Dynamic and aeroelastic analysis of a wind turbine blade modeled as a thin-walled composite beam

In this thesis, dynamic and aeroelastic analyses of a wind turbine blade designed as a rectangular thin-walled composite beam are carried out. The response of the blade is investigated by setting proper geometrical linear formulation. The blade is modeled as a uniform (untapered) thin-walled composite beam with rectangular cross-section. This composite beam is consisted of anisotropic material and contains warping and transverse shear effects. Also, there exists some elastic couplings due to the directionality of composite material. In order to gather this coupled behavior, circumferentially asymmetric stiffness (CAS) is used for lay-up configuration. Firstly, free vibration analyses are performed for both of the nonshearable and shearable models. Then, static analysis is realized to find out divergence while the dynamic analysis is done for the flutter behavior. The unsteady aerodynamic loads are represented by Theodorsen function in frequency domain. Moreover, stiffness coefficients are found for different ply-angles and rotational speeds. The results are compared with the literature and it is seen that a good compatibility is provided.