ABSTRACT
The work reported in this chapter reveals a modal analysis of the blade of a wind turbine. In the present investigation, a blade for a wind turbine with the capacity of 5 kW is under consideration. The aerofoil profile of NACA 4412 is generated using the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) coding and used throughout the length of the blade from root to tip. The geometrical specifications of blade are blade length: 2500 mm, root chord length: 330 mm, tip chord length: 130 mm, hub diameter: 67.5 mm, and root-to-hub length: 300 mm. A three-dimensional model of the wind turbine blade was generated using the Ansys Design Modeler. The modal analysis was carried out using Ansys codes. The blade of the wind turbine is considered to be a cantilever beam. All the six degrees of freedom at the hub section of the blade were constrained in this analysis. The composite blade was subjected to various combinations of loadings, including aerodynamic load, axial force, and centrifugal force. The other end was free (tip chord). The aim of the work was to find the natural frequency for a different number of mode shapes. This chapter only represents a computational modal analysis of a wind turbine blade. However, work regarding the experimental validation of the modal analysis is not reported.
