Research status and development trend on large scale wind turbine blades

Abstract

Blade is one of key components of wind turbines. The wind rotor consisting of blades and hub is the energy capture mechanism which can transform the wind energy into mechanical energy. At the same time, blades are the force sources and bearing parts. Thus, blades play a key role for the safety of wind turbines. The industry development situation of modern large-scale wind turbines and its blades is analyzed. Then, a comprehensive summary is carried out including the aerodynamic shape and structural design, operation monitoring and control technology, the development trend and faced problems. The status and development trend of modern large scale wind turbine blades are grasped in general. It is specially pointed out that some fields will have further development such as the personalized airfoil design of anti-typhoon blades, low wind blades, bionic blades and low noise blades, design of novel wind turbine blade with sensing function of external environment load and structural state change. The formed blade design, manufacture and operation monitoring theory of wind turbines will be further improved and developed by service practice of large quantities of wind turbine in full life-cycle. © 2013 Journal of Mechanical Engineering.