Rotor blade sectional performance under yawed inflow conditions

This study shows the results of pressure distribution measurements on a rotor blade of a horizontal axis wind turbine under various yawed operations. The experiments are carried out in a wind tunnel with a 2.4 m diameter test rotor. In the measurements, the power curve and pressure distributions are measured for different azimuth angles. By increasing yaw angle, the maximum value of power coefficient of the rotor decreases. The sign of the yaw angle does not have any effect on power performance. The aerodynamic forces are discussed using the axial and rotational force coefficients for each azimuth angle. In the case of higher tip speed ratios, the blade section passing on the upstream side in yawed operations has a greater contribution to the rotor torque than that on the downstream side. In this tip speed range, the aerodynamic forces at the 70% radius section appear proportional to the angle of attack. In the case of the lower tip speed ratios, the blade on the downstream side does not contribute to rotor torque, which appears to result from separation. [DOI: 10.1115/1.2931514] Keywords: wind turbine, performance, pressure distribution, yawed inflow