Wind turbine design and optimization

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The unsteady, aeroelastic behaviour of wind turbines and their cost sensitivity poses unique design challenges not found elsewhere. Notwithstanding great strides made in designing increasingly large wind turbines, there remains large uncertainty in analysis predictions, particularly in the areas of aerodynamics and non-linear structural response. Adequate aerodynamic validation data is conspicuously lacking. The sheer size of utility-scale machines can create technical and social impediments. One alternative that is often espoused is to install small machines (1-10's kW) locally to end-use locations. Knowledge of the flow conditions and design of these smaller machines is relatively undeveloped. Advanced analysis tools are required to drive future design innovations, such as winglets and bend-twist coupled blades, across all scales. Better numerical optimization techniques, applied to the fully coupled multidisciplinary aeroelastic problem, are also needed. The proposed research program is aimed at addressing these areas, summarized as follows: