General Overview
A significant part of our work is also the investigation and development of new airfoil and blade designs. We use several numerical tools for the development and simulations of our airfoil designs and we try to perform several simulations on different software platforms in order to extract the best possible results. We use both 2D and 3D Panel Method codes as well as Vortex Lattice codes for the initial airfoil and wind turbine blade designs. In addition to that we investigate the performance of both airfoils and blades with Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) CFD simulations where we also study the effect of various additional flow control elements (e.g. Vortex Generators).
The general performance of the developed rotor designs is checked with steady state Blade Element Method (BEM) software and the detailed design is tested with unsteady BEM software which also produces the aerodynamic load calculation in combination with the structural model of the wind turbine which will incorporate the blades.
- Basic wind turbine blade plan-form analyzed with a 3D Panel Method code [Source: SMART BLADE]
- Isometric view of a blade and its wake [Source: SMART BLADE]
Simulation Tools
Most of the simulation codes and software tools are developed in-house and are validated against experimental measurements. We develop our own simulation, design and optimization codes using powerful state of the art Open Source codes which are further expanded to fit our requirements.
Airfoil simulations are done in a preliminary stage with state of the art industrial tools (e.g. XFOIL & RFOIL). Genetic algorithms are employed for the reverse airfoil design based on the airfoil performance requirements. Finally single and multi-element airfoils are simulated in detail using our custom CFD tools which are based on power Open Source simulation codes. For the generation of high quality CFD grids we use in-house software in combination with the Open Source grid generator enGrid, developed by the enGits GmbH.
The OpenFOAMTM CFD library is used within our in-house software in order to solve the Navier-Stokes equations and extract the airfoil performance data. The result of this extensive use of Open Source and in-house codes is the high flexibility and versatility as well as the ability to extend, improve and modify our software tools.
SMART BLADE GmbH constantly develops new aerodynamic solutions and blade design concepts. Our high-level in-house design and simulation platforms are the tools that allow us to explore our creativity.
- CFD simulation of a wind turbine airfoil at low Reynolds number flow [Source: SMART BLADE]
Blade Production
SMART BLADE is able to produce blades for small wind turbines with various material processes (polyester molding, epoxy molding) and production methods (hand lay-up, vacuum infusion, pultrusion). We also cooperate with large blade manufacturers for the production of large wind turbine blades based on our custom aerodynamic and structural specifications.
- FEA model for a wind turbine rotor blade (created with NuMAD)
More Information
For more technical information, custom design requests and pricing please
contact us at: info[at]smart-blade.com
