Vortex Generators for Wind Turbine Rotor Blades Having Noise-Reducing Features

A rotor blade assembly for a wind turbine, comprising:

• a rotor blade having surfaces defining a pressure side, a suction side, a leading edge, and a trailing edge extending between a blade tip and a blade root;
• and,
• at least one blade add-on component mounted within a laminar flow region on at least one of the pressure side or the suction side of the rotor blade, the laminar flow region encompassing areas of the rotor blade where laminar airflow transitions to turbulent airflow, the blade add-on component comprising a base portion having a leading edge and a trailing edge, extending in a first direction,
• wherein the base portion comprises one or more edge features formed within at least one of the leading edge or trailing edge, the one or more edge features being non-parallel with respect to the first direction so as to reduce laminar boundary layer instability noise.

A rotor blade assembly for a wind turbine, comprising:

• a rotor blade having surfaces defining a pressure side, a suction side, a leading edge, and a trailing edge extending between a blade tip and a blade root;
• at least one vortex generator mounted within a laminar flow region on at least one of the pressure side or the suction side of the rotor blade, the laminar flow region encompassing areas of the rotor blade where laminar airflow transitions to turbulent airflow, the vortex generator comprising a base portion and at least one airflow modifying element extending from the base portion, the base portion having a leading edge and a trailing edge;
• and,
• at least one boundary-layer trip element mounted upstream of the vortex generator, the boundary-layer trip element configured to disrupt the airflow upstream of the vortex generator so as to force laminar airflow to turbulent airflow, thereby eliminating noise caused by laminar boundary layer instability.