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Abstract. The dynamic inflow effect denotes the unsteady aerodynamic response to fast changes in rotor loading due to a gradual adaption of the wake. This does lead to load overshoots. The objective of the paper was to increase the understanding of that effect based on pitch step experiments on a 1.8 m diameter model wind turbine, which are performed in the large open jet wind tunnel of ForWind – University of Oldenburg. The flow in the rotor plane is measured with a 2D laser Doppler anemometer, and the dynamic wake induction factor transients in axial and tangential direction are extracted. Further, integral load measurements with strain gauges and hot-wire measurements in the near and close far wake are performed. The results show a clear gradual decay of the axial induction factors after a pitch step, giving the first direct experimental evidence of dynamic inflow due to pitch steps. Two engineering models are fitted to the induction factor transients to further investigate the relevant time constants of the dynamic inflow process. The radial dependency of the axial induction time constants as well as the dependency on the pitch direction is discussed. It is confirmed that the nature of the dynamic inflow decay is better described by two rather than only one time constant. The dynamic changes in wake radius are connected to the radial dependency of the axial induction transients. In conclusion, the comparative discussion of inductions, wake deployment and loads facilitate an improved physical understanding of the dynamic inflow process for wind turbines. Furthermore, these measurements provide a new detailed validation case for dynamic inflow models and other types of simulations.

Abstract. The dynamic inflow effect denotes the unsteady aerodynamic response to fast changes in rotor loading due to a gradual adaption of the wake. This does lead to load overshoots. The objective of the paper was to increase the understanding of that effect based on pitch step experiments on a 1.8 m diameter model wind turbine, which we performed in the large open jet wind tunnel of ForWind – University of Oldenburg. We measured the flow in the rotor plane with a 2D Laser Doppler Anemometer and were able to extract the dynamic wake induction factor transients in axial and tangential direction. Further, integral load measurements with strain gauges and hot wire measurements in the near and close far wake were performed. Our results show a clear gradual decay of the axial induction factors after a pitch step, giving the first direct experimental evidence of dynamic inflow due to pitch steps. We fitted two engineering models to the induction factor transients to further investigate the relevant time constants of the dynamic inflow process.We discussed the radial dependency of the axial induction time constants as well as the dependency on the pitch direction. We confirmed that the nature of the dynamic inflow decay is better described by two rather than only one time constant. The dynamic changes in wake radius were connected to the radial dependency of the axial induction transients. In conclusion, the comparative discussion of inductions, wake deployment and loads facilitated the improved physical understanding of the dynamic inflow process for wind turbines. Furthermore, these measurements provide a new detailed validation case for dynamic inflow models and other types of simulations.

Abstract. The dynamic inflow effect describes the unsteady aerodynamic response to fast changes in rotor loading, due to the inertia of the wake. For pitch actuation and fast rotor speed changes this effect leads to load overshoots. The effect is suspected to be also relevant for gust situations, however this was never shown. The objective of the paper is to proove the dynamic inflow effect due to gusts and compare dynamic inflow engineering models to corresponding measurements. A 1.8 m diameter model turbine is used in the large wind tunnel of ForWind – University of Oldenburg with an active grid to impress rotor uniform gusts on the flow. The campaign features load and velocity measurements of the axial flow in the rotor plane. The unsteady dynamic inflow effect is investigated by comparing two experimental cases. Firstly, a dynamic measurement during a gust situation is performed. Secondly, quasi-steady loads and axial velocities are interpolated from a steady characterisation experiment according to the gust wind speed. By comparing both cases, the influence attributed to the dynamic inflow effect is isolated. Further comparisons to a typical Blade Element Momentum code and a higher fidelity Free VortexWake Model are performed. Based on analytical considerations an improvemed formulation of the Øye dynamic inflow model is proposed. The experiment shows a dynamic inflow effect due to gusts in the loads and axial velocity measurements. It leads to a reduction in load and axial velocity amplitudes and consequently also lower fatigue loading. The higher fidelity model shows a similar impact of the dynamic inflow effect. In contrast, the commonly used Øye engineering model in the BEM code predicts an increase in load amplitude and thus higher fatigue loads. The improved Øye engineering model however catches the observed dynamic inflow effect due to gusts in accordance to the experiment and FVWM simulations. An amplification of induced velocities, seen in the experiment and FVWM simulation, causes the reduced load amplitudes. Therefore, classic dynamic inflow models, which filter the induced velocity, cannot predict the effect. The proposed improvement to additionally consider the wake velocity for the filter of the dynamic inflow engineering model, proves to be a straight forward but also effective modification. In conclusion, these new experimental findings on dynamic inflow due to gusts and improvements to the Øye model enable improvements in wind turbine design by catching the related lower fatigue loads.

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