Experimental investigation of a downwind coned wind turbine rotor under yawed conditions: preliminary results

The growing number of Floating Offshore Wind Turbine (FOWT) concepts that utilize a single point mooring and therefore rely on the self-alignment capabilities of the wind turbine (e.g. SCD nezzy or SelfAligner by CRUSE Offshore) demands an extension of the simulation methods used for their development. A crucial issue for these concepts is the accurate prediction of forces and moments, which contribute to the self-alignment. In contrast to the well-studied behaviour of torque and thrust, yaw moment and lateral forces on a rotor under yawed conditions have not been in focus of previous experimental tests for the validation of aerodynamic simulation tools. In the present work, a model turbine equipped with a 6-axis force/moment sensor to capture the complete load on the rotor is presented. A detailed study of the two-bladed model turbine's aerodynamic behaviour under yawed conditions was carried out within a range of yaw angles between -55 to + 55° with steps of 1 - 2.5°.The authors kindly thank the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy of Germany (BMWi) for financially supporting the HyStOH project (03SX409A-F)