52nd AIAA/ASME/ASCE/AHS/ASC Structures, Structural Dynamics and Materials Conference<BR> 19th

4 - 7 April 2011, Denver, Colorado

AIAA 2011-1902

A Baseline Study and Calibration

for Multidisciplinary Design Optimization
of Hybrid Composite Wind Turbine Blade
Jin Woo Lee1, Sathya N. Gangadharan2 and Maj Mirmirani3
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, Florida, 32114

Preliminary baseline finite element (FE) model calibrations and evaluations are
developed to assist and guide multidisciplinary design optimization (MDO) of a large-scale
hybrid composite wind turbine blade. The weight, displacement, and failure index are
compared and used for calibration purposes. In addition, a cost estimation model is
calibrated for labor hour, as well as labor cost, material cost and total cost. Stability of
baseline wind turbine blade against harmonic resonance due to rotor rotation is validated by
finite element analysis (FEA). A MDO process is proposed using the calibrated FE and cost
estimation models. The MDO optimizes multiple objectives such as blade length, weight,
manufacturing cost, and power production. For this analysis, the turbine blade is divided
into regions and the sequence of hybrid laminate layup for each region is considered as
design variables. Extreme wind condition for rotor rotation and rotor stop condition is
considered as the applied load on the blade. The designed structural strength and stiffness
are demonstrated to withstand the loads due to harmonic excitation from rotor rotation. A
process of design procedure for obtaining an optimum hybrid composite laminate layup and
an optimum blade length of a wind turbine blade structure is developed in this research.

Nomenclature
B
E1
E2
G12
R
t
TSR
V
12

=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=

number of blades
modulus of elasticity in longitudinal direction (fiber direction)
modulus of elasticity in transverse direction (perpendicular to fiber direction)
shear modulus of ply
rotor radius
thickness
tip speed ratio
free stream wind speed
Poissons ratio
longitudinal failure stress compression
longitudinal failure stress tension
transverse failure stress compression
transverse failure stress - tension
in-plane shear failure stress
rotor rotation frequency
blade passing rate

Graduate Student, Department of Aerospace Engineering, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, AIAA Student
Member
2
Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, AIAA Associate
Fellow
3
Dean, College of Engineering, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, AIAA Associate Fellow
1
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Copyright 2011 by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc. All rights reserved.

I. Introduction
N recent years, the demand for renewable energy sources has been rapidly growing1 as a response to the need for
reducing the emission of greenhouse gases.2 Wind turbines are considered as one of the promising solutions for
generation of clean and renewable electricity. As the demand for wind energy has increased1,3, so has the demand
for developing technology to build and operate large-scale high capacity wind turbine generators3 with longer
turbine blades, as longer blades will sweep larger area and will harness more energy from the wind.
At present, conventional wind turbine blades are produced using glass/epoxy composite materials 4 because of
its high strength, light weight and reduced manufacturing cost. However, the use of glass/epoxy to build large scale
wind turbine blades has reached its limit, due to glass/epoxy5 stiffness and density characteristics. Graphite/epoxy is
a superior composite material for manufacturing wind turbine blades because it has higher strength and lower weight
characteristics. Although graphite/epoxy has better performance characteristics compared to glass/epoxy, the higher
cost (more than 10 times) of graphite/epoxy limits its practical applications.
Chamis et al.6 illustrated that hybrid composites, which are a combination of different composite materials, can
yield combined performance at reasonable cost. An accurate analysis will allow for identifying specific
combinations of separate composite materials to form a laminated structure known as a hybrid laminate composite
structure (HLCS). Precise design and incorporation of the HLCS in wind turbine blades could improve efficiency of
the system and reduce manufacturing costs. This research work presents a set of effective methods and processes for
the multidisciplinary design optimization of hybrid laminated composite-based wind turbine blade structures.

II. Method of Approach

Before setting up an optimization process, a baseline analysis is conducted to verify the validity of the FE
modeling procedure and FEA solver to check if they produce reasonable output. To calibrate FE modeling procedure,
a baseline model needs to be selected and the FEA results are then compared to the baseline model results. In this
research, SERI-8 wind turbine blade geometry is used and Ong and Tsais paper7 is used to compare and calibrate
the FE model. Moreover, the cost estimation model is calibrated in this research to get the cost of the blade for
various layup configurations.
A. Wind Turbine Blade Geometry Model
The SERI-8 wind turbine blade of the Ong and Tsais paper7 is used as baseline geometric model. SERI-8 is a
312 inch wind turbine blade designed by Solar Energy Research Institute. A set of airfoils, S806A, S805A, S807 and
S808 of SERI, are used along the longitudinal direction of the blade. The twist axis is located at 30% of chord and
the blade geometry data is listed in Table 1. The root of blade located at 25 inch location of rotor radius. The
geometry model is built in CATIA V5R208 and exported as .igs file so that FEA pre-processer can import the
geometry file.
Table 1. SERI-8 blade geometry data.7
Blade Radius (in) Rotor Radius (in) Blade Chord (in) Blade Twist (deg) Blade Thickness (in)
0
25
16.5
N/A
16.5
60
85
44.0
20
9.24
88.6
113.6
42.814
13.936
7.752
160.4
185.4
36.204
4.359
5.618
232.2
257.2
26.486
0.635
3.581
263.8
288.8
20.72
0.105
2.568
296
321
15.511
0
1.789
312
337
13
0
1.5

Airfoil Section
Circle, Root
S808, Max chord
S807
S805A/S807
S805A
S805A/S806A
S806A
S806A, Tip

B. Baseline Finite Element Model

The baseline finite element model blade model is divided into 13 sections in the span-wise direction. The length
of each section is 24 inch and the composite laminate layer sequences are defined independently for each section. A
spar is assumed to be placed at the blade axis from Station 2 to the tip of the blade. For the baseline blade model
(Ong et al7), the foam core is assumed as negligible. The original SERI-8 blade design had two ribs, located at 60
inch and 252 inch location from root, which are transition rib and blade/tip end rib, respectively. They were not
modeled to build same model of Ong and Tsais paper7. The material properties are shown in Table 2 and composite
2
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics

laminate layup is listed in Table 3. Because the density values are not provided in Ong and Tsais paper7, density
values are estimated based on surface area, layup thickness and weight value for each section and each different
layup case. FEMAP9 is used for pre and post processor and NX NASTRAN10 is used for FEA solver. The 2D
orthotropic PCOMP element type is used for meshing. One section has 28 elements along skin surface and one
element is used for spar per section. A total of 376 elements are meshed for the baseline FE model. The clamped
constraint is applied at root of the blade. When the steel root fitting is applied, one layer of steel ply is placed at
section 1 of skin surface. Ong et al7 did not mention clearly how the steel root fitting is applied in their paper.
However, thickness of the steel root fitting could be estimated from the weight difference between the case with
root fitting and the case without root fitting for the area of section 1 skin surface.

Table 2. Material properties of baseline model.

Material
Longitudinal Modulus, E1 (msi)
Transverse Modulus, E2 (msi)
In-plane Shear Modulus, G12 (msi)
Poisson's Ratio, 12
Longitudinal Failure Stress - Tension,
(ksi)
Longitudinal Failure Stress Compression,
(ksi)
Transverse Failure Stress - Tension,
(ksi)
Transverse Failure Stress Compression,
(ksi)
In-plane Shear Failure Stress,
(ksi)
Thickness, t (10-3 in)
Weight Density (lb/in3)
Cost ($/lb)

DDB340
(TRIAX)
3.93
1.64
0.94
0.3

C260
(Unidirectional)
6.14
1.41
0.94
0.3

1.1
1.1
0.94
0.3

CFRP
AS/H3501
20.0
1.3
1.03
0.3

AISI 4340
Steel
29
29
10.985
.32

88.2

103

19

209.8

215

53.1

49.8

20

209.8

240

13.6

2.3

19

7.5

215

15

2.3

20

29.9

240

15
15
0.085513
-

3.6
5
0.062757
1.2

13
5
0.010339
-

13.5
4.925
0.051548
13

156
154.792
0.283059
-

MAT

Table 3. Laminate layup of baseline model.

Station

Location (in)

Root 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Tip 13
Spar

0 - 24
24 - 48
48 - 72
72 - 96
96 - 120
120 - 144
144 - 168
168 - 192
192 - 216
216 - 240
240 - 264
264 - 288
288 - 312
30% of Chord

Number of Plies of Glass Fiber Model

MAT
TRIAX
C260
2
4
75 (90)
2
4
40 (0)
2
4
60 (0)
2
3
80 (0)
2
3
70 (0)
2
2
55 (0)
2
2
55 (0)
2
2
42 (0)
2
2
30 (0)
2
2
30 (0)
2
2
25 (0)
2
2
25 (0)
2
6
0
0
4
0

Number of Plies of Carbon Fiber Model

MAT
TRIAX
AS/H3501
2
4
75 (90)
2
4
12 (0)
2
4
19 (0)
2
3
25 (0)
2
3
22 (0)
2
2
17 (0)
2
2
17 (0)
2
2
13 (0)
2
2
9 (0)
2
2
9 (0)
2
2
7 (0)
2
2
7 (0)
2
6
0
0
4
0

3
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics

C. FE Model Calibration
Ong et al7 provided weight, displacement and failure index results in their paper. Those responses are the major
response which will be monitored in optimization procedure for objective or constraint. Thus, weight, displacement
and failure index results of Ong et al7 and FEMAP with NX NASTRAN are compared and calibrated.
910 lb point load is applied at tip of the blade to flapping direction to validate displacement. Laminate layup of
glass fiber model is used for displacement validation and both with steel root fitting and without steel root fitting
cases are analyzed.
To validate failure index, multiple nodal forces equivalent to 70 m/sec wind speed load is applied along the spar
to flapping direction. The steel root fitting is applied and carbon fiber model layup is used for this case. Ong et al7
did not mention the particular failure criterion used in their paper. Tsai-Wu failure criterion is assumed to be used in
this research for failure index calibration.
Table 4. 70 m/sec wind speed condition distributed nodal force for baseline FE model.
Location (in)
24
48
72
96
120
144
168
192
216
240
264
288
312

Applied Load (lb)

409.9644
637.7224
754.4484
731.6726
700.3559
657.6512
612.0996
558.0071
498.2206
438.4342
370.1068
301.7794
133.8078

D. Cost Estimation Model Calibration

To use cost estimation model, the cost estimation process also needs to be calibrated. In this research, SEERMfg11 with SEER-Aerostructures12 cost estimation software is used to estimate manufacturing cost. Aero Composite
Operations work element of SEER-Mfg with SEER-Aerostructures is used to estimate the detailed composite
structure cost. This work element allows to estimate cost of composite structure for various layup sequences and for
various material placement methods. In Ong and Tsais paper7, six different layup cases were made to replace glass
fiber with carbon fiber by various percentages (0%, 20%, 40%, 60%, 80% and 100%). The labor hour, labor cost,
material cost and total cost of each blade laminate layup is taken from Ong and Tsais paper7 and used for calibration
of the SEER-Mfg cost model.
A series of assumptions are defined to setup input parameters of SEER-Mfg and replicate the cost estimation
process provided in Ong and Tsais paper7. Total manufacturing cost can be estimated using Eq. (1)13. However,
because Ong et al.7 neglected tooling cost, the tooling cost was not included for cost estimation model calibration.
(1)
The total labor hour of SEER-Mfg is calibrated to non-scaled total labor hour of Ong and Tsais paper7. Ong et
al scaled their taping labor hour by taking 10% of original taping labor hour and by adding other labor hours
without scaling, which include consolidation and finishing labor hours (9.1 hours for each layup case). To apply
labor hour fitting on SEER-Mfg total labor hour estimation result, the same procedure as mentioned in Ong and
Tsais paper7 is used. The labor cost could be estimated by Eq. (2) 13 for both non-scaled labor cost and scaled
labor cost. The labor rate of $65/hour provided in Ong and Tsais paper7 is used.
7

(2)
For material cost, not only the SEER-Mfg material cost, but also the theoretical material cost is estimated using
Eq. (3)13. Only the material costs for C260 and CFRP are considered in the cost estimation process as they are
provided in the Ong and Tsais paper7.
4
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics

(3)
Following options and assumptions are applied additionally as input parameters. Hand layup method is used for
material placement as focused by Ong et al7. The cost of section 1 and section 13 are not considered in cost
estimation calibration because Ong et al7 considered only the sections where they replaced C260 to CFRP.
Production quantity is assumed as 3000 units. Production experience/optimization is assumed as expert construction.
Product classification is assumed as a high level product. Mechanization is assumed as high. Shape complexity is
assumed as average. Manufacturing excess is assumed as 1 inch.
E. Modal Analysis
Another response which will be used for constraint in optimization process is the natural frequency of the blade
model. If the excitation frequency due to rotation of each blade and overall rotor rotation equals the natural
frequency of the blade, the failure of the blade could result due to resonance conditions.
The rotor rotation frequency (
) can be calculated using Eq. (4)14, and the blade passing rate (
) which is
the excitation frequency due to rotation of each blade, can be found using Eq. (5)15 as shown below:
(4)
(5)
Generally, three blades are used for a wind turbine rotor and tip speed ratio (TSR) is set to 7 because of the
efficiency of power generation14. The average operating condition for the rotor is set at a wind speed of 10 m/sec.
The evaluation is performed for both glass fiber model and carbon fiber model with root fitting if the first 5 modes
interfere with the excitation frequencies within 10% of the rotor rotational RPM corresponding to the average wind
speed. Moreover, mode separation is evaluated irrespective of whether each mode meets the 5% frequency
constraint or not.

III. Preliminary Results and Discussions

A. FE Model Calibration Results
The blade weight for different layup sequences are compared for both Ong and Tsais paper7 and FEMAP FE
model in Fig. 1. The average percent difference was 0.68%. The overall weight of FEMAP FE model is slightly
under estimated because of the linearized mesh.
500
450
400
Weight (lb)

350
300
250

Ong et al

200

FEMAP

150
100
50
0
0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

C260 Replacement %
Figure 1. Weight comparison of baseline blade models.

5
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics

The displacement results to flapping direction of Ong and Tsais paper7 and FEA result are compared in Fig. 2.
The percent difference results of tip of blade were less than 5%.

Displacement to Flapping Direction (in)

16
Ong et al, No Root Fitting
14

NASTRAN, No Root Fitting

12

Ong et al, with Root Fitting

NASTRAN, with Root Fitting

10
8
6
4
2
0
1

7
8
9
10
11
Sections
Figure 2. Displacement comparison of baseline blade models.

12

13

14

The failure analysis using Tsai-Wu criterion resulted 0.535 for NASTRAN while Ong et al. had 0.5. The percent
difference was 7%.
B. Cost Estimation Model Calibration Results
The material cost for different percent of C260 material replacement cases are plotted in Fig. 3. The theoretical
material cost and the material cost estimated by SEER-Mfg had less than 4% average percent difference. However,
the material cost of Ong et al. increased drastically with the percentage increase of CFRP. This is because Ong et al.
estimated the material cost based on volume ratio for different percentage of C260 material rather than the estimate
from the actual weight of each layup case.
3500

Material Cost ($)

3000
2500
2000
Ong et al.
1500

SEER-Mfg
Theory

1000
500
0
0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Percent of Unidirectional Glass Replacement

Figure 3. Material cost comparison of baseline blade models.
6
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics

The labor hour and the labor cost of both non-scaled labor hour and scaled labor hour cases are plotted in Fig 4
and Fig. 5 respectively. The average percent difference of labor hour of non-scaled case was less than 5% and scaled
case was less than 4%. The labor cost of Fig. 5 had less than 5% average percent difference for both non-scaled and
scaled cases.
450

Total Labor Hour (Hr)

400
350
300
250

Ong et al.

200

SEER-Mfg
Fitted Ong et al.

150

Fitted SEER-Mfg
100
50
0
0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Percent of Unidirectional Glass Replacement

Figure 4. Labor hour comparison of baseline blade models.

30000

Total Labor Cost ($)

25000

20000
Ong et al.
15000

SEER-Mfg
Fitted Ong et al.

10000

Fitted SEER-Mfg

5000

0
0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Percent of Unidirectional Glass Replacement

Figure 5. Labor cost comparison of baseline blade models.
7
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics

The total manufacturing costs are compared in Fig 6. The average percent difference of non-scaled total cost and
SEER-Mfg was 3%. The average percent difference between the sum of Ong et al. labor cost and theoretical
material cost when compared with the SEER-Mfg cost was less than 4%. For the scaled case, average percent
difference between the sum of Ong et al.s labor cost and theoretical material cost when compared with the SEERMfg cost was less than 4%. However, because of overshoot of the material cost of Ong and Tsais paper7, the
average percent difference exceeded 19%.
30000

25000
Ong et al.

Total Cost ($)

20000
Ong et al. Labor + Theory
Material
15000

SEER-Mfg
Fitted Ong et al.

10000
Fitted Ong et al. Labor +
Theory Material
5000

Fitted SEER-Mfg

0
0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Percent of Unidirectional Glass Replacement

Figure 6. Total cost comparison of baseline blade models.

C. Modal Analysis Results

The first 5 natural frequencies of the baseline blade FE model for both glass fiber model and carbon fiber model
are shown in Table 5. The Campbell diagram of Fig. 7 and Fig. 8 shows that the first 5 modes of baseline blade
model are separated by more than 5% tolerance bandwidth. Moreover, both the rotor rotation and the blade pass rate
excitations do not interfere with any natural frequencies for both cases in 10% of the average wind speed operation
regions.

Table 5. SERI-8 baseline blade model natural frequencies.

Modes
1
2
3
4
5

Glass Fiber Model (Hz)

5.5432
11.3921
15.5955
23.9767
27.5076

Carbon Fiber Model (Hz)

6.8880
11.2034
15.7837
19.9301
22.0536

8
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics

30

N=1
N=2
N=3
Mode1-5%

25

Mode1
Mode1+5%
Mode2-5%
Mode2

Frequency (Hz)

20

Mode2+5%
Mode3-5%
Mode3
Mode3+5%

15

Mode4-5%
Mode4
Mode4+5%
Mode5-5%

10

Mode5
Mode5+5%
Operation Start

Operation Start +10%

12m/s WindSpeed -10%
10 m/s Wind Speed
12m/s WindSpeed +10%

Operation End -10%

50

100
150
Rotor RPM

200

250

Operation End

Figure 7. Campbell diagram of glass fiber baseline blade model.

25

N=1
N=2
N=3
Mode1-5%
Mode1

20

Mode1+5%
Mode2-5%

Frequency (Hz)

Mode2
Mode2+5%

15

Mode3-5%
Mode3
Mode3+5%
Mode4-5%
Mode4

10

Mode4+5%
Mode5-5%
Mode5
Mode5+5%
Operation Start

Operation Start +10%

10m/s WindSpeed -10%
10 m/s Wind Speed
10m/s WindSpeed +10%

Operation End -10%

50

100
150
Rotor RPM

200

250

Figure 8. Campbell diagram of carbon fiber baseline blade model.

9
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics

Operation End

IV. Conclusion
The baseline study and calibration of hybrid composite FE model is calibrated in this research. All of the weight,
displacement and failure index results produced by FEMAP with NX NASTRAN are matched very well with the
results of Ong and Tsais paper7. Thus, it can be said that the FE model is well calibrated. Based on this FE model
calibration, the FE model can be used for future optimization processes.
The cost estimation model is calibrated in this research. The cost estimation using SEER-Mfg replicate the labor
hour, labor cost and total cost results of Ong and Tsais paper7. For material cost, SEER-Mfg estimated more
reasonable results than Ong and Tsais paper7. The cost estimation model using SEER-Mfg is validated to be
implemented in the optimization process.
Moreover, the natural frequency of the FE model is validated in this research. This FEA evaluated that the
baseline FE models are safe from harmonic excitation frequencies from wind turbine rotor rotation. This evaluation
procedure will be applied in the MDO processes.

V. Future Work
In future work, a set of optimization process will be setup and will be evaluated if the optimizer has enough
capability to produce an optimum design. In the future, succeeding the preliminary design optimization, MDO of
wind turbine blade will be performed. The MDO processes will include change of scale of wind turbine blade model
and multiple objectives such as minimize weight, minimize cost, maximize profit and maximize energy production.

Acknowledgments
The authors thank Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University for technical resources, lab facilities and modeling
software. The authors also thank Dr. Somanath Nagendra for all his continuous support and help throughout the
course of this research.

References
1

Annual Energy Review 2009, U.S. Energy Information Administration, Report No. DOE/EIA-0384(2009), URL:
http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/aer/renew.html [cited 9 March 2011].
2
D. Jacobson and C. High, Wind Energy and Air Emission Reduction Benefits: A Primer, National Renewable Energy
Laboratory, NREL/SR-500-42616, February 2008,
URL:.http://www.windpoweringamerica.gov/pdfs/policy/wind_air_emissions.pdf [cited 9 March 2011].
3
Ryan Wiser and Mark Bolinger, 2009 Wind Technologies Market Report, US Department of Energy Energy Efficiency &
Renewable Energy, DOE/GO-102010-3107, August 2010, URL:
http://www1.eere.energy.gov/windandhydro/pdfs/2009_wind_technologies_market_report.pdf [cited 9 March 2011].
4
Dan Ancona and Jim McVeigh, Wind Turbine Materials and Manufacturing Fact Sheet, Princeton Energy Resources
International, LLC, August 29, 2001
5
Karan Mason, Carbon/Glass Hybrids Used in Composite Wind Turbine Rotor Blade Design, Composite World, April 1,
2004, URL: http://www.compositesworld.com/articles/carbonglass-hybrids-used-in-composite-wind-turbine-rotorblade-design [cited 9 March 2011].
6
C. C. Chamis and R. F. Lark, Hybrid Composites State-of-The-Art Review: Analysis, Design, Application and
Fabrication, NASA, 1977.
7
Cheng-Huat Ong and Stephen W. Tsai, The Use of Carbon Fibers in Wind Turbine Blade Design, Stanford University,
Sandia National Laboratoris, SAND2000-0478, 2000.
8
CATIA, Ver 5 R20, Dassault Systems, Lowell, MA, 2010
9
FEMAP, Ver 10.2.0, Siemens Product Lifecycle Management Software Inc., Washington DC, 2010
10
NX NASTRAN, Ver 7.1, Siemens Product Lifecycle Management Software Inc., Washington DC, 2010
11
SEER-Mfg, Ver 6.1.18, Galorath Inc. El Segundo, CA, 2010
12
SEER-Aerostructures, Ver 3.1.16, Galorath Inc. El Segundo, CA, 2010
13
C. Poli, Design for Manufacturing: A Structured Approach, Butterworth-Heinemann, 2001
14
David M. Eggleston, Forrest S. Stoddard, Wind Turbine Engineering Design, Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, 1987
15
Brian Peterson, Marty Pollack, Benjamin Connell, David Greeley, Dwight Davis, Charles Slavik and Benjamin Goldman,
Evaluate The Effect of Turbine Period of Vibration Requirements on Structural Design Parameters: Technical Report of
Findings, Applied Physical Sciences Corp., M10PC00066-8, September 1, 2010.

10
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics