Towards an Industrial Manufactured Morphing Trailing Edge Flap System for Wind Turbines

Several numerical studies in the past 10 years have shown big potentials for load reduction on MW turbines using distributed control for alleviation of the fluctuating loads along the blade span. However, the requirements by the wind turbine industry of robust actuator solutions where the strongest specifications mean no metal and electrical parts in the blades have so far limited the use of the smart blade technology on wind turbines.
In the 3½ year project INDUFLAP (2011-2024), funded by the Danish Energy Agency through the EUDP programme, a flap system developed at DTU and tested on a laboratory level, is transferred into an industrial manufacturing process and tested on a novel rotating test rig. The industrial partners are Rehau, Hydratech Industries and Dansk Gummi Industri.