Finite element analysis with an improved failure criterion for composite wind turbine blades

Some interesting studies are made in this paper on the life management of a composite wind turbine blade. It presents the details of finite element modeling and validation, blade response under service loading conditions, power coefficient evaluation for the optimum design parameters of the blade configuration, development of failure envelope and fatigue life estimations. Finite element analysis results are found to be in good agreement with existing test results on a typical composite blade configuration. The failure envelope generated from the present modified failure criterion correlates well with the test results on different composite materials. The procedure adopted in this paper can be utilized for optimum design of large size composite wind turbine blades.