Analysis of alternative adaptive geometrical configurations for the NREL-5Â MW wind turbine blade

We have developed a novel computational tool for the aeroelastic analysis of wind-turbine blades, which allows a full representation of the flexo-torsional modes of deformation of the blade as a complex structural part and their effects on the aerodynamic loads. In this paper, we report some recent results we have obtained applying our code to the analysis of geometrical adaptive blades, taking full advantage of the coupled deformation modes that our aeroelastic code can represent. We analyze alternative blade configurations for the NREL-5 MW wind-turbine, optimizing the design to mitigate vibration and improve fatigue performance.