Solid Mechanics of Cross Flow Tidal Turbine Blades

Objective is to select a material and define a process to manufacture 1st generation test blades for UMaine’s experimental tidal turbine.

This project will focus on the material and manufacturing process with which to make the blades. The profile will be obtained from ongoing research presently being performed by graduate students at the University of Maine under the direction of Professor Michael L. Peterson.

The tidal turbine now has its first set of blades, 0th generation. These blades are standard NACA 63018 sections, made of 2 laminations of wood (poplar) glued together with west system epoxy and then coated with epoxy. While they have served their purpose for initial testing their design and manufacturing need substantial revision as the profile is refined. The 0th generation blades have proven to be somewhat problematic; they undergo excessive deflection as well as glue joint failure, especially at the trailing edge. In addition, the blade to hub connection is inadequate and allows the blades to rotate slightly under load significantly changing the angle of attack.

The end goal of this project is to allow viable full size blades to be designed and built for the ORPC turbine. The test turbine blades are an important stepping stone to this end and the methods developed during this project will facilitate further testing for this and other projects.