A simple method to determine the optimal location of active flow controllers on wind turbine blades

Abstract

Active flow controllers (AFCs) have shown promising load alleviation potential. The implementation of AFCs on wind turbine blades remains, however, experimental. The present paper investigates the load alleviation capability of AFCs as a function of their location along the blade span. In particular, an analytical method is derived in order to maximise load alleviation by optimally locating AFCs along the blade span. The results obtained by the proposed analytical method are compared and validated with a validated BEMT based-code (WTAC). It is found that the optimal location of AFCs can be calculated based exclusively on the chord geometry.