With renewed emphasis on energy independence, there is an increased need to improve the reliability, efficiency and performance of current and future power generation technologies. It is clear that the wind turbine technology will play a vital role in ensuring the nation's energy independence. However, structural failure of wind turbine blades leading to high maintenance costs and intermittent operation is common, and accurate prediction of unsteady aerodynamic forces acting on wind turbine blades remains elusive.
It is critical to focus attention on the development of novel high fidelity analysis and design techniques that are 10 to 100 times faster than what is currently available. This project will integrate research and education to investigate and devise novel methods for wind turbine design technology with greatly decreased computational cost, while educating next generation of wind energy engineers. The project will improve complex multi-physics understanding by establishing an elegant approach for innovative wind turbine designs. The education component of the plan will focus on training students who translate the proposed research into real-world applications.
Intellectual Merit This project will investigate unsteady aerodynamic modeling and rapid design of wind turbines by developing and applying two very efficient computational methods - a "multi-frequency" harmonic balance method and an adjoint method - which will be used in an optimization algorithm to design innovative wind turbines with improved aerodynamic, aeroelastic, and aeroacoustic characteristics. Furthermore, sensitivity information will be used to quantify uncertainty in unsteady flow predictions. Design optimization methods developed for wind turbines are directly applicable to turbomachinery used in aircraft engines and land-based power generators. Current designs may be improved for increased fuel efficiency, better aeromechanic characteristics, and increased safety.
Broader Impacts The educational and outreach plan includes development of a wind engineering course and a wind turbine aerodynamics and aeroelasticity course. Other activities include training of next-generation researchers, involving undergraduate students in cutting-edge research, and participating in summer outreach programs that target high school teachers and K-12 students. Outreach efforts will be augmented by collaborations with an established Professor of Teacher and Science Education and the College of Engineering's Office of Academic and Student Affairs. Finally, an executable version of computational tools developed in this project will be made available to interested parties for research use.
