Often the performance of wind turbine blades needs to be fine tuned in order to meet the level of the predicted design performance. Depending on the specific design and operational constraints different flow control solutions are possible (e.g. vortex generators for stall control). A proven solution in the filed of aerodynamic lift enhancement is the passive Gurney flap. Its small size in combination with its large effect makes it very attractive as a retrofit or initial design solution for wind turbine blades.

We have performed several wind tunnel investigations as well as numerical simulations with state of the art fluid dynamic codes in order to optimize the size and overall performance of wind turbine airfoils equipped with Gurney flap. We offer optimized design solutions for custom Gurney flap implementation on individual wind turbines (retrofit) or wind turbine blade designs.

In addition to the passive Gurney flap solution we also develop active gurney flap elements in order to dynamically manipulate the lift of wind turbine blades. Such a solution would allow significant reduction of the aerodynamic and structural loads with relatively low cost. The reduced cost and the low implementation effort of this solution make it quite attractive for the wind turbine blade market. We are currently investigating the specific aerodynamic and mechanical details and we develop an active low cost gurney flap system able to operate efficiently and reliably under any operational conditions.