Numerical and experimental study of aerodynamic noise by a small wind turbine

• This study predicts and measures the aerodynamic noise from a 10 kW wind turbine.
• The aerodynamic noise is predicted by using semi-empirical models.
• The predicted spectral trends agree well with those of the experimental data.
• The trailing edge bluntness noise can be dominant for small wind turbines.

To examine the aerodynamic noise produced by small wind turbines, this study predicts and measures the aerodynamic noise from a 10 kW wind turbine. The numerical predictions include the turbulence ingestion noise, turbulent-boundary-layer trailing edge noise, and trailing edge bluntness noise. The noise measurement is carried out with free-field microphones at a reference position according to the IEC 61400-11 standard. Although the trailing edge bluntness noise is under-predicted at low wind speeds, the spectral trends of the prediction results generally agree well with those of the experimental data. It is also found that for small wind turbines, the trailing edge bluntness noise can be an important noise source.