Wind Turbine Aerodynamics and Aeroacoustics at University of Stuttgart -An

Overview of Research and Development

M. Kamruzzaman

, K. Meister

, Th. Lutz

, M. Kuhn

and E. Kramer

Institute of Aerodynamics & Gas Dynamics (IAG), University of Stuttgart

Endowed Chair of Wind Energy (SWE), University of Stuttgart

Abstract
This paper describes some methods being used at the University of Stuttgart to do
research on wind turbine aerodynamics and aeroacoustics. The first part is about wind
turbine aerodynamics in general by using a process chain
based on an RANS solver. The second part deals with aerodynamics noise reduction
concepts to design low noise airfoils for wind turbine blades. The third part of this
paper
gives a short description of a method used for airfoil design and an airfoil
optimization process. The last part gives
a short overview of the experimental facilities used at the
IAG.
1. Introduction
The size of wind turbines has increased up to a maximum
power output of 6MW, a height of more than 100m and rotor
diameters up to 120m. With the increased size and the fact
that the number of wind energy plants is rising, the influence
of the aerodynamics of wind turbines on the environment
become more important. Also it becomes more important to
analyze the wind turbine aerodynamics elaborately for the
design of highly efficient blades i.e. more stable in structure,
less noisy and aerodynamically efficient. The spectrum of
wind energy research at the University of Stuttgart varies
from airfoil design and optimization, through research on
aerodynamics of wind turbines and till noise reduction of
the turbine blades. Thereby CFD methods are used, which
have already been tested in helicopter and aircraft aerodynamics research at the
Institute of Aerodynamics & Gas Dynamics (IAG) as well. Moreover for the
validation of these
numerical methods, experimental studies are conducted in
the Laminar (LWT) and Gust Wind Tunnel (GWT) of the
IAG.
Wind turbines possess different sources of noise emission, mechanical noise and flowinduced noise. Mechanical noise can efficiently be reduced by well-established
engineering approaches whereas flow-induced noise is more
complex to comprehend and eliminate. Among other flow

induced noise sources, field tests [1] showed that Turbulent

Boundary Layer Trailing-Edge Interaction (TBL-TE) noise
remains the most dominant noise source for modern wind
turbines. Figure. (3) provides an overview of the airfoil selfnoise mechanisms and
prediction methods.
The IAG participated in a series of European research
projects dedicated to the investigation of flow-induced noise
sources on wind turbines, the development and the application of acoustic prediction
methods [1, 2, 3]. Moreover, the
institute has gathered experience in the combined aerodynamic and aeroacoustic
design and wind-tunnel verification
of low noise airfoils. This paper will provide an overview of
the up to date wind turbine aerodynamics and aeroacoustics
reseach activities of the University of Stuttgart.
2. Wind Turbine Aerodynamics
To analyze the aerodynamics of a wind turbine is not just
important for the energy production but also important for
the static and fatigue resistance. Moreover wind turbines
have influence on other turbines in their surrounding area
which is known as wind park effects. As the wind turbines are rising in size and
power output, measurements of
the aerodynamics are often not possible or too expensive.
Therefore numerical methods are used to identify