Case Study: Korea Aerospace University achieves accurate fabric-covered wind turbine blade validation with MSC Nastran from Hexagon

Structural Design, Analysis, and Testing of a 10 kW Fabric-Covered Wind Turbine Blade

Korea Aerospace University, in partnership with the Korea Institute of Energy Research, faced a significant challenge in wind turbine development. They were exploring a fabric-covered wind turbine blade design to reduce weight and cost, but this introduced complex structural engineering challenges regarding weight balance and maintaining buckling margins under load.

The university's team, led by Dr. Dong-Kuk Choi, used Hexagon's MSC Nastran software to perform advanced structural analysis on a 10 kW blade. This solution provided an accurate computational model to simulate the blade under various operating conditions. The results from Hexagon's MSC Nastran were validated against physical tests, showing an exceptionally close correlation with errors of less than 10%, including a 7.37% difference flapwise, confirming the blade's structural integrity and providing a reliable development platform for future renewable energy projects.

Korea Aerospace University

Dong-Kuk Choi

Korea Aerospace University