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Design optimization of wind turbine blades for reduction of airfoil self-noise

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Abstract

To reduce airfoil self-noise from a 10 kW wind turbine, we modified the airfoil shape and planform of a wind turbine blade. To obtain the optimal blade design, we used optimization techniques based on genetic algorithms. The optimized airfoil was first determined based on a section of the rotor blade, and then the optimized blade was designed with this airfoil. The airfoil self-noise from the rotor blades was predicted by using a semi-empirical model. The numerical analysis indicates that the level of the airfoil self-noise from the optimized blade is 2.3 dB lower than that from the baseline blade at the rated wind speed. A wind tunnel experiment was also performed to validate the design optimization. The baseline and optimized rotors were scaled down by a factor of 5.71 for the wind tunnel test. The experimental results showed that airfoil self-noise is reduced by up to 2.6 dB.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul, 151-744, Korea

    Seunghoon Lee

  2. Engineering Research Institute, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul, 151-744, Korea

    Soogab Lee

  3. Department of Aerospace Engineering, Chungnam National University, Daejeon, 305-764, Korea

    Jaeha Ryi & Jong-Soo Choi

Authors
  1. Seunghoon Lee
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  2. Soogab Lee
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  3. Jaeha Ryi
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  4. Jong-Soo Choi
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Soogab Lee.

Additional information

Recommended by Associate Editor Do Hyung Lee

Seunghoon Lee is currently a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Seoul National University. He received his M.S. and B.S. degrees from the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Seoul National University in 2009 and 2007, respectively. His research interests include trailing edge noise generated from wind turbine blades, annoyance caused by wind turbine noise, and helicopter aerodynamics.

Soogab Lee is a professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Seoul National University. He received his Ph.D. degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics from Stanford University in 1992. He worked as a research scientist at NASA Ames Research Center from 1992 to 1995. His research interests are in the area of aerodynamics and acoustics of rotating machines including wind turbine systems.

Jaeha Ryi is currently a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at Chungnam National University. He received his M.S. and B.S. degrees from the Department of Aerospace Engineering at Chungnam National University in 2008 and 2006, respectively. His research interests are in the experimental aerodynamics of rotating machinery including wind tunnel testing techniques, acoustics experiments of rotating machinery, and wind turbine blades.

Jong-Soo Choi is a professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at Chung-Nam National University. He received his Ph.D. degree in Aerospace Engineering from Pennsylvania State University (USA) in 1991. His research interests are in the experimental aerodynamics by wind tunnel testing, acoustics experiments of the mechanics of flow-induced sound, and noise visualization techniques including signal processing.

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Lee, S., Lee, S., Ryi, J. et al. Design optimization of wind turbine blades for reduction of airfoil self-noise. J Mech Sci Technol 27, 413–420 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-012-1254-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-012-1254-1

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