Lopez Dubon, S. orcid.org/0000-0003-0663-607X, Vogel, C. orcid.org/0000-0003-2232-9811, Garcia Cava, D. et al. (3 more authors) (2024) A full-scale tidal blade fatigue test using the FastBlade facility. Renewable Energy, 228. 120653. ISSN 0960-1481
Abstract
Fatigue testing of tidal turbine blades requires the application of cyclic loads without the ability to match the natural frequency of the blade due to their high stiffness and the associated thermal issues of testing composite materials at those frequencies (i.e., 18–20 Hz). To solve this, loading the blades with an auxiliary system is necessary; in most cases, a conventional hydraulic system tends to be highly energy-demanding and inefficient. A regenerative digital displacement hydraulic pump system was employed in the FastBlade fatigue testing facility, which saved up to 75 % compared to a standard hydraulic system. A series of equivalent target loads were defined using Reynolds-Averaged Navier Stokes (RANS) simulations (based on on-site collected water velocity data) and utilised in FastBlade to demonstrate an efficient way to perform fatigue testing. During the test, a series of measurements were performed on the blade response and the Fastblade test structure itself, providing novel insights into the mechanical behaviour of a blade, and enabling improved testing practice for FastBlade. Without catastrophic failure, the blade withstood the principal tidal loading for 20 years (equivalent). This test data will enable FastBlade to identify improvements to the testing procedures, i.e., control strategies, load introduction, instrumentation layout, instrument calibration, and test design.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
Keywords: | Testing; Fatigue; Tidal steam blades; Composites |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Engineering (Sheffield) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number ENGINEERING AND PHYSICAL SCIENCE RESEARCH COUNCIL EP/X03903X/1 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 16 Jul 2024 10:28 |
Last Modified: | 16 Jul 2024 10:28 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Elsevier BV |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1016/j.renene.2024.120653 |
Sustainable Development Goals: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:214779 |