Abstract
Optical full-field measurement methods such as Digital Image Correlation (DIC) provide a new opportunity for measuring deformations and vibrations with high spatial and temporal resolution. However, application to full-scale wind turbines is not trivial. Elaborate preparation of the experiment is vital and sophisticated post processing of the DIC results essential. In the present study, a rotor blade of a 3.2 MW wind turbine is equipped with a random black-and-white dot pattern at four different radial positions. Two cameras are located in front of the wind turbine and the response of the rotor blade is monitored using DIC for different turbine operations. In addition, a Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) system is used in order to measure the wind conditions. Wind fields are created based on the LiDAR measurements and used to perform aeroelastic simulations of the wind turbine by means of advanced multibody codes. The results from the optical DIC system appear plausible when checked against common and expected results. In addition, the comparison of relative out-ofplane blade deflections shows good agreement between DIC results and aeroelastic simulations.
Highlights
The rated power of a wind turbine correlates with the diameter of the rotor
Digital Image Correlation (DIC) Results Compared to Aeroelastic Simulations The comparison between DIC and aeroelastic simulations for average relative out-of-plane deflection is presented in this subsection
The present paper evaluates two experiments performed on a 3.2 MW wind turbine and compares the results from one of the experiments to aeroelastic simulations
Summary
Over the last 30 years, commercial wind turbines have evolved from approximately 10 m rotor diameter and a rated power of 50 kW into today’s multi-megawatt class with rotor diameters exceeding 150 m and rated power of well above 6 MW. This development has produced light, slender, and flexible structures, for which the aeroelastic characteristics of the turbine become increasingly important for fatigue strength and overall performance. Experimental data from full-scale wind turbines often focuses on the integral moments and forces captured during measurements for certification. In [1] a wind turbine rotor with 40 m diameter and a nacelle height of 70 m was monitored during operation at 50 discrete points scattered across the rotor and the tower using
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