A Review of Airfoil Trailing Edge Noise with Some Implications for Wind Turbines

Abstract

As trailing edge noise is the major aerodynamic noise source on a wind turbine, it is timely and relevant to review previous work in this area. This paper presents a review of previous experimental trailing edge noise studies and compares available experimental noise data for the NACA 0012 profile with data from two numerical studies. The literature review and comparison reveal the extent of the data available, the scatter in the results and some of the ideas about the cause of the scatter. Noise data compare well at laboratory scale Reynolds numbers; however, at higher Reynolds numbers that are comparable to large wind turbines, there is not much agreement and the published data are limited. Resolution of the peak radiating frequency and level must be improved in order to improve the accuracy of wind turbine noise predictions. To do so requires new experimental and computational research to understand the noise generating physics in better detail.