The blades of a wind turbine spin due to a liftforce similarto that of an air plane wing. The magnitude ofthe liftforce isrelated to the velocity vector (both speed and direction are important).
Let's explore these vectorsfor a 2 MW wind turbine. Each blade is 40 m long. Determine:
(a) the velocity vector atthe tip of the blade assuming the incoming wind speed is 8m/s and the turbine isrotating at 2radians/sec
(b)the speed ofthe tip ofthe blade, and
(c)the angle ofthe velocity vector from the direction ofthe wind speed (Hint: select axes that make this angle calculation straightforward).
Instead of exploring the velocity vector at the blade tip, explore the midpoint. Then, resolve this vector into parallel and perpendicular components of the tip vector as previously.