PhD Studentship: Understanding aeroelastic dynamics for aeroelastically tailored smart turbine blades (WS17)

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Full Project Detail
Wind turbines are getting bigger and wind turbine blades are getting more slender and flexible creating structural coupling and introducing highly nonlinear behaviour. Aeroelastically tailored smart blades (changing composite layups and/or sweeping the blade geometry) are currently being investigated by wind turbine manufactures such as Siemens Gamesa SWT-2.3-120 turbine to mitigate the wind turbine loads. It is very difficult to predict the dynamics of blades such as these because the flap, edge and torsional modes of the blade are strongly coupled. In this project the main objective is to develop a state of the art aeroelastic analysis tool to analyse and design aeroelastically tailored smart blades for very large offshore wind turbines. The modal approach for the structural model will be considered where torsional degrees of freedom must be considered. For the aerodynamic model, unsteady Blade Element Momentum (BEM) theory will be applied and coupled with the structural model. The performance of the new aeroelastic analysis tools developed in this project will be compared with existing tools such as HAWC2, FAST.
A PhD candidate will work at CREST (Centre for Renewable Energy Systems Technology) during the PhD project. CREST is the largest and leading UK sustainable energy research centre, and leading European academic group, its research is innovative, excellent and relevant, influencing industry, policy makers, researchers and educators across the world.

Entry requirements
e.g. Applicants should have, or expect to achieve, at least a 2:1 Honours degree (or equivalent) in Mechanical engineering, Aerospace engineering or a related subject. A relevant Master’s degree and/or experience in one or more of the following will be an advantage: wind turbine dynamics, rotor dynamics, aeroelasticity, nonlinear dynamics, modal analysis, structural dynamics, finite element method, aerodynamics, numerical code development.