Mechanics, stochastics and control with code-coupling: system-of-multibody-systems point-of-view to optimize offshore/in-land farms of windturbines with flexible blades

• Grant number: 20/13362-1
• Support Opportunities: Research Projects - Thematic Grants
• Start date: December 01, 2020
• End date: February 28, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Civil Engineering - Structural Engineering
• Agreement: ANR
• Principal Investigator: Paulo de Mattos Pimenta
• Grantee: Paulo de Mattos Pimenta
• Principal researcher abroad: Adnan Ibrahimbegovic
• Institution abroad: Université de Technologie de Compiègne (UTC), France
• Host Institution: Escola Politécnica (EP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Pesquisadores principais: Alfredo Gay Neto ; Eduardo de Morais Barreto Campello
• Associated researchers: Celso Jaco Faccio Júnior ; Cinthia Andreia Garcia Sousa ; Gustavo Canário Gomes ; Matheus Lucci Sanchez

Abstract

With quest for renewable energy, European Community has launched the grand challenge of delivering the wind-turbine installations that can provide 10MW electric power per year, which doubles the current maximal capacity in Europe. The main objective of this proposal is to make such an increase feasible by exploring the system point of view with wind-turbine farms and technological innovations of blades as flexible structures or multibody systems. We seek to (significantly) improve upon currently dominant system of wind-turbines with stiff blades, developed for offshore locations (in Denmark and Northern Germany) that offer near optimal conditions with steady winds. For many other in-land locations, this system is far from optimal performance, mostly sitting idle waiting for operational wind speed. The objective of bringing the optimal performance of wind turbines for variable wind speeds at both in-land and offshore locations offers clear benefits with direct interest for both France and Brazil, given their long coastal lines and large agricultural inland locations. Accelerating innovation in this domain requires development of novel predictive modeling and validation tools for both Structure and Fluid Mechanics, along with their Interaction, seeking the synergy between methods that are mostly developed separately in France by two research communities, Mechanics and Applied Mathematics. Moreover, we propose approach that relies upon an excellence domain at UTC referred to system-of-systems, which holds a significant potential for breakthrough in providing reliable estimates of wind resources in Stochastic framework and corresponding Control of large overall motion due to variable wind speeds. We seek to accelerate innovations in wind-turbine with flexible blades technology by development of the novel predictive tools that combine the nonlinear mechanics (large overall motion, multiscale damage and failure criteria for flexible turbine blades, error estimates and long-term integration schemes for FSI), stochastics (stochastic quantification of loads through inverse problem solution by Bayesian inference) and control (motion stability by passive control, optimized wind-turbine farms). In the particular context, the overall challenge is to design an integrated approach to advanced operation of a wind turbine and/or farm, to improve performance for new and operating wind power plants with turbine-centric controls that reduce the failure rate and decrease operation and maintenance cost. (AU)

Scientific publications

(8)

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

FACCIO, CELSO JACO; NETO, ALFREDO GAY; WRIGGERS, PETER. Spline-based smooth beam-to-beam contact model. COMPUTATIONAL MECHANICS, v. 72, n. 4, p. 30-pg., 2023-03-29. (20/13362-1)

FACCIO JR, CELSO JACO; NETO, ALFREDO GAY; WRIGGERS, PETER. Numerical strategy for solving general C¹-continuous beam-to-beam contact problems. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL METHODS IN ENGINEERING, v. 125, n. 5, p. 26-pg., 2023-11-20. (20/13362-1)

DE ALMEIDA, ISADORA TOLEDO; LAPA, GABRIEL VICENTIN PEREIRA; NETO, ALFREDO GAY; DE ALMEIDA, SERGIO FRASCINO MUELLER. Design and extreme structural analysis of wind turbine blades: Beam and shell model comparison and discussion for a 10-MW reference turbine. ENGINEERING STRUCTURES, v. 334, p. 14-pg., 2025-07-01. (20/13362-1)

PIMENTA, PAULO M.; SANCHEZ, MATHEUS L.; IBRAHIMBEGOVIC, ADNAN. A simple geometrically exact finite element for thin shells: part 2-dynamics. COMPUTATIONAL MECHANICS, v. N/A, p. 20-pg., 2025-03-25. (20/13362-1)

SANCHEZ, MATHEUS L.; PIMENTA, PAULO M.; IBRAHIMBEGOVIC, ADNAN. A simple geometrically exact finite element for thin shells-Part 1: statics. COMPUTATIONAL MECHANICS, v. N/A, p. 21-pg., 2023-05-08. (20/13362-1)

WU, T. P.; PIMENTA, P. M.; WRIGGERS, P.. On triangular virtual elements for Kirchhoff-Love shells. ARCHIVE OF APPLIED MECHANICS, v. 94, n. 9, p. 34-pg., 2024-04-26. (20/13362-1)

FACCIO JR, CELSO JACO; NANDURDIKAR, VIJAY; NETO, ALFREDO GAY; HARISH, AJAY B.. Concurrent multiscale modelling of woven fabrics: Using beam finite elements with contact at mesoscale. FINITE ELEMENTS IN ANALYSIS AND DESIGN, v. 242, p. 18-pg., 2024-12-01. (20/13362-1)

LAPA, GABRIEL VICENTIN PEREIRA; NETO, ALFREDO GAY; FRANZINI, GUILHERME ROSA. Effects of blade torsion on IEA 15MW turbine rotor operation. RENEWABLE ENERGY, v. 219, p. 17-pg., 2023-11-01. (20/13362-1)