Experimental study on noise radiation from wind turbines

Noise emitted from wind turbines is composed of aerodynamic and mechanical sound and has directional radiation characteristics. To investigate the horizontal sound directivity around a wind turbine under various wind conditions, field measurements of noise generated from two different wind turbines have been performed over long periods. Wind turbine operational data such as the nacelle direction and rotor rotational speed were collected at 1 s intervals along with corresponding acoustic data. An empirical formula for the directivity correction was derived from the A-weighted sound pressure levels measured at the several receiving points around the wind turbine. We also focused on the amplitude modulation components of wind turbine noise in emission areas and compared the estimated rotor speeds by using measured sound pressure levels with actual values. The results showed that the directivity pattern of the A-weighted sound pressure level for two different wind turbines is almost the same, whereas the frequency dependence of the sound directivity is different for the individual wind turbines. Additionally, the radiation characteristics of wind turbine noise depend strongly on the rotor rotational speed, which can be estimated from the blade-passing-frequency detected by using the amplitude modulation components of wind turbine noise.