“METU Center for Wind Energy – METUWind” is established on 28 February 2011, based on the legal grounds of the Higher Education lawn◦ 2547, in the leadership of the Department of Aerospace Engineering. The center is funded through a three-year multi-million dollar project provided by the State Planning Agency of Turkey (The Ministry of Development).
The Center is the result of a collaborative effort of 8 METU departments including Aerospace, Mechanical, Electrical-Electronics, Materials and Civil Engineering as well as Department of Architecture, the Department of City and Regional Planning and the Department of Business Administration.
METUWind is established with the vocation of becoming the centre of attraction at the national and international level with its innovative and competent designs/accreditation activities as well as its scientific and technological research on the wind energy.
METUWind Center’s test facilities and state-of-the-art measurement equipment for wind energy-related research are in four main laboratories equipped with the most up-to-date technology:
- Computational Aerodynamics Laboratory
- Experimental Aerodynamics Laboratory
- Structures and Materials Laboratories
- Electromechanics Laboratory
- High-Performance Computing Laboratory
Potential areas of research include rotor blade aerodynamic and structural design and optimization, unsteady rotor aerodynamics, integrated design of wind turbine systems, wind farm design and optimization, topographical analysis and micrositing, energy storage, power electronics and smart grid systems, innovative control techniques and adaptive control, smart structures, composites (thermoplastics), mechanics of composite materials, material characterization, damage mechanics, structural optimization, structural dynamics and aeroelasticity, innovative manufacturing techniques for composite blades, tower and foundation design, architectural integration.
METUWind is part of a number of national and international organisations. At the national level, METUWind has a membership of Renewable Energy, Eco-systems and Sustainability Research Platform of METU (YESAP), Turkish Wind Energy Association (TWEA/TÜREB) and Wind Energy Technologies Platform (RETEP). At the international level, METUWind takes part at the pioneering wind energy platforms in Europe such as the European Energy Research Alliance – Wind Energy Joint Program (EERA JP Wind) (associate member) and the European Academy of Wind Energy (EAWE) (full member).
RESEARCH AREAS
Research conducted at METUWIND focuses fundamentally on “Wind Energy and Wind Turbine Systems” that is organized into two main topics; primarily, supporting technological development and also, socio-economic improvement. The centre aims to carry out national and international research and projects under the following research areas:
Technological Development
- Aerodynamic and structural design optimization
- Wake interactions
- Active flow control
- Wind farm design and optimization
- Topographical analysis and micrositing
- Energy storage
- Adaptive control techniques
- Smart structures
- Mechanics of composite materials and material characterization
- Damage mechanics
- Structural optimization
- Structural dynamics and aeroelasticity
- Innovative manufacturing techniques for composite blades
- Architectural and regional integration
Socio-Economic Improvement
- Architectural and regional integration
- Raising public awareness and appropriation about wind energy
- Searching ways for adapting public needs and preferences on wind energy issues