Presentation Title: Advanced Design and Control Methods for Future Large Wind Turbines
Abstract

The design of next generation very large offshore wind turbines poses great engineering challenges from many points of view. In fact, given the very strong couplings that exist among the various disciplines (aero and hydrodynamics, structures, controls, systems), each choice in one domain has potential strong effects on the others. Therefore, there is a need to develop methods that can support the design process in a fully integrated manner, duly considering the strongly multidisciplinary nature of the problem. In this talk we will describe how holistic automated design procedures can help in the exploration of the design space, in the selection of most suitable configurations and in the choice of the best tradeoffs.

In addition, smarter wind turbines and wind farms are now being enabled by advanced control laws. In fact, among the many possible examples, LiDAR-based preview can be used on a wind turbine for load reduction and increased power capture , while wake steering can be used for reducing wake interference effects within a wind farm, here again with benefits in terms of power output and loading. In this talk we will describe the potential for smart controls in reducing the cost of energy from wind, and the work that we have been doing in this area with the help of sophisticated scaled wind turbine models in a large boundary layer wind tunnel and in a wave tank.

Location: Cranfield University