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Aeroacoustic Effect of Leading Edge Erosion : An Experimental Investigation of the Impact of Leading Edge Roughness on Airfoil Self-Noise on Wind Turbine Blades
Coelen, T.F. (2025) Aeroacoustic Effect of Leading Edge Erosion : An Experimental Investigation of the Impact of Leading Edge Roughness on Airfoil Self-Noise on Wind Turbine Blades.
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| Abstract: | As global priorities shift towards sustainable energy, the importance of wind energy increases. In recent decades, the size of wind turbines has increased to capture more energy per turbine. This increase in size poses challenging conditions for the wind turbine blades, where tip speed can reach over 300 km/h. In harsh environmental conditions, impacts of rain and hail can lead to surface degradation in the form of Leading Edge Erosion (LEE). As a consequence, the aerodynamic performance is affected, reducing the lift and increasing the drag by up to 53% and 314%, respectively. This can lead to a drop in Annual Energy Production (AEP) of up to 3.7% In addition to the negative aerodynamic effects of LEE, it can also affect the aeroacoustic signature of the wind turbine, as the surface roughness can distort the boundary layer into becoming turbulent, thereby amplifying the self noise of the airfoil. A common complaint during the approval of a wind farm is the noise pollution experienced by surrounding communities. LEE develops overtime, the acoustic signature of the turbine at the beginning of its life cycle can be deemed acceptable by the community and regulatory agencies but can develop into unacceptable conditions. Quantifying the aeroacoustic effect of the wind turbine blade that has undergone erosion is of importance. Therefore, this research investigated the following question: “Can leading edge erosion on wind turbine blades be detected through its influence on aeroacoustic noise signatures?” This study investigates the impact of leading edge erosion using the aeroacoustic wind tunnel facility at the University of Twente. Seven erosion models were placed on the DU97-W-300 airfoil to simulate the conditions of leading edge erosion without damaging the airfoil surface. The experiments were carried out at Reynolds numbers of 800,000, 700,000 and 600,000 at the maximum lift-to-drag ratio. Using a microphone array and beamforming techniques, the effect of leading edge erosion was measured. The research provides insights into the modeling of roughness under non-ideal scaling conditions and depicts the relation between the roughness-induced turbulent boundary layer and the aeroacoustic effects. Keywords: Aeroacoustics, Leading Edge Erosion, Wind Turbine, Wind Tunnel Experiment |
| Item Type: | Essay (Master) |
| Faculty: | ET: Engineering Technology |
| Subject: | 52 mechanical engineering |
| Programme: | Mechanical Engineering MSc (60439) |
| Link to this item: | https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/107650 |
| Export this item as: | BibTeX EndNote HTML Citation Reference Manager |
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