Renewable Energy xxx (2014) 1e9

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Renewable Energy
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Blockage effect correction for a scaled wind turbine rotor by using

wind tunnel test data
Jaeha Ryi, Wook Rhee, Ui Chang Hwang, Jong-Soo Choi*
Department of Aerospace Engineering, Chungnam National University, Daejeon 305-764, Republic of Korea

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: This paper discusses the procedure of a blockage effect correction method involving small-scale wind
Received 24 March 2014 turbine rotor experimental data. To simulate the aerodynamic performance of full-scale rotors in the
Accepted 13 November 2014 field, however, measured data from scaled model experiments need to be analyzed appropriately. One of
Available online xxx
the most important elements of such an analysis is a procedure to remove the blockage effect of the wind
tunnel wall from the measured power data. In this paper, a correction algorithm proposed as part of
Keywords:
Glauert's blockage effect correction method is used to process the data from a wind turbine rotor tested
Wind turbine rotor
with three different wind tunnel sizes. Also, this study considered the modified blockage effect
Blockage effect
Wind tunnel experiment
correction method, which has been used to process the rotor thrust data in closed-circuit wind tunnels
Glauert's method and open-circuit wind tunnels. A small-scale rotor was tested under the same operating conditions, i.e.,
Wind energy the same advance ratio, rotating speed, rotor torque and speed of the wind tunnel. The small-scale wind
turbine rotor has a diameter of 1.408 m and a rotating speed according to the tip speed ratio. In each case,
the effect of the blockage ratio and aerodynamic characteristics are determined using wind tunnel test
results and with a simple analytical correction method. The results of the modified correction method
show that the aerodynamic performance levels during a wind tunnel test are cleared by the blockage
effect.
© 2014 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

1. Introduction
In recent years, the world is paying more attention to renewable
energy, specifically to the use of wind energy to produce electricity.
Wind energy is a clean and inexhaustible solution that can meet the
increasing demand for electrical energy and the planned targets of
carbon dioxide emission reductions. The increasing fossil fuel pri-
ces and the tendency for stricter environmental legislation and
cleaner environments make wind energy a vital factor for economic
development. As a consequence, wind power generation is under-
going an era of rapid growth globally, with a total installed power
capacity of about 282,678 MW as of the end of 2012 [1].
In order to develop an efficient wind turbine rotor blade, much
effort has been put into predicting the aerodynamic performances
of rotors accurately before their production. Analytical methods
such as blade element theory, lifting surface theory and computa-
tional fluid dynamics have been used widely for this purpose, and
the estimated performances typically show good agreement with
* Corresponding author. Tel.: þ82 42 821 7774; fax: þ82 42 825 9225.
E-mail address: jchoi@cnu.ac.kr (J. Ryi).
those in the field [2]. It is often necessary, however, to carry out
wind tunnel experiments beforehand if the flow field around the
rotor is too complicated for a conventional analytic method to
predict accurately [3,4]. One method involves the verification of
results through a wind tunnel experiment at the development
stage of the wind rotor to assess this problem. The wind tunnel test
is an effective means of verifying the capacity of a developing
product, accounting for only a small part of the cost of the devel-
opment of actual products, when typically verification represents a
large part of the cost of developing a wind turbine rotor.
To simulate the aerodynamic performance of full-scale rotors in
the field, however, measured data from scaled model experiments
need to be analyzed appropriately. One of the most important el-
ements of such an analysis is a procedure to remove the blockage
effect of the wind tunnel wall from the measured power data [5,6].
The blockage effect of the wind tunnel was introduced by
Glauert [7]. It analyzed the wind tunnel blockage in connection
with experimental test of propellers in the case of a constantly
loaded rotor disc in a closed test section tunnel. Mikkelsen and
Sørensen [9] have performed a study for the wind tunnels with
open test section. It was predictions base on computational fluid

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2014.11.057
0960-1481/© 2014 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

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2 J. Ryi et al. / Renewable Energy xxx (2014) 1e9

dynamic. Fitzgerald [10] has introduced a correction methods of

wind tunnel blockage corrections for propellers in the closed-cir-
cuit condition. Various wake states have been analyzed by Muyiwa
S. et al. [11] for effect on the performance of a downstream with the
tandem configuration of wind turbine rotor.
In this paper, the correction algorithm proposed by Glauert is
used to process data from a model rotor wind turbine tested in
wind tunnels of three different sizes. And, this study analyzed
earlier studies of the development process of various blockage ratio
conditions of wind tunnels and rotor blades used in wind turbines
and performed aerodynamic characteristic measurement tests both
in an open-circuit condition and in a closed-circuit condition.

2. Theoretical background

2.1. Overview of axial induction factor Fig. 1. Blockage effect correction.

The aerodynamic model of a horizontal-axis wind turbine is the

actuator disk model, the wind turbine rotor becomes an incom- CU ¼ A1 V1 þ ðC  A1 ÞW1 (5)
pressible disk that re moves energy from the wind. By Axial Mo-
mentum Theory and define power coefficient Cp as in Rankine e where, C: area of the test section, A1: area of the slip stream at the
Froude theory can be reduced as follows: exit
From the Bernoulli equation at the outer region of the slip
P
CP ¼ ¼ 4að1  aÞ2 (1) stream, this relationship is verified.
0:5rAU 3
 
The parameter a is defined the axial induction factor and is p1  p0 ¼ 0:5r V 2  W12 (6)
consider of the influence of the turbine on the wind. A thrust co-
efficient CT, which can also be used to characterize the different From the Bernoulli equation at the inner region of the slipstream
flow states of a rotor, is defined as [2]:  
  T ¼ 0:5rA V12  W12 ; (7)
T
CT ¼ ¼ 4a 1  a (2)
0:5rAU 2 the momentum change of the complete test section area pro-
duces the relationship below:

T  Cðp1  p0 Þ ¼ A1 rV1 ðV1  UÞ  ðC  A1 ÞrW1 ðU  W1 Þ (8)

2.2. Wall effect correction in a cross-type wind tunnel For the normalization of Eqs. (3)e(8), subsequent non-
dimensional parameters are introduced.
The blockage ratio is defined as the ratio of the projected area of
the model and the test section. If the blockage ratio is greater than T A A p  p0
10%, the wall effects cannot be ignored. In this case, the stream tube CT ¼ ; a¼ ; b ¼ 1 ; Cp ¼ 1
0:5rU 2 A C C 0:5rU 2
of a wind turbine is different from the flow pattern of free air and in (9)
a test section. In this test section, the flow speed outside of the V V W U0
V) ; V1 ) 1 ; W1 ) 1 ; U 0 ) ;
stream tube W1 is greater than U, leading to experimental errors. U U U U
For this reason, a correction procedure is required. From this relationship, the normalized expressions of Eqs.
Generally, correction of the wall effect can be achieved by (3)e(8) are shown below.
modifying the test conditions when considering the increase in the
velocity due to the wall effects, in other words by finding suitable CT ¼ 4VðV  U 0 Þ (10)
test conditions which produce the same air load in a free air con-
dition. However, in this research, the measured data was corrected aV ¼ bV1 (11)
by Glauert's method [7]. In his research, Glauert introduced clas-
sical momentum analysis for the correction of blockage and lift
1 ¼ bV1 þ ð1  bÞW1 (12)
interference effects. Fig. 1 illustrates a comparison of the flow
pattern in free air vs. a wind tunnel test section.
Initially, the thrust of an actuator disk is identical to the mo- Cp ¼ 1  W12 (13)
mentum change; thus, in a free air condition, the thrust of the
actuator disk can be calculated as shown below, where A is the area CT ¼ V12  W12 (14)
of the actuator disk.




T ¼ 2ArVðV  U 0 Þ (3) CT a  Cp ¼ 2bV1 V1  1  2 1  b W1 1  W1 (15)

In a wind tunnel, the next relationships can be derived. From the
continuity at the inner and outer regions of the slipstream,
AV ¼ A1 V1
From the experiment, the values of the coefficient of trust and
the blockage ratio a became known, and with six equations, we can
determine the remaining six unknowns. For an air screw or a
propeller, CT is positive, while for a wind turbine, it becomes
(4)
negative. Fig. 2 shows the corrected wind speed V0 for various CT

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 J. Ryi et al. / Renewable Energy xxx (2014) 1e9 3

tunnel test was to provide various blockage ratio conditions of a

wind turbine rotor as well as a comparison of wind tunnel test
circuit conditions for the determined thrust data of a small-scale
rotor. Hence, two experimental apparatuses are utilized. The first
one is the experimental apparatus of a small-scale rotor which
utilizes an AC servomotor, as shown in Fig. 4. It has a two-stage
rotating condition. The model rotor is designed to operate under
an operating condition with a wind speed of 11 m/s and a tip speed
ratio l of 7. Its diameter is 1408 mm. The model rotor is generated
by a gearbox which consists of a spiral bevel gear system. The
output power of the wind turbine is measured by a torque sensor
installed at the lower end of the shaft from the gear box, measuring
the driving torque and the rotating speed. An AC servomotor is
installed at the final stage of the rotating shaft, producing the initial
rotation. It is also used in the generator loading simulation.
Next, Fig. 5 shows the layout of the small-scale model rotor test
stand with the hydraulic motor. Regarding the configuration of the
small-scale rotor test system, the small-scale wind turbine rotor
was secured and a rotating balance capable of measuring the thrust
Fig. 2. Corrected wind speeds for various CT and a values. and monitoring the hub moment was installed. The rotating bal-
ance used in this stage consisted of a full-bridge strain gage, and for
values and blockage ratios for a wind turbine, and Fig. 3 shows the case of thrust, having a maximum value of 100 kg, the torque was
relationship between the axial induction factor and the thrust of measured using a torque meter to a level of 20 Nm. Non-linearity
the rotor [5]. error at calibration was confirmed to be 0.031% for the case of the
If we can estimate the corrected wind speed, the corrected value thrust; it was 0.036% for the torque. Also, the rotor test stand was
of the coefficient of power Cp0 and the tip speed ratio l0 can be covered with a wind-shield in the slipstream direction to prevent
determined as follows the fluid from interfering with the supporting area and the wind
turbine rotor. The RPM of the small-scale rotor was measured using
P 1 a torque meter, and a Pitot-tube was installed to read the velocity of
CP ¼ ; CP0 ¼ CP 03 (16)
0:5rAU 3 U the wind tunnel. The temperature, air pressure, and humidity were
recorded during the test to measure the environmental conditions.
Ru 1
l¼ ; l0 ¼ l 0 (17) 3.2. Wind tunnel test for various blockage ratios
U U

3. Test setup and results
3.1. Configuration of rotor test stand
The purpose of this research is to verify the aerodynamic per-
formance. To do this, a test stand is considered for the configuration
of a full-scale wind turbine. Moreover, the objective of the wind
The wind tunnel test was performed at various tip speed ratios.
The output power of the wind turbine was measured by a torque
meter in each case to verify the theoretical performances.
In the constant free flow speed condition, the output power of
the wind turbine was measured for various tip speed ratios, and an
off-design condition test was performed under test conditions of a
wind speed of 11 m/s and a pitch angle matrix of 3 e0 .
For the validation of the blockage effect correction process, a test
was devised at three major Korean low-speed wind tunnels located
at Chungnam National University (CNU), the Korea Aerospace
Research Institute (KARI), and the Korea Air Force Academy (KAFA).
Fig. 6 shows a photo of the test stand installed at each wind tunnel
test section, where the blockage ratios were respectively 48.08%,
17.97% and 8.08%.

3.3. Wind tunnel test for a comparison of the test section conditions

The model rotors were scaled down by a factor of 36 for the

Fig. 3. The axial induction factor and CT of Glauert's method.
wind tunnel test. For the model rotor, a photo sensor installed onto
the rotating main shaft was used to send a trigger signal to syn-
chronize the rotating speed revolutions. The data acquisition and
signal processing software was coded by LabVIEW7.1TM for easy
data transfers and rapid program modifications. The DAQ setting
parameters ware measured at a sampling rate of 20 kHz with a
duration of 10 s.
A wind tunnel experiment was performed in this study. The
performances of a small-scale wind-turbine rotor were measured
in the low-speed semi-anechoic wind tunnel at Chungnam Na-
tional University. The test section of the wind tunnel had a 1.8 by
1.8 m cross-section and the maximum operational speed was 35 m/
s. For the comparison of the test section conditions was devised at

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Fig. 4. Configuration of the small-scale rotor test stand using the AC motor system.

the two parts on a close-circuit test (Fig. 7) and an open-circuit test
(Fig. 8).
PC Base DAQ equipment was used to measure the aerodynamic
performance of the small-scale rotor, and an analog joystick was
used to control the output power of a hydraulic system for the
operation of the main shaft of the rotor. The data was collected and
measured using a self-authored LabVIEW7.1TM program.
3.4. Boundary layer transition effect of model rotor
The model rotor of this study is considered about the 750 kW
full scale wind turbine rotor. But the purpose of the present ex-
periments was not to model the performance of a particular full
scale turbine, but to provide data at controlled operating condi-
tions. For an ideal simulation of the full-scale condition to be

Fig. 5. Configuration of the small-scale rotor test stand using the hydraulic system.

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 J. Ryi et al. / Renewable Energy xxx (2014) 1e9 5

Fig. 6. Model installation at each wind tunnel test section and the blockage ratio.

obtained both the tip speed ratio and Reynolds number ought to be
the same for the full-scale and the wind-tunnel model. The tip
speed ratio condition can easily be met, while Reynolds number
criteria are almost impossible to achieve in model scale condition.
For this study the maximum Reynolds number based on the chord
length at 75% radius is 2.3  105 at the operating tip speed ratio. The
boundary layers were tripped with dotted strips to ensure that the
boundary layers on the blades were fully turbulent. The model
wind turbine rotor has a diameter of 1.408 m and a rotating speed
which ranged from 152 RPM to 1645 RPM according to tip speed
ratio, suitable corrections of the scaling effect are necessary, such as
corrections of the Reynolds number and Mach number effect. From
the low tip speed of the wind turbine, the Mach number effect is
negligible, but the difference in the viscous term affects the
measured performance data. The most common means of cor-
recting the Reynolds number effect on a small-scale wind tunnel
model is to use a boundary layer transition dot. It is normally used
with fixed-wing wind tunnel models, but with appropriate
consideration of the various relative velocities along the radial
direction, it can be a good correction method in this case as well.
From these considerations, the height of the boundary layer tran-
sition dot, k, must be changed along the radial position. This value
can be calculated by Eq. (18), which was proposed by Alfredsson
and Dahlberg [8].
 1=2
k Rk
¼ ðRex Þ3=2 (18)
x 0:3172
where, x: Transition position Rk: Particle Reynolds number
When Rex < 106, a suitable of Rk is 800 or 1000; in addition,
Rex < 106, i.e., 600, can be used. The height of the dot increases with
a decrease in the relative speed. From this relationship, a suitable
height of the dot was selected from all available values. For the
correction of the model rotor blade from the root to 50% of the
radius, a 0.289 mm dot was used. A 0.183 mm dot was used for the
outer radius. Fig. 9 shows the shape when a vortex generator (from
now dot) is attached considering the tripped thickness to perform
the tripped condition.

Fig. 7. Configuration of the wind tunnel test stand for the small-scale rotor test in the Fig. 8. Configuration of the wind tunnel test stand for the small-scale rotor test in the
closed-circuit condition. open-circuit condition.

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Fig. 9. Rotor blade of the boundary layer transition dot installation.
The validation test of the Reynolds number effect correction was
performed at the CNU wind tunnel. For the high blockage ratio, a
model rotor was installed onto the test stand. For an inflow speed
range of 12e18 m/s, the output power was measured for various tip
speed ratios. Fig. 10 shows the measured results on the un-tripped
condition and the tripped condition.
If a dot is not used, a difference in the power coefficient becomes
apparent at the same tip speed ratio for various Reynolds numbers.
However, these effects vanish when using a boundary layer tran-
sient dot, and the measurements are similar to the theoretical re-
sults. For this reason, every wind tunnel test was performed at a
location with a dot installed.
3.5. Validation experiment of the blockage effect correction process
To validate the blockage effect correction process, three sets of
wind tunnel tests were performed. Tests were performed in three
different sizes of the test section for an identical test model, and the
output power was measured at various tip speed ratios and pitch
angle conditions. Fig. 11 shows the measured power coefficients
with respect to various tip speed ratios, as compared to those after
the blockage effect correction process. Fig. 12 compares the esti-
mated thrust coefficients with respect to tip speed ratio about the
wind tunnel blockage ratio. Also, Fig. 13 shows the estimated re-
sults of the comparison of power coefficients between momentum
Fig. 10. Example of the measured CP with various Reynolds numbers.
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theory and the corrected coefficient of power about the axial in-
duction factor. All data shown were measured at a free-stream
speed of 11 m/s, and data correction was performed via the pro-
cedure summarized below.
Step 1) Using the measured CP and Eq. (1), calculate the axial
induction factor, a
Step 2) Estimate the coefficient of Thrust CT from Eq. (2)
Step 3) Calculate the equivalent inflow speed U0 from the
simultaneous Eqs. (10)e(15)
Step 4) Calculate the corrected coefficient of power Cp0 from Eq.
(16)
Step 5) Calculate the corrected tip speed ratio l0 from Eq. (17)
The measured power coefficients, which are supposed to be
identical for the same l and pitch angle, appear quite different,
which indicates that the effect of blockage is present. The deviation
becomes larger as the blade pitch angle increases. This is most
likely due to the wall effect, which has a greater effect if the wake
zone behind the rotor becomes wider. The difference shrinks when
the measured data are corrected with the aforementioned theory.
For a two-degree angle of attack, the three corrected CP curves
nearly coincide as a single curve, while for the remaining cases, the
deviation between the curves remains significant despite the fact
that the amount becomes much less than those before the
correction process. This shortcoming is due to the fact that the
theory uses an axial induction factor from the measured CP to es-
timate the thrust, and the energy levels of the downstream flow are
estimated only from the axial velocity component while neglecting
the tangential components of the wake flow. In this paper, it is
suggested that another analysis technique, such as a wind tunnel
test of a small-scale rotor, will be more adequate regarding the
thrust and eventually will lead to a better wall effect correction
method.
3.6. Validation experiment of the modified blockage effect
correction process
We considered a modified blockage effect correction process
which utilized the thrust data of a small-scale wind turbine rotor.
The modified blockage effect correction method, as used in this
paper, can be divided into two parts. First, we performed a small-
scale rotor experiment on an open-circuit test section and a
closed-circuit test section. Fig. 14 illustrates these wind tunnel
test results. This figure shows the results of a comparison be-
tween the measured data and the corrected data using Glauert's
 J. Ryi et al. / Renewable Energy xxx (2014) 1e9 7

Fig. 11. Measured and corrected performance of wind turbine model.

method, including performance data for the open-circuit condi-
tion. The performance comparison results were found to be in
agreement with the un-blockage effect data and the open-circuit
test result. Next, we considered changes of the blockage effect in
a wind tunnel test. It was necessary to consider changes in the
wall effect condition using the thrust data of a small-scale rotor.
In Fig. 15, the measurement data explain the aerodynamic char-
acteristics of the thrust coefficient (CT ) according to the wind
tunnel test conditions. As shown in this figure, the open-circuit
test condition shows a decreased thrust coefficient as compared
to the closed-circuit test condition. This is similar to the results
reported by Muyiwa. S. [11]. In addition, the thrust of wind tur-
bine rotor depends on the downstream in the blockage ratio of
wind tunnel.
Fig. 16 shows the experimental result of the comparison be-
tween Glauert's method and the modified method. And, Fig. 17
shows the comparison of thrust coefficients between estimated
result and the measured data about the corrected tip speed ratio.
The result indicates that the estimated thrust value less thrust than
the measured thrust value at most tip speed ratio.
Here, the measurements were made at a free-stream speed of
11 m/s and a rotation speed which ranged from 491 rpm to

Fig. 12. The estimated thrust coefficients with respect to tip speed ratio about the wind tunnel blockage ratio.

Please cite this article in press as: Ryi J, et al., Blockage effect correction for a scaled wind turbine rotor by using wind tunnel test data, Renewable
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Fig. 13. The comparison of power coefficients between axial momentum theory and the corrected coefficient of power.

1473 rpm according to the tip speed ratio, with data correction
performed via the following procedure:

Step A) Using the measured CP and the measured CT of the model

rotor.
Step B) Use a similar process from “Step 3)” to “Step 5)”.

The result acquired from the modified method was initially

compared based on the measured power coefficients. We
compared the wind tunnel test results after applying the modified
method and Glauert's method. In addition, we confirmed that the
correction results were very similar. Also, the open-circuit test data
is in agreement with the modified method correction results.

4. Conclusion

This paper introduced a wind tunnel experiment and data

correction techniques to test a scaled model of a wind turbine rotor.
It was found that the boundary layer transition effect on the
measured rotor performance is quite serious if the rotor size and Fig. 15. Comparison of an open-circuit test and a close-circuit test about the thrust
coefficient.
rotational speed are below certain levels. The situation can be
improved by stimulating the boundary layer with dots on the
leading edge of the blade surface. Glauert's blockage effect

Fig. 14. Measured and corrected performance of the wind turbine model with open- Fig. 16. Comparison of the results of Glauert's method and the modified method
circuit data (AOA ¼ 0 ). (AOA ¼ 0 ).

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Nomenclature

Latin letters
Pi pressure of stream (i ¼ number)
P power of the wind turbine rotor
U velocity of the free stream (m/s)
A area of the actuator disk (m2)
C area of the test section
V1 wind velocity in the far wake (m/s)
T the thrust of an actuator disk
Re Reynolds Number
Rk particle Reynolds Number
CT thrust coefficient
CP power coefficient
x transition position
m_ air mass flow rate (kg/s)
r air density (kg/m3)
l tip speed ratio of the wind turbine rotor
l0 the corrected tip speed ratio of the wind turbine rotor
Fig. 17. The comparison of thrust coefficients between estimated result and the
measured data about the corrected tip speed ratio (AOA ¼ 0 ).
Subscripts
dot vortex generator
correction method was applied to mitigate the wall effect from the a axial induction factor
wind turbine torque data, with the results showing that Glauert's
method works quite well for a condition with a low thrust. How- References
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Please cite this article in press as: Ryi J, et al., Blockage effect correction for a scaled wind turbine rotor by using wind tunnel test data, Renewable
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