Study of Flow Field and Pressure Distribution on a Rotor Blade of HAWT in Yawed Flow Conditions

Abstract

This paper describes the flow field and the blade pressure distribution of a horizontal axis wind turbine in various yawed flow conditions. These measurements were carried out with 2.4m-diameter rotor with pressure sensors and a 2-dimensional laser Doppler velocimeter for each azimuth angle in a wind tunnel. The results show that aerodynamic forces of the blade based on the pressure measurements change according to the local angle of attack during rotation. Therefore the wake of the yawed rotor becomes asymmetric for the rotor axis. Furthermore, the relations between aerodynamic forces and azimuth angles change according to tip speed ratio. By the experimental analysis, the flow field and the aerodynamic forces for each azimuth angle in yawed flow condition were clarified.