An Experimental Apparatus for Investigating the Unsteady Aerodynamics of a Floating Wind Turbine

In our prior investigations, extensive numerical simulations have been conducted to reveal the unsteady aerodynamics of Floating Wind Turbine (FWT). To validate the simulation results and further deepen the corresponding topics, a dedicated experimental apparatus has been developed by the State Key Laboratory of Mechanical System and Vibration (SKL-MSV) and State Key Laboratory of Ocean Engineering (SKL-OE) at Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU). The main modules of the test bed include a dedicated Wind Generation System (WGS), a Model Wind Turbine (MWT), a 6-DOF (Degree Of Freedom) Motion Control Platform (MCP) and an integrated measurement system. The WGS is able to generate controlled flows with different wind speeds, turbulence intensities, and horizontal/ vertical wind shears. The MWT is equipped with Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) sensors on the blade surface to monitor the operating conditions. The MCP is developed to generate controlled oscillations to the MWT aiming to model the oscillation of the FWT in offshore environments. The measurement system includes a torque sensor, two 6-DOF load cells, a 3-DOF accelerator, 2 FBG-fibers each with 3 FBG sensors, and a Wake Detection System (WDS) consisting of 6 hot-wire probes. Extensive calibrations are conducted for the WGS and the transducers. Some primary results about the unsteady aerodynamics of the FWT are presented. In the future, the MCP will be replaced by a floating platform to conduct the tests in the wave tank at SKL-OE to reveal the fully coupled dynamics of FWTs.