Okokpujie I P, Okonkwo U C, Bolu C A, Ohunakin O S, Agboola M G, Atayero A A
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Covenant University, Ota, Ogun State, Nigeria.
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, PMB 5025, Awka, Nigeria.
Heliyon. 2020 Jan 2;6(1):e03142. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2019.e03142. eCollection 2020 Jan.
The material selection process for producing a horizontal axis wind turbine blade for sustainable energy generation is a vital issue when using Nigeria as a case study. Due to the challenge faced with the low wind speed variations. However, this paper focuses on implementing MCDM for the material selection process for a suitable material for developing a horizontal wind turbine blade. This paper used a quantitative research approach using AHP and TOPSIS multi-criteria decision method. The study put into consideration the environmental conditions for the material selection process when designing the questionnaire. The authors extracted the data used for the selection process from the 130 research questionnaire distributed to materials engineers and renewable energy professionals. This research considered four alternatives that is, aluminum alloy, stainless steel, glass fiber, and mild steel to determine the best material for the wind turbine blade. Also, the model has four criteria and eight sub-criteria used for developing the pair-wise matrix and the performance score used for the ranking process of the alternatives. The result shows that a consistency index of 0.056 and a consistency ratio of 0.062 gotten via the AHP method is workable for material selection practice. 78%, 43%, 67%, and 25% are the performance scores for the four alternatives via the TOPSIS techniques. In conclusion, aluminum alloy is the best material, followed by glass fibre. Therefore, the decision-makers recommended aluminum alloy; hence, manufacturers should apply aluminum alloy to develop the wind turbine blade for sustainable energy generation.
以尼日利亚为案例研究时，生产用于可持续能源发电的水平轴风力涡轮机叶片的材料选择过程是一个至关重要的问题。由于面临低风速变化的挑战。然而，本文重点关注在水平风力涡轮机叶片开发中为合适材料的选择过程实施多准则决策法（MCDM）。本文采用了使用层次分析法（AHP）和逼近理想解排序法（TOPSIS）多准则决策方法的定量研究方法。该研究在设计调查问卷时考虑了材料选择过程的环境条件。作者从分发给材料工程师和可再生能源专业人员的130份研究问卷中提取了用于选择过程的数据。本研究考虑了四种备选材料，即铝合金、不锈钢、玻璃纤维和低碳钢，以确定风力涡轮机叶片的最佳材料。此外，该模型有四个准则和八个子准则，用于建立成对比较矩阵以及用于备选方案排序过程的性能得分。结果表明，通过层次分析法获得的一致性指标为0.056，一致性比率为0.062，适用于材料选择实践。通过逼近理想解排序法技术，四种备选材料的性能得分分别为78%、43%、67%和25%。总之，铝合金是最佳材料，其次是玻璃纤维。因此，决策者推荐使用铝合金；因此，制造商应应用铝合金来开发用于可持续能源发电的风力涡轮机叶片。
