Airfoil and Rotor Design

Enhancing Wind Energy at DTU

The Airfoil and Rotor Design group at DTU focuses on improving wind turbine design through aerodynamics, aeroelasticity, and aeroacoustics. The group collaborates with industry, utilizing advanced facilities like the Poul la Cour Wind Tunnel and the Research Turbine V52.

Their research includes improving blade design, smart rotor control, noise reduction, and accurate aerodynamic predictions. These advancements enhance wind energy production, reduce noise emissions, and improve turbine performance and reliability. The development of low-noise airfoils and rotors is another key application, as it helps address noise concerns associated with wind turbines, ensuring compliance with regulations and minimizing the impact on surrounding environments. 

Facilities include the Poul la Cour Wind Tunnel, the world’s largest university wind tunnel, enabling comprehensive testing of airfoils and rotors and the research wind turbine V52.

Poul la Cour Wind Tunnel
The wind tunnel is designed for conducting aerodynamic and aeroacoustic testing of airfoils and rotors. This cutting-edge facility offers unparalleled capabilities for studying the complex interactions between wind and turbine components. 

 

The research wind turbine Vestas V52
The facility offers a valuable research facility for conducting experiments and tests related to meteorological equipment, structural and electric measurements, and model verifications. 

 

The Rotating Test Rig
The Rotating Test Rig is a facility that fills the gap between full-scale wind turbine rotor experiments and wind tunnel tests. It is originally a 95 kW wind turbine, where the rotor has been replaced by an elastic beam, upon which different test components can be mounted on the outer part and where a motor is driving the rotation. 

 

Contact

Christian Bak (Professor, Head of Section), chba@dtu.dk