Stuttgart, 11.

2016
Hugo Martn Mndez

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

DESIGN METHOD FOR A BLADE OF A WIND TURBINE

Hugo Martn Mndez
Mechanical Engineer
Stuttgart, 11.2016

Abstract

A detailed review of the current state-of-art for wind turbine blade design is presented,
including theoretical maximum efficiency. The review provides a complete picture of wind
turbine blade design and shows the dominance of modern turbines almost exclusive use of
horizontal axis rotors. The aerodynamic design principles for a modern wind turbine blade
are detailed, including blade plan shape/quantity, aerofoil selection and optimal attack
angles.

Keywords: Blade design, wind turbine, aerodynamics, angle of attack, lift to drag ratio.

1. Theoretical Maximum The zero flow scenario cannot be achieved

Efficiency
High rotor efficiency is desirable for
increased wind energy extraction and
should be maximized within the limits of
affordable production. Energy carried by
moving air is expressed as a sum of its
kinetic energy:
1 rotational forces such as wake rotation,
=
2 turbulence caused by drag or vortex
: Useful energy carried by moving air [W]
: Air density [kg/m3]
A: Swept area [m2]
V: Air velocity [m3]
A physical limit exists to the quantity of
energy that can be extracted, which is
independent of design. The energy
extraction is maintained in a flow process
through the reduction of kinetic energy and
subsequent velocity of the wind.
hence all the winds kinetic energy may not
be utilized. This principle is widely
accepted [4,5] and indicates that wind
turbine efficiency cannot exceed 59.3%.
This Energies 2012, 5 3427 parameter is
commonly known as the power coefficient
Cp, where max Cp = 0.593 referred to as
the Betz limit [6]. The Betz theory assumes
constant linear velocity. Therefore, any
shedding (tip losses) will further reduce the
maximum efficiency. Efficiency losses are
generally reduced by:
Avoiding low tip speed ratios which
increase wake rotation
Selecting aerofoil which have a high
lift to drag ratio
Specialized tip geometries
In depth explanation and analysis can be
found in the literature [4,6].

The magnitude of energy harnessed is a

function of the reduction in air speed over
the turbine. 100% extraction would imply
zero final velocity and therefore zero flow.

Design method for a blade of a wind turbine

Stuttgart, 11.2016
Hugo Martn Mndez

2. Blade shape selection. 3. Data for the report.

Airfoil taken is NACA 2412, this is Entry data
cambered airfoil belongs to the four digit Tip speed ratio 7
series of the NACA airfoil classification. Coefficient of power 0,48
The NACA four-digit wing sections define Number of blades 3
the profile by:
Length of the blade [m] 1,25
First digit describing maximum
Rotation speed [rpm] 375
camber as percentage of the chord. Wind speed [m/s] 7
Second digit describing the distance Temperature [C] 20
of maximum camber from the Table 1. Entry data for the report
airfoil leading edge in tens of
percents of the chord.
Last two digits describing 4. Some parameters
maximum thickness of the airfoil as
percent of the chord. a. Tip speed ratio
NACA 2412 is the airfoil of NACA 4 digit The Tip Speed Ratio (TSR) is an extremely
series. From its designation we get the important factor in wind turbine design.
NACA 2412 airfoil has a maximum camber TSR refers to the ratio between the wind
of 2% located 40% (0.4 chords) from the speed and the speed of the tips of the wind
leading edge with a maximum thickness of turbine blades.
12% of the chord. Four-digit series airfoils If the rotor of the wind turbine spins too
by default have maximum thickness at 30% slowly, most of the wind will pass straight
of the chord (0.3 chords) from the leading through the gap between the blades,
edge. NACA 2412 is slow speed airfoil; this therefore giving it no power. But if the
airfoil is used in single engine Cessna 152, rotor spins too fast, the blades will blur and
172 and 182 airplanes. act like a solid wall to the wind. Also, rotor
blades create turbulence as they spin
through the air. If the next blade arrives
too quickly, it will hit that turbulent air.

Figure 1. Parts of an airfoil

Figure 3. Tip speed ratio variables.

/0
.=
1
.: Tip speed ratio
/: rotation speed [rad/s]
0: length of the blade [m]
Figure 2. NACA 2412 airfoil. (Image from
Airfoiltools.com) 1 : velocity of the wind [m/s]

Design method for a blade of a wind turbine

Stuttgart, 11.2016
Hugo Martn Mndez
Optimal rotor tip speed ratio
The optimal tip speed ratio for maximum
power extraction is inferred by relating the
time take for the disturbed wind to
reestablish itself tw to the time taken for a
rotor blade of rotational frequency to
move into the position occupied by its
predecessor ts. For an n bladed rotor, the
time period for the blade to move to its
predecessors position is given by:
25
34 =
6/
If the length of the strongly disturbed air
stream upwind and downwind of the rotor
is s, then the time period for the wind to
return to normal is given by:
8 If the aerofoil is designed with care, the
37 =
1
If ts>tw the some wind is unaffected. If
tw> ts then some wind is not allowed to flow
though the rotor. The maximum power
extraction ocurrs when these two time
periods are about equal:
34 = 37
25 8
= If poorly designed blades are used resulting
6/ 1
From which the optimal rotational
frequency is
25 1
/9:; =
68
Consequently, for optimal power extraction
the rotor blade must rotate at a rotational
frequency that is related to the speed of the
incoming wind. This rotor rotational
frequency decreases as the radius of the
rotor increases and can be characterized by
calculating the optimal tip ratio as:
/9:; 0 25 >
.9:; = = ?
1 6 8
The optimal tip speed ratio depends on the
number of rotor baldes n of the wind
turbine. The smaller the number of
bnlades, the faster the wind turbine hast to
Design method for a blade of a wind turbine
rotate to extract maximum power from the
wind.
For a n bladed machine it has been
empirically observed that s equal to about
half of a rotor radius or:
8 1
> 2
Thus,
25 > 45
.9:; = ?
6 8 6
For n=3, a three bladed rotor, the
maximum power extracted from the wind
at Cp, max occurs at:
4
.9:; 5 4.19
3
optimal tip speed ratios may be about 25-
30% above this optimal value. These highly
efficient aerofoil rotor blade designs
increase the rotational speed of the blade
rotor therefore generating more power. A
typical three bladed rotor design would
have a tip speed ratio of:
4
.9:; 5B1.25 1.30D 5.24 5.45
3
in a tip speed ratio that is too low, the wind
turbine would have a tendency to slow and
to stall.
If the tip speed ratio is too high, the turbine
will rotate very fast through turbulent air,
and the power will not be only optimally
extracted from the wind stream, but the
turbine will be highly stressed at the risk of
catastrophic failure.
b. Lift to drag ratio
In aerodynamics, the lift-to-drag ratio, or
L/D ratio, is the amount of lift generated by
a wing or vehicle, divided by the
aerodynamic drag it creates by moving
through the air. A higher or more favorable
L/D ratio is typically one of the major goals
in aircraft design; since a particular
aircraft's required lift is set by its weight,
Stuttgart, 11.2016
Hugo Martn Mndez

delivering that lift with lower drag leads turning a rotor. This is known as the Betz
directly to better fuel economy in aircraft, Limit, and is the theoretical maximum
climb performance, and glide ratio. coefficient of power for any wind turbine.

Figure 6. Wind turbine efficiency.

In the diagram shown above, the wind
Figure 4. Lift to draft ratio for airplanes turbine converts 70% of the Betz Limit into
E sinBFD = G cosBFD electricity. Therefore, the Cp of this wind
turbine would be 0.7 x 0.59 = 0.41. So this
EIK3 E MN 1 wind turbine converts 41% of the available
0H3IJ = = = = wind energy into electricity. This is
G>HL G MO tan BFD
actually a pretty good coefficient of power.
Good wind turbines generally fall in the 35-
45% range.

5. CL and CD coefficients.
In order to determinate the graphics of the
CL and CD, we are going to calculate the
Reynolds number.

Figure 5. Lift to draft ratio for blades \ G

0RO
] _
c. Power coefficient
The coefficient of power of a wind turbine is Reynolds number
a measurement of how efficiently the wind Wind speed, v [m/s] 7
turbine converts the energy in the wind Dynamic viscosity [m2/s] 1,52e-5
into electricity. Diameter, D [m] 2,5
Wind turbines extract energy by slowing
down the wind. For a wind turbine to be Reynolds number 1154353,56
100% efficient it would need to stop
Table 2. Reynolds number calculation
100% of the wind - but then the rotor would
have to be a solid disk and it would not
Thus, we are going to determinate the CL
turn and no kinetic energy would be
and CD coefficients for a Reynolds of
converted.
1000000.
PQRS3>ISI3T U>JVWSRV XT YI6V 3W>XI6R
M: = If we plot the CL and CD graphics we will
ZJ3HQ P6R>LT H HIQHXQR I6 3R YI6V determine a optimal value of angle of
attack for our airfoil.
Betz Limit
The objective of this calculation is to find
Albert Betz was a German physicist who optimum angle of attack to obtain
calculated that no wind turbine could maximum lift to drag ratio.
convert more than 59.3% of the kinetic
energy of the wind into mechanical energy

Design method for a blade of a wind turbine

Stuttgart, 11.2016
Hugo Martn Mndez

Figure 7. Lift to drag vs. angle of attack. Figure 9. Drag coefficient vs. angle of attack
Lift to drag ratio with the angle of attack
The results of this calculation are taken
is shown in Figure 7. With the increasing
from the figures 7, 8 and 9 and they are
of angle of attack, lift to drag ratio shown in the Table 3.
increase first and then decreases.
Maximum lift to drag ratio is reached at Optimum angle of attack (AOA)
around 4.5. ReD 1000000
CL/ CD max 87
Optimum AOA 4,5

CL (4.5) 0,5
CD (4.5) 0,006

Table 3. Results of Optimum AOA calculations

6. Electric power
The coefficient of power of a wind turbine is
a measurement of how efficiently the wind
turbine converts the energy in the wind
into electricity.

This coefficient is given by:

R 2 R
Figure 8. Lift coefficient vs. angle of attack M: = =

Figure 10 shows how this coefficient varies

with Tip Speed Ratio

Design method for a blade of a wind turbine

Stuttgart, 11.2016
Hugo Martn Mndez

can only be achieved in an iterative

process. Performance analysis of HAWT
rotors has been performed using several
methods. In between these methods BEM
model is mainly employed as a tool of
performance analysis due to its simplicity
and readily implementation. Most wind
turbine design codes are based on this
method. Accordingly the chapter explains
the aerodynamics of HAWTs based on a
Figure 10. Power coefficient vs. TSR step-by-step approach starting from the
This figure demonstrate that if the rotor of simple actuator disk model to more
the wind turbine spins too slowly, most of complicated and accurate BEM method.
the wind will pass straight through the gap
between the blades, therefore giving it no
power. But if the rotor spins too fast, the
blades will blur and act like a solid wall to
the wind. Also, rotor blades create
turbulence as they spin through the air. If
the next blade arrives too quickly, it will
hit that turbulent air, and it doesnt give no
power.

Amount of electrical power that our NACA

2412 can be extracted from the wind is
given by:

1
R= M:
2

Optimum angle of attack (AOA)

Density, [kg/m3] B20CD 1,2041
Area, A [m2] 4,91
Wind velocity [m/s] 7
Cp 0,48

Pe [W] 486,5

7. Conclusions
The kinetic energy extracted from the wind
is influenced by the geometry of the rotor
blades. Determining the aerodynamically
optimum blade shape, or the best possible
approximation to it, is one of the main
tasks of the wind turbine designer.
Accordingly this chapter sets out the basis
of the aerodynamics of HAWTs and the
design methods based on these theories to
find the best possible design compromise
for the geometric shape of the rotor which

Design method for a blade of a wind turbine

Stuttgart, 11.2016
Hugo Martn Mndez

8. References
[1] Wind Energy Explained: Theory,
Design and Application, 2nd Edition
James F. Manwell, Jon G.
McGowan, Anthony L. Rogers.

[2] Assessment of optimal tip speed ratio of

wind turbines. N.S. etin , M.A. Yurdusev , R.
Ata and A. zdamar. Mathematical and
Computational Applications, Vol. 10, No. 1, pp.
147-154, 2005

[3]Windkraftanlagen Grundlagen,
Technik, Einsatz, Wirtschaftlichkeit. Erich
Hau Hau, E. Wind Turbines,
Fundamentals, Technologies, Application,
Economics, 2nd ed.; Springer: Berlin,
Germany, 2006.

[4] Self-starting capability of a darrieus

turbine. Dominy, R.; Lunt, P.; Bickerdyke,
A.; Dominy, J. Proc. Inst. Mech. Eng. Part
A J. Power Energy 2007, 221, 111120.

[5] Fundamentals of Aerodynamics J D

Anderson published by Mc Graw Hill
publication.

[6] Aerodynamics for engineering

students E.L. Houghton by Butterworth
Heinemann Publication.

[7] Introduction to Aerodynamics of

Flight Theodore A.Talay NASA History
Division.

www.airfoiltools.com

www.wikipedia.com/airfoil

www.wikipedia.com/windtunnel

Design method for a blade of a wind turbine