Modeling Slope Discontinuity of Large Size Wind-Turbine Blade Using Absolute Nodal Coordinate Formulation

This paper describes the use of the Absolute Nodal Coordinate Formulation (ANCF) in modeling large-size wind turbine blades. An efficient procedure is developed for mapping NACA airfoil wind-turbine blades into ANCF thin plate models. The procedure concerns the wind turbine blade with non-uniform, twisted nature. As a result, the slope discontinuity problem arises and presents numerical errors in the dynamic simulation. This investigation illustrates a method for modeling slope discontinuity resulting from the variations of the cross sectional layouts across the blade. A method is developed and applied for the gradient-deficient thin plate element in order to account for structural discontinuity. The numerical results show a numerical convergence and satisfy the principle of work and energy in dynamics. The simulation results are compared with those obtained using ANSYS code with a good agreement.