
1
1
DRAWN
CHK'D
APPV'D
MFG
Q.A
UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED:DIMENSIONS ARE IN MILLIMETERSSURFACE FINISH:TOLERANCES: LINEAR: ANGULAR:
FINISH: DEBURR AND BREAK SHARP EDGES
NAME SIGNATURE DATE
MATERIAL:
DO NOT SCALE DRAWING REVISION
TITLE:
DWG NO.
SCALE:1:25 SHEET 1 OF 1
A4
WEIGHT:
base improved drawing
SOLIDWORKS Educational Product. For Instructional Use Only.
0.20
3.00
0.13
0.12
Carbon FibreA A
B B
C C
D D
6
6
5
5
4
4
3
3
2
2
1
1
DRAWN
CHK'D
APPV'D
MFG
Q.A
UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED:DIMENSIONS ARE IN MILLIMETERSSURFACE FINISH:TOLERANCES: LINEAR: ANGULAR:
FINISH: DEBURR AND BREAK SHARP EDGES
NAME SIGNATURE DATE
MATERIAL:
DO NOT SCALE DRAWING REVISION
TITLE:
DWG NO.
SCALE:1:33.3 SHEET 1 OF 1
A4
WEIGHT:
Assembly with base
SOLIDWORKS Educational Product. For Instructional Use Only.