Blade Geometry Optimization for the Design of Wind Turbine Rotors

This paper describes a blade geometry optimization method for wind turbine rotors in which considerations are given to aerodynamics, structures, noise, and cost. An existing computer program named PROPGA, which is a genetic-algorithm based optimization method for wind turbines, provided part of the foundation for this work. The objective was to develop and implement structures and costs modeling into PROPGA, and enhance its efficiency and overall capabilities including multi-objective optimization. The structure of the blades is modeled, and cost considerations are given to all main wind turbine components. Each cost model is based on a baseline design, which can be of different concept and size than that of the optimized rotors. Overall, the proposed method is an efficient engineering tool to design new or retrofit blades for minimum cost of energy as well as obtaining trade-off curves between competing design objectives.