Radar Cross Section Analysis of Two Wind Turbines via a Novel Millimeter-Wave Technique and Scale Model Measurements

Nikolay Litov; Ben Falkner; Hengyi Zhou; Amit Mehta; Wezi Gondwe; Dushmantha N. Thalakotuna; Dariush Mirshekar-Syahkal; Karu Esselle; Hisamatsu Nakano

doi:10.1109/ACCESS.2022.3148064

IEEE Access (Jan 2022)

Radar Cross Section Analysis of Two Wind Turbines via a Novel Millimeter-Wave Technique and Scale Model Measurements

Nikolay Litov,
Ben Falkner,
Hengyi Zhou,
Amit Mehta,
Wezi Gondwe,
Dushmantha N. Thalakotuna,
Dariush Mirshekar-Syahkal,
Karu Esselle,
Hisamatsu Nakano

Affiliations

Nikolay Litov: ORCiD; Electrical and Electronic Engineering Department, Swansea University, Swansea, U.K.
Ben Falkner: ORCiD; Electrical and Electronic Engineering Department, Swansea University, Swansea, U.K.
Hengyi Zhou: Electrical and Electronic Engineering Department, Swansea University, Swansea, U.K.
Amit Mehta: ORCiD; Electrical and Electronic Engineering Department, Swansea University, Swansea, U.K.
Wezi Gondwe: Baglan Bay Innovation Center, Crossflow Energy, Port Talbot, U.K.
Dushmantha N. Thalakotuna: ORCiD; School of Electrical and Data Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
Dariush Mirshekar-Syahkal: ORCiD; School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering, University of Essex, Colchester, U.K.
Karu Esselle: ORCiD; School of Electrical and Data Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
Hisamatsu Nakano: ORCiD; College of Science and Engineering, Hosei University, Koganei, Tokyo, Japan

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2022.3148064
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 10
pp. 17897 – 17907

Abstract

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A novel, low cost, highly accurate, millimeter-wave RCS characterization method is developed and presented in this paper. In order to develop and verify the validity of the proposed method, full scale models and scale models of the horizontal-axis wind turbine (HAWT) and Crossflow turbines have been simulated and compared for a case study. The RCS of a scaled Crossflow turbine model was then experimentally verified using the novel method presented at frequencies of 76-81GHz. The proposed method utilizes the AWR1843BOOST evaluation board and DCA1000EVM real-time high-speed data capture card from Texas Instruments. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first RCS analysis of a scaled model performed at the mm-wave frequencies of 76-81GHz. This novel method is quick, simple, and fully automated, while maintaining high accuracy. Additionally, this has been achieved at a low cost using commercially available off the shelf parts. Good agreement was observed between the simulated and experimental results. Comparing the RCS data of the two turbines, it appears that the Crossflow turbine geometry offers a lower RCS and Doppler spectrum contamination as compared with a traditional horizontal axis wind turbine structure. These results are necessary and useful in allaying the increasing concerns regarding wind turbine radar interference, which have appeared as a result of the widespread adoption of wind power generation in recent years.

Published in IEEE Access

ISSN: 2169-3536 (Online)
Publisher: IEEE
Country of publisher: United States
LCC subjects: Technology: Electrical engineering. Electronics. Nuclear engineering
Website: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/RecentIssue.jsp?punumber=6287639

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