Performance and Effect of Load Mitigation of a Trailing-Edge Flap in a Large-Scale Offshore Wind Turbine

As a result of the large-scale trend of offshore wind turbines, wind shear and turbulent wind conditions cause significant fluctuations of the wind turbine’s torque and thrust, which significantly affect the service life of the wind turbine gearbox and the power output stability. The use of a trailing-edge flap is proposed as a supplement to the pitch control to mitigate the load fluctuations of large-scale offshore wind turbines. A wind turbine rotor model with a trailing-edge flap is established by using the free vortex wake (FVW) model. The effects of the deflection angle of the trailing-edge flap on the load distribution of the blades and wake flow field of the offshore wind turbine are analyzed. The wind turbine load response under the control of the trailing-edge flap is obtained by simulating shear wind and turbulent wind conditions. The results show that a better control effect can be achieved in the high wind speed condition because the average angle of attack of the blade profile is small. The trailing-edge flap significantly changes the load distribution of the blade and the wake field and mitigates the low-frequency torque and thrust fluctuations of the turbine rotor under the action of wind shear and turbulent wind.