For users of ANSYS 15.0, please check this link for procedures for turning on the Auto Constraint feature before creating sketches in DesignModeler. |
We will save you some time and effort by providing you the geometry file for this tutorial. Please download the blade geometry right here. The blade was created right in Design Modeler and has the file extension .agdb which stands for DesignModeler Database.
Note: If you ever want to learn how to CAD your own wind turbine blade in SolidWorks, we recommend you take a look at this very nice guide! Credits to Nathaniel Gilbert, former Cornell MAE M.Eng student.
In the following video we show you how to import this file and we explain important features of this geometry.
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In this video, we show you how to correctly orient the blade given the pitch angle specification and we show you how to translate the blade so that the global axis becomes at center of rotation (center of hub).
It is not necessary to have strong background in wind power technology to follow this tutorial since it is mostly a tutorial about how to perform an FSI simulation in ANSYS. However, have a basic understanding of wind turbine blade design and aerodynamics is suggested. It would be a good idea to know why blades are twisted for example. The following video starts with a brief statement on how blades are oriented but it might be difficult to understand if you have never been exposed to this material. I found two good brief introductions on wind turbine blade design and I strongly suggest you spend a few minutes learning the basics of this fascinating topic.
LearnEngineering - Wind Turbine Blade Design (Basic introduction, the video is very good)
Schubel, P., & Crossley, R. (2012). Wind Turbine Blade Design Review. Wind Engineering, 365-388. (A more thorough introduction)
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Summary of steps in the above video:
In the following video, we close off all opening then make a solid body to represent the volume of the blade, out of the current surface bodies.
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Summary of steps in the above video:
We now draw the fluid volume.
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Summary of steps in the above video:
Finally, we do a Boolean subtraction to remove the blade volume from the fluid geometry.
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Summary of steps in the above video:
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