Aeroelastic research programme

The main subject included in the programme will be: 1) The expected future development towards more flexible and controlable wind turbine concepts, probably in combination with site-specific design, puts increasing demands on the aeroelastic models with respect to areas of application, speed and accuracy. Therefore, much work will be done on the development of the sub-models within aerodynamics as well as structural dynamics in the aeroelastic models, combined with elaboration of a guide for the calculation of the load basis. 2) 3D Navier-Stokes models will become an important tool for future studies of the complex flow on a rotating wind turbine blade. A considerable effort of both short- and long-term character will be dedicated to further development of this type of models. 3) Development and application of optimization tools is an important part of the programme, and efforts will be focussed on the optimization of the structural dynamic characteristics of wind turbines. 4) Better models for wind input will be developed; especially turbulence models and models for the determination of extreme winds. 5) Aerodynamic noise modelling will be improved by reducing the amount of empirical expressions in the existing model. The goal is to clarify the fundamental noise generation in the boundary layer and establish a correlation between boundary layer parameters and noise generation. The part of the research programme that is contained in this project and will immediately be initiated, has the following mid-term goals: 1) Method for the determination of airfoil data for aeroelastic calculations. 2) Determination of flow characteristics related to double-stall. 3) Identification of main parameters for optimization of load-reduction. 4) Extension of the application regime for aeroelastic models with respect to yaw, coning and large deflections. 5) Recommendations for the application of aeroelastic models for the establishment of wind turbine design basis