Numerical study on the stability of thin-wall laminate composites (Research Proposal Sample)

Numerical study on the stability of thin-wall laminate composites by [Name] Course Professor’s Name Institution Location of Institution Date Numerical study on the stability of thin-wall laminate composites Introduction Background of the study Wind turbines are devices developed to convert the kinetic energy from the wind into electrical energy (Wilches-Bernal et al., 2015). The blades in wind turbines play a significant role in supporting the turbines’ functionality by driving the generator after converting the wind’s horizontal force to rotational force (Wymore et al., 2015). Wind turbines have a tower lifted to a height of 0.917 meters and a rotor with a diameter of 0.894 meters. The development and implementation of new wind turbines are associated with increasing the number of wind farms and increased demand for wind energy. According to Martínez‐Tossas et al. (2015), the previous utility-scale wind turbines extended to a greater distance into the layer of atmospheric boundaries. Therefore, wind turbine designers must understand the interaction between the turbines, their wakes, and the atmospheric boundary layer. Turbulent wakes significantly affect the upstream turbines, changing the field flow, leading to increased mechanical loading and decreased power production (Martínez‐Tossas et al., 2015). As a result, numerical simulations are complementary experiments that significantly help in comprehending the wind turbine flow. Longer wind turbine blades are designed with carbon fiber reinforced polymers (CFRP) to reduce weight and increase their strength (Wymore et al., 2015). According to Wymore et al. (2015), the cost of CFRP is higher compared to glass fiber reinforced polymers for small blades having and length of approximately 40 meters. However, Jia et al. (2018) indicated that CFRP composites are increasingly and widely used in wind energy production firms, aerospace, naval and civil applications where they encounter frequent and hard temperatures and dynamic loads. Wind turbines made of CFRP have better long-term stability due to the carbon fiber properties, including effective corrosion resistance, lower thermal expansion, and greater fatigue resistance (Jia et al., 2018). These properties make CFRP composites widely adopted to create wind turbines that can operate under extreme temperature conditions. Additionally, carbon fiber is stiffer and stronger, thus making the wind turbines to be strong and maintain high stability in extreme conditions and the regularly changing loads. Based on the study of Mishnaevsky et al. (2017), blades made from carbon fibers are considered alternative solutions to replace glass fiber. This is because CFRP composites have lower density and higher stiffness, and thus they allow the development of lighter, stiffer, thinner blades. Furthermore, contrary to the assertions of Wymore et al. (2015), Mishnaevsky et al. (2017) noted that although CFRP is expensive, they have the ultimate strain, compressive strength, and significantly low damage tolerance. Therefore, a significantly reduced fatigue sensitivity and stiffness makes CFRP ideal solutions for creating wind turbine blades longer than 45 meters (Hao et al., 2020). Hao et al. (2020) indicated that if the total mass is reduced by approximately 30 percent, carbon fibers can be used to made wind turbine blades as long as 100 meters. As a result, the long-term stability and increased adoption of CFRP to make wind turbine blades show an opportunity to create more innovative blades, and this serves as the motivation for this project. Aims and objectives This study aims to create a ...