Local design, testing and manufacturing of small mixed airfoil wind turbine blades of glass fiber reinforced plastics Part I: Design of the blade and root

Wind energy has attracted a great deal of attention in recent years in Jordan as one of the possible alternative renewable energy resources. Almost of the local research and development activities in this field were directed to explore, develop, and optimal utilization of energy systems. The time has come to establish a link between local scientific (academic) work and local industries to produce a usable technology which will increase the local share in an inevitably emerging wind energy industry in Jordan. To achieve this goal, a well founded manufacturing base is required. The most important component of a Wind Energy Converter is the rotor. The efficiency of a rotor is characterized by its profile (airfoil section) and the corresponding aerodynamic design. A selection procedure of airfoil section and the aerodynamic design of the blade for a small wind turbine are discussed and implemented in this paper (Part I). It is found that for small blades up to 5 m long, two different air foils mixed at the outer third of the span will be sufficient and demonstrated good strength and aerodynamic characteristics. As a composite material, the Glass Fiber Reinforced Plastic was used in designing the rotor blade. This rotor was then installed on 15 kW grid-connected-pitch-controlled machine. A static proof load test indicated that this blade could withstand loads ten times the normal working thrust, and a field performance test showed that the rotor blade has a 41.2% measured average power coefficient. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.