Advanced Research Turbines

The test facilities at the National Wind Technology Center (NWTC) include two advanced research turbines, the Controls Advanced Research Turbine (CART) and the CART3—a three-bladed version of the CART. The CART is used to test new control schemes and equipment for reducing loads on wind turbine components. As wind turbines become lighter and more flexible to reduce costs, novel control mechanisms are necessary to stop high winds from damaging the turbine. But wind turbines must also be designed to capture the maximum amount of energy from the wind, so engineers must devise new ways of achieving this while controlling wind loads that would cause the turbines to fatigue quickly. New control mechanisms and computer codes can help the wind turbine shed some loads in extreme or very turbulent winds. Both turbines are specially configured to allow for the analysis of these diverse control schemes.