Generative Design in Development of Mechanical Components for Magnus Effect-Based Wind Turbine

The goal of the work is to study application of generative design in wind energy systems and components mass optimization of the experimental wind generator. Optimization is made for cylinder flange and bearing housing of Magnus effect-based wind turbine. The paper present optimization procedure methodology and comparison to initial parts of the studied wind turbine in terms of mass and inertia. The analysis shows that generative design is a viable tool for optimizing parts for electromechanical applications with its main disadvantage of requirements for complex manufacturing techniques, such as additive manufacturing. The case study optimization shows the significant mass reduction of studied components, the mass of bearing housing part was reduced by 51% and the mass of flange by 49%.

I. Introduction

The generative design presents a relatively new approach to creating and optimizing mechanical components, based on evolutionary algorithms [1]. While the theoretical basis for the generative design was established in late 20^th century [2], the method became widely available only a few years ago, thanks to the increasing computational power of personal computers, progress in CAD software [3] and manufacturing technologies [4] as well as access to cloud computing which helps to perform complex simulations required for this method.