Rotor Aerodynamics, Aeroelastics, and Wake (RAAW) Campaign Overview

The Rotor Aerodynamics Aeroelastics and Wakes (RAAW) project is Megawatt-scale wind energy field experiment and model validation campaign. A suite of remote sensing and in situ instrumention will simultaneously measure the turbine inflow, loads, performance, and wake. A variety of the national laboratories' wind turbine simulations tools and models will be validated with one of the most sophisticated datasets ever collected for a single wind turbine. This project seeks to produce a step change in simulation fidelity and in our understanding of large-rotor physics by applying new data assimilation techniques that enables time-resolved, high-fidelity model comparisons to the experimental data. The data collection campaign will last for an entire year to ensure a robust and diverse dataset for a range of naturally occurring wind conditions and weather events, as well as turbine stop and fault conditions. The complexity of the experiment and validation efforts are made possible by a collaboration of a large team at the national laboratories and a commercial wind turbine manufacturer.