Experiments on dynamic aeroelastic response of wind turbine blades

2017, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Inc, AIAA. All rights reserved. As wind turbine designs grow larger, turbine-blade aeroelasticity is an increasingly important problem. However, reliable models for aeroelastic blade response are not well developed or validated. Existing aeroelastic validation experiments have largely focused on 2D aerodynamics with aircraft applications in mind. Addressing the need for turbine- focused models, this paper describes the development and implementation of a wind-tunnel model that provides a platform for scaled dynamic aeroelastic validation experiments. The model is representative of the outboard 35% of the NREL 5 MW reference blade. The 1.5- m-long foam blade model is rigid but attached to a compliant base that permits flapwise, edgewise and twist motion. Surface pressures on the blade are measured with conventional pressure taps connected to an off-model pressure scanner. A tubing correction is applied to compensate for attenuation of high-frequency pressure fluctuations. A Kalman filtering approach is used to estimate the motion of the blade and the unsteady aerodynamic loads. Results from a series of experiments demonstrating the data analysis technique are presented.

Experiments on dynamic aeroelastic response of wind turbine blades Conference Paper