A novel design and preliminary investigation of composite material marine current turbine

Abstract

A high performance and light-weight wound composite material wheel has been developed and is intended to be used for many purposes. One of these applications is marine current turbine (MCT). Traditionally, major problems influencing the design and operation of MCTs are fatigue, cavitation and corrosion due to the sea water. Considering these factors, implementation of composite materials, especially Kevlar fiber/epoxy matrix, in MCTs is explained in this paper. This novel design pattern of composite material marine current turbine (CMMCT) shows many advantages compared to conventional turbines. This paper investigated several factors which should be considered during this novel turbine design process such as the composite material selection, filament winding of composite wheel and turbine's structural and cavitation analysis. The power coefficient of CMMCT by using CFD is also obtained and the experimental facilities for testing CMMCT in a water towing tank are briefly described.