Short Course on Aerodynamic Blade Design
Steady-State Aerodynamics Codes for HAWTs:
Their Use in Blade Design and Related Issues
With An Emphasis on PROPID
Michael S. Selig, James L. Tangler, and Philippe Giguère
Monday August 2, 1999
8:30 am to noon (before the NREL Subcontractor Review Meeting)
National Wind Technology Center
Last update 7/21/99
Overview
The main objective for this short course on aerodynamic blade design
is to "learn by doing." Accordingly, the focus will be on
systematically using the computer program PROPID in a tradeoff study leading to a final
blade geometry. Several blade design examples will be used to achieve
this goal.
Background information on blade design methods, tradeoffs, and issues
will be covered. Following the working session with PROPID, a few
topics regarding airfoil data will be discussed to highlight its
impact on the blade design process. Finally, different approaches to
blade geometry optimization will be discussed, and an overview of the
companion code PROPGA will be given.
At the end of this short course, participants will be given the latest
version of PROPID and should have a working knowledge of these
topics:
- Balancing tradeoffs in blade design - aerodynamics, structures,
cost, and noise
- Understanding key design criteria for wind turbine airfoils
- Making appropriate airfoil selections for a particular blade
design
- Applying empirical post-stall models and understanding their
limitations
- Using the inverse and direct design capabilities of PROPID
- Preparing airfoil data sets for PROPID, including the
treatment of roughness effects
- Understanding the purpose of PROPGA in comparison with PROPID
A more detailed course outline follows.
Part I: Blade Design Methods and Issues
- Survey of steady-state aero-performance codes and methods
- Blade design tradeoffs and issues (aerodynamics, structures,
cost, and noise)
- Criteria for airfoil selection and NREL airfoils
- Post-stall models
Part II: PROPID
- Direct vs inverse design
- Inverse design capabilities of PROPID
- Blade design examples and working session
Part III: Airfoil Data
- PROPID airfoil data files and treatment of the data
- Computational vs experimental results
- Methods used to simulate leading-edge roughness
Part IV: Blade Geometry Optimization
- Approaches to optimization
- Overview of PROPGA
Part V: Summary
Afternoon Working Session with PROPID
To provide additional PROPID support, there will be another working
session from 1-4 pm on August 2. During this session, Philippe
Giguère will help participants work on blade design cases of
particular interest to them. Also, design cases will be suggested to
those who do not have a particular blade design problem at hand, but
would like additional practice with PROPID. The support will focus on
generating the PROPID input file(s) and running the code. Help in
generating the airfoil data file(s) will also be provided.
We recognized that some of the participants have already made travel
plans that might not allow them to attend the afternoon session, and
we apologize for the late notice. To ensure that all participants
have a chance to receive some help on blade design problems of their
own interest, technical support will be provided by Philippe
Giguère (giguere@uiuc.edu) until the end of August. More
information on this technical support will be provided at the end of
the course.
Instructors
Michael S. Selig
Associate Professor
Department of Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
James L. Tangler
Senior Scientist
National Wind Technology Center
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Philippe Giguère
Graduate Research Assistant
Department of Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Registration is Free with a limit on enrollment. A maximum of
10 computers will be available with preferably one person per
computer. If needed, computers will be shared by two people. The
participants are encouraged to bring their own laptop computer (with
Windows 95, 98 or NT), and those people will not count towards the
maximum enrollment.
A list of the people that have registered for the course is available
here. If you have registered for the course and that your name
does not appear in the list, please contact Philippe Giguère at
giguere@uiuc.edu or (303) 384-7095.
The extended registration deadline was July 21. Late registration
might be possible, especially for participants that will be bringing
their own laptop computer. Contact Philippe Giguère at
giguere@uiuc.edu or (303) 384-7095 to inquire about the possibility
for late registration. If late registration is possible, please fax
the registration form to Philippe
Giguère at (303) 384-6901
Contact
Any questions? Call or email Philippe Giguère at:
Phone: (303) 384-7095
Email: giguere@uiuc.edu
[Top]