Abstract
In the 1980s many wind turbines were stall-regulated fixed-pitch machines. The rotors were often equipped with blade-integrated overspeed protection such as ailerons, tip brakes and flip tips. The market for larger small wind turbines is reappearing, and it is conceivable that blade-integrated overspeed control will re-emerge as a solution. Although electrical braking techniques associated with permanent magnet generators are useful, independent rotor-based overspeed control mechanisms are at present still required for fail-safe operation. In this note, we present observations from more than twenty experimental tests. We note that it is possible to effect braking using particular leading-edge profiles.
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