AbstractsEngineering

An experimental investigation on the aerodynamic wake behind a pitching and/or heaving model wind turbine was performed. The study was split into two quasi-coupled phases; the first phase characterized the motion of an offshore floating wind turbine subjected to linear wave forcing, the second phase replicated specific motion cases, which were driven by results from phase I, on a model wind turbine within a turbulent boundary layer. Wake measurements were made in an effort to quantify fluctuations in the flow associated with the motion of the turbine. Weak differences were observed in the mean, streamwise velocity and turbulent fluctuations between the static and oscillating turbine cases. These weak differences were a result of opposing trends in the velocity quantities based on turbine motion phases. The wake oscillations created by the turbine motion was characteristic of a 2D wave (with convection in the x plane and amplitude in the z plane) with a relatively small amplitude as compared to u_rms.