Keywords

wind turbine, aeroelastic optimization, CFD, FEA, adjoint

Abstract

Large wind turbines yield more energy but demand careful aeroelastic blade design. Coupled multiphysics design strategies can reduce wind energy costs exploiting fluid-structure interactions. This work presents the first high-fidelity aerostructural optimization study of a large wind turbine rotor.We use blade-resolved fluid dynamics and structural solvers in a monolithic gradient-based optimization framework to explore steady-state torque and blade mass trade-offs. The coupled-adjoint approach computes gradients efficiently, enabling the optimization of over 100 structural and geometric parameters simultaneously. Our optimization study modifies a DTU 10 MW benchmark with a simplified structure and isotropic material properties. The tightly coupled optimizations increase torque by 14% while reducing rotor mass by 9% or reduce blade mass by 27% while maintaining torque. Blade-resolved models provide greater design freedom, enabling 5% higher mass reductions than conventional parametrizations at equal torque. This framework paves the way for more detailed high-fidelity optimization studies to complement conventional design approaches.

Original Publication Citation

Mangano, M., He, S., Liao, Y., Caprace, D.-G., Ning, A., and Martins, J. R. R. A., “Wind Turbine Rotor Design Using High-Fidelity Aerostructural Optimization,” AIAA Journal, Vol. 63, No. 9, pp. 3493–3513, Sep. 2025. doi:10.2514/1.J064556

Document Type

Peer-Reviewed Article

Publication Date

2025-9

Publisher

AIAA

Language

English

College

Ira A. Fulton College of Engineering

Department

Mechanical Engineering

University Standing at Time of Publication

Associate Professor

Download

Share

COinS