Recent results from data analysis of dynamic stall on wind turbine blades

Conference · Wed Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1992

OSTI ID:10116827

Butterfield, C P; Simms, D ^[1]; Huyer, S ^[2]

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1. National Renewable Energy Lab., Golden, CO (United States)
2. Colorado Univ., Boulder, CO (United States)

Wind turbines are subjected to dynamic loading from a variety of different sources. Wind shear and turbulence cause time-varying inflow that results in unsteady airloads. Tower shadow, upwind turbine wakes, and yaw angles also introduce unsteady inflow to wind turbine rotors. Wind turbine designers must predict these loads accurately in order to adequately design blades, hubs, and the remaining support structure to achieve a 30-year life. Structural analysts have not been able to predict mean or dynamic loads accurately enough to predict the fatigue life of major wind turbine components with confidence. Part of the problem is due to uncertainty in the stochastic wind environments as mentioned earlier. Another important part of the problem is the lack of basic knowledge of rotary wing airfoil stall performance. There is mounting evidence that dynamic stall may be related to dynamic loads that are greater than predictions. This paper describes some results of investigations of unsteady aerodynamic loads measured on a wind turbine blade. The objective of the investigation is to understand the steady and unsteady stall behavior of wind turbine blades. 13 refs.

• Research Organization: National Renewable Energy Lab., Golden, CO (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: AC02-83CH10093
• OSTI ID: 10116827
• Report Number(s): NREL/TP--257-4654; CONF-911287--1; ON: DE92001200
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

17 WIND ENERGY
170602
AERODYNAMICS
DYNAMIC LOADS
HORIZONTAL AXIS TURBINES
ROTORS
SHEAR
TURBINE BLADES
TURBINE DESIGN AND OPERATION
TURBULENCE
WIND