Making the invisible visible: Localization of dynamic flow phenomena

The flow behaviour of the rotor blades of wind turbines is dynamically influenced by the environmental conditions, the condition of the rotor blades and the operating conditions of the wind turbine. The flow around the rotor blade is influenced by the tower passage, a yawing of the turbine or a pitching of the rotor blades. The flow around the rotor blade can be visualized by thermography from a great distance and without stopping the wind turbine (see figure).

The aim of the thesis is to analyse thermographic images to detect the dynamic change of the flow at different operating conditions or rotor blade positions.

Main focus areas:

• Allocation of flow transitions to rotor blade geometry
• Analysis of dynamic flow phenomena at different operating conditions of the turbine or different rotor blade positions

Your profile:

• Interest in image processing
• good programming skills (MATLAB/ Python)
• autonomous and responsible way of working