Proceedings of International Symposium on Transport Phenomena and Dynamics of Rotating Machinery (ISROMAC) 2016
Authors: George Pechlivanoglou, C.N. Nayeri, C.O. Paschereit

Wind turbine blades suffer from static and dynamic stall effects during their normal operation. At the same time strong secondary flows (cross-flows) exist at the inner and the outermost regions of the blade. Most of the modern wind turbine blades are equipped with flow control devices such as vortex generators (VGs) in an effort to avoid stall and stabilize their aerodynamic performance. The current invention and research work proposes a solution to the unsteady stall issues and at the same time offers a performance boosting potential. The solution comprises a passively actuated backflow flap positioned in span-wise or chord-wise orientation depending on the local flow characteristics. Wind tunnel tests in combination with extensive field preliminary work as a part of the VG development efforts of the authors form the ground work for a new and innovative aerodynamic solution for wind turbines.