Role of wake swirl in blade-loading asymmetry

Determine the role of wake swirl in the observed blade-loading asymmetry of downstream wind turbines under waked inflow conditions, using inflow measurements that resolve all three velocity components.

Background

The study characterizes wake-induced blade dynamics using distributed fibre-optic strain measurements and single-component hot-wire measurements of the streamwise inflow velocity. Because the hot-wire measurements do not resolve tangential or other transverse velocity components, the contribution of wake rotation (swirl) to the asymmetric structural loading observed in the downstream turbine cannot be established from the reported experiments.

The authors identify this limitation as unresolved and indicate that fully three-component inflow measurements, together with extension to higher Reynolds numbers and composite blades, are needed to determine how the observed fatigue mechanisms translate to utility-scale wind turbines and wake-aware control strategies.