Wind turbine generators with active radar signature control blades

Alan Tennant; Barry Chambers

doi:10.1117/12.536851

29 July 2004 Wind turbine generators with active radar signature control blades

Alan Tennant, Barry Chambers

Proceedings Volume 5389, Smart Structures and Materials 2004: Smart Electronics, MEMS, BioMEMS, and Nanotechnology; (2004) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.536851
Event: Smart Structures and Materials, 2004, San Diego, CA, United States

Abstract

The large radar cross section of wind turbine generator (WTG) blades combined with high tip speeds can produce significant Doppler returns when illuminated by a radar. Normally, an air traffic control radar system will filter out large returns from stationary targets, however the Doppler shifts introduced by the WTG are interpreted as moving aircraft that can confuse radar operators and compromise safety. A possible solution to this problem that we are investigating is to incorporate an active layer into the structure of the WTG blades that can be used to dynamically modulate the RCS of the blade return. The active blade can operate in one of two modes: firstly the blade RCS can be modulated to provide a Doppler return that is outside the detectable range of the radar receiver system so that it is rejected: a second mode of operation is to introduce specific coding on to the Doppler returns so that they may be uniquely identified and rejected. The active layer used in the system consists of a frequency selective surface controlled by semiconductor diodes and is a development of techniques that we have developed for active radar absorbers. Results of experimental work using a 10GHz Doppler radar and scale model WTG with active Doppler imparting blades are presented.

Citation Download Citation

Alan Tennant and Barry Chambers "Wind turbine generators with active radar signature control blades", Proc. SPIE 5389, Smart Structures and Materials 2004: Smart Electronics, MEMS, BioMEMS, and Nanotechnology, (29 July 2004); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.536851

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