Final Results from Mexnext-I: Analysis of detailed aerodynamic measurements on a 4.5 m diameter rotor placed in the large German Dutch Wind Tunnel DNW

The paper presents the final results from the first phase of IEA Task 29 'Mexnext'. Mexnext was a joint project in which 20 parties from 11 different countries cooperated. The main aim of Mexnext was to analyse the wind tunnel measurements which have been taken in the EU project 'MEXICO'. In the MEXICO project 10 institutes from 6 countries cooperated in doing experiments on an instrumented, 3 bladed wind turbine of 4.5 m diameter placed in the 9.5 by 9.5 m² open section of the Large Low-speed Facility (LLF) of DNW in the Netherlands.

Pressure distributions on the blades were obtained from 148 Kulite pressure sensors, distributed over 5 sections at 25, 35, 60, 82 and 92 % radial position respectively. Blade loads were monitored through two strain-gauge bridges at each blade root. Most interesting however are the extensive PIV flow field measurements, which have been taken simultaneously with the pressure and load measurements. As a result of the international collaboration within this task a very thorough analysis of the data could be carried out and a large number of codes were validated not only in terms of loads but also in terms of underlying flow field.

The paper will present several results from Mexnext-I, i.e. validation results and conclusion on modelling deficiencies and directions for model improvement. The future plans of the Mexnext consortium are also briefly discussed. Amongst these are Mexnext-II, a project in which also aerodynamic measurements other than MEXICO are included, and 'New MEXICO' in which additional measurement on the MEXICO model are performed.