| Popis: |
In the race towards a greener and safer tomorrow, renewable energies are playing an uncontestably key role. The energetic transition to cleaner energy has been the go to strategy for countries around the globe. Nature offers many power sources and tidal turbine is one of marine systems able to convert tide energy in electricity. However, tidal turbine technology is still under development and research area remains an important aspect before commercial deployment. RealTide, a European research project on advanced monitoring, simulation and control of tidal devices in unsteady, highly turbulent realistic tide environments, is the perfect example of the investment that goes into research and development to create better technologies in order to help with the energetic transition. The goal of the project is to combine advanced in flow measurement in highly energetic tidal currents with condition monitoring systems to design reliable tidal turbines. This implies the study of the turbine components, chiefly the blades, and the causes of their failure. The aim of the present paper is to hand over the work performed within RealTide project on a blade, developed by Sabella for the next tidal turbine generation, made in composite materials. Firstly, a Finite Element Model (FEM) is carried out of the 5-meters length blade in carbon fibre. A modal and static analysis under various testing loads are run on the FEM and results are then compared with measurements performed on a full-scale blade at Ifremer facilities. Furthermore, a Blade Element Momentum Theory (BEMT) tool and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software are used to generate operational and extreme environmental loads applying on the blade. BEMT/FEM one-way coupling and CFD/FEM two-way coupling numerical simulations have been realised and results between both methods have been compared. Finally, the fatigue life, in operational condition, has been evaluated with the recent fatigue methodology, based on a ply-by-ply approach, developed by Bureau Veritas. Several design optimisations including glass fibres plies have also been studied in order to reduce costs of production. |
