Case Study: NTS improves wind turbine lightning protection with COMSOL Multiphysics

NTS reduces wind turbine lightning design risk with Comsol simulations for 70-meter blades

The customer, NTS, a world leader in designing lightning protection systems, faced the challenge of accurately predicting how lightning current would flow through a wind turbine blade's composite structure. Inaccurate assumptions about current behavior were leading to potential design flaws, costly physical testing, and unplanned downtime for their clients. To address this, they utilized multiphysics simulation software from the vendor, Comsol.

Comsol's Multiphysics software enabled NTS engineers to create highly accurate models that accounted for the anisotropic conductivity of carbon fiber composites, a critical factor traditional isotropic assumptions missed. This solution provided deep insights into current flow, preventing both under- and over-engineering of the blades. The results from Comsol reduced program risk, saved considerable time and money by minimizing physical testing, and provided such reliable data that customers began making major business decisions based solely on the simulation outcomes.

NTS