EAWE Wind Tunnel Testing Committee (WTTC)

Motivation and objectives

Wind tunnel experiments are common in wind energy related research. Results from these investigations can depend on the given infrastructure as well as the used measurement equipment. The lack of standardized procedures for e. g. calibration methods, measurement positions, and temporal and spatial resolution affects data evaluation as much as blockage effects and background turbulence. Additionally, different designs of wind turbine models or porous discs make it difficult to compare findings and to develop generally applicable conclusions.

The Wind Tunnel Testing Committee (WTTC) was proposed to enhance the communication between different facilities in order to work out solutions for the mentioned issues. The main objectives given in the proposal are

  • Organize activities to address wind tunnel testing challenges / experiences in academic / industrial wind energy research
  • Increase quality of wind tunnel testing through putting up standards on data precision, measurement methodology, corrections, reporting, etc.
  • Provide publicity for facilities to service wind energy research community (facility specs, flow characteristics, measurements and test capabilities, etc.)
  • Provide open access experimental databases for research community

The WTTC committee meets at least twice a year via phone or video conferences to organize the activities.

Current Activities

  • Organization of the Mini symposium “Challenges in Wind Tunnel Testing in Wind Energy Research” at the WESC 2021
  • Preparation of a second round-robin test with porous discs like the one reported in S. Aubrun et al., Round-robin tests of porous disc models, J. Phys.: Conf. Ser. 1256 012004
  • Development of “best practise guidelines” for wind tunnel experiments to make results more comparable including documentation of procedures and results
  • Collection of information experimental datasets that can be made available for members of the WTTC
  • Discussion on special topics e. g. generation of turbulence and definition of turbulent characteristics

Facilities

The following shows a list of facilities of members of the WTTC

Membership

The member list can be found on EAWE webpage, which is updated annually. Research institutes and universities in Europe are welcome to join the EAWE Drivetrain Technical Committee. Please contact DTC chair for further details. Active research institutes and universities outside Europe can join as associate members - upon approval of DTC general assembly and EAWE board.

Contact

Queries can be directed to EAWE or the initiators of the WTTC Michael Hölling, Oguz Uzol and Sandrine Aubrun.