At the end of last year, the project partners RWTH Aachen, the University of Kassel and WRD Wobben Research and Development GmbH, started analysing the sound emissions from gearless wind turbines. Even with this type of turbine, there can be noise issues as a result of poor plant design. However, in contrast to the shadow a wind turbine casts, the noise level for the surrounding area can specifically be reduced at the design stage.

In order to do this, the actual sound emissions of a wind turbine must first be determined. With existing methods, this can only be done to a limited extent. Within the scope of this project, simulation models for calculating the noise emissions are therefore being developed, which enable the acoustic behaviour of a turbine to be reliably forecast during the design process.

Part of the project will, for instance, involve examining the sound propagation of a wind turbine. The generator plays a pivotal role in this. Its structure-borne sound is carried further by the load-bearing structural components, such as the tower or cladding, from where it is then emitted. This is the reason why another sub-project is concerned with the development of alternative cooling concepts, for instance heat dissipation, in order to protect the generator and the power electronics as far as possible from heat. The industrial implementation of the project results will be the object of the third sub-project.

The project “DynaWEA – from the dynamics to the acoustics of a gearless wind turbine” will run until September 2021.