The design of large and lightweight wind turbines is a current challenge in the wind energy industry. In this context, this work aims to present a novel methodology to reduce the mass of composite wind turbine blades by combining evolutionary and topology optimization schemes in a staggered mode. First, the optimal laminate layout in the outer shell skin of the blade is determined by using genetic algorithms and by assuming that the shear webs are fully dense. Considering this optimized shell skin, the material is removed from the shear webs by using topology optimization. In both cases, the blade is assumed to be subjected to an extreme load scenario, with constraints on the tip displacement, the stresses, the natural vibration frequencies, and buckling phenomena. As an extra feature, the methodology integrates the inverse finite element method to recover the aerodynamically efficient shape of the blade when it is working in normal load scenario as well as to increase the tower clearance safety margin under the extreme load scenario. To illustrate the performance of the methodology, the design of a 28.5-m composite blade is presented. Results show mass savings of up to 23% and a significant increase of the tower clearance safety margin. Furthermore, it is observed that after the classical genetic optimization of the shell skin, there is still margin to achieve additional mass savings via topology optimization of the shear webs without compromising the structural response of the blade.

大型和轻型风力涡轮机的设计是风能行业中的当前挑战。在这种情况下，这项工作旨在提出一种新颖的方法，通过以交错模式组合进化和拓扑优化方案来减少复合风力涡轮机叶片的质量。首先，通过使用遗传算法并假设剪切腹板是完全致密的，来确定叶片外壳表面的最佳层压板布局。考虑到这种优化的外壳蒙皮，可通过使用拓扑优化从剪切腹板上除去材料。在这两种情况下，都假定叶片承受了极端载荷，并受到叶尖位移，应力，固有振动频率和屈曲现象的限制。作为一项额外功能，该方法集成了逆有限元方法，以恢复叶片在正常负载情况下工作时的空气动力学有效形状，并在极端负载情况下增加塔间隙安全裕度。为了说明该方法的性能，提出了28.5米复合材料刀片的设计。结果表明，最高可节省23％的质量，并且显着提高了塔间隙安全裕度。此外，可以观察到，在对外壳表面进行经典的遗传优化之后，仍然有余地可以通过抗剪腹板的拓扑优化实现额外的质量节省，而不会损害叶片的结构响应。