Weight Optimization for Composite Wind Turbine Blade

Due to the need to develop clean and environmentally friendly energy sources, there is a growing interest in wind energy. In this study, reliability-based weight optimization considering material uncertainty for composite wind turbine blade was investigated. Deterministic design optimization was performed. Reliability-based design optimization was performed and compared with their results. From the numerical analysis results, deflection, safety factor, and blade thickness were calculated to evaluate the total weight of the composite blade. For optimization, design variables were chosen as ply thickness of blade and the objective function was chosen as weight. The reliability-based design optimization takes into account the uncertainty of the matrix and fiber of composite material properties. From the deterministic and reliability-based optimization results, the effects of design variables on objective function were investigated.