Stability Analysis of a Composite VAWT Blade Under Operating Conditions

As a key wind turbine component, the blade structure must be designed to withstand local environmental conditions encountered during lifetime of wind turbine. This paper focuses on the static behavior of a small-scale composite blade for vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) through finite element analysis (FEA). The design feasibility of the blade structure is confirmed by evaluating the displacement and stress. Static analysis is performed in which it is subjected to a combination of gravitational, wind and centrifugal loads with the help of SOLIDWORKS SIMULATION package. The results indicate that the blade studied works steadily and has good mechanical properties according to maximum values of von Mises stresses and displacements.