Simultaneous aerodynamic and structural reliability optimization of a low-speed wind turbine

This paper presents a reliability-based design optimization (RBDO) specifically applied to the design of low-speed wind turbines (LS-WT). The research explores the impact of uncertainty on optimum blade design by using metaheuristic (MH), integrating blade element momentum (BEM) theory for aerodynamic analysis and finite element analysis (FEA) for structural evaluation. Uncertainties, including tip speed ratio and allowable stresses, are modeled as truncated normal distribution. The multi-objective optimization problem is minimized total mass while maximized power output and the reliability index. Constraints include buckling factor, displacement, and the probability of failure. The optimum latin hypercube sampling (OLHS) is utilized to quantify uncertainty, compute the probability of failure, and reliability index. The distribution of uncertainties was investigated to assess its influence on optimum results. Findings show that reducing uncertainty levels enhances Pareto fronts while maintaining reliability index.