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wind turbine swept area
The area through which the rotor blades of a wind
turbine spin, as seen when directly facing the center of the rotor
blades. The power output of a wind turbine is directly related to the
swept area of its blades. The larger the diameter of its blades, the more
power it is capable of extracting from the wind. The larger the blades,
the stronger they need to be to withstand the higher levels of centrifugal
and cyclic varying gravitational loads. With a 31m (100 ft) blade weighing
around 4.5 tonnes and a 54m (177 ft) blade weighing around 13 tonnes the
weight of the blade is not proportional to the size and power rating of
the machine. Each extra meter of length requires extra strength and adds
further to the structures weight and so compounds the problem. Furthermore,
the bending moments across the swept area of the blade can vary considerably
with a possible difference of several meters a second in wind speeds between
the top and the bottom of the blades rotation. This all adds up to a substantial
increase in fatigue, not only in the blade structure but the machines hub,
bearing, drive shaft and support tower.
Related category
• WIND
POWER
Source: European Commission
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