Results of free yaw tests of the Mod-O 100 kilowatt wind turbine

Tests were conducted on the Mod-O 100 kW experimental wind turbine to provide data on yaw alignment characteristics of a large horizontal axis wind turbine with its yaw restraint removed (i.e., in free yaw). The wind turbine consisted of a downwind horizontal axis rotor mounted on a tubular tower. Three rotor configurations were tested. Each rotor was teetered, coned 3 deg and tip-controlled. Two of the rotors had pitch-flap coupling or Delta-3, and one rotor had none. The two rotors with Delta-3 differed in the airfoil used in the tip sections. Test results indicate the rotor without pitch-flap coupling did not align closer than 25 deg with the wind, and pitch-flap coupling improved the wind turbine's alignment with the wind. Yaw damping was shown to have a favorable effect on free yaw characteristics. The change in the tip airfoil section was shown to affect the free yaw alignment also. The rotors with Delta-3 were shown to be capable of responding to wind shifts and exhibited stable operating properties.