Study on Load Reduction of a Tidal Steam Turbine Using a Flapped Blade

Blades of tidal stream turbines have to sustain many different loads during operation in the underwater environment, so securing their structural safety is a key issue. In this study, we focused on periodic loads due to wave orbital motion and propose a load reduction method with a blade design. The flap of an airplane wing is a well-known structure designed to increase lift, and it can also change the load distribution on the wing through deflection. For this reason, we adopted a passive flap structure for the load reduction and investigated its effectiveness by an analytical method based on the blade element moment theory. Flap torsional stiffness required for the design of the passive flap can be obtained by calculating the flap moment based on the analytic method. Comparison between a flapped and a fixed blade showed the effect of the flap on load reduction in a high amplitude wave condition.