August 17, 2006
Noise

Do wind turbines produce significant low frequency sound levels?

van den Berg, Frits

Summary: Wind turbines produce low frequency sounds, but it has not been shown this is a major factor contributing to annoyance. Sound from wind turbines involves several sound production mechanisms related to different interactions between the turbine blades and the air. Low frequency sound is predominantly the result of the displacement of air by a blade and of turbulence at the blade surface. An important contribution to the low frequency part of the sound spectrum may be the result of the sudden variation in air flow the blade encounters when it passes the tower: the angle of attack of the incoming air suddenly deviates from the angle that is optimized for the mean flow. This effect probably has not been considered important as the blade passing frequency is of the order of one hertz where human hearing is very insensitive. This argument however obscures a very relevant effect: the low blade passing frequency modulates well audible, higher frequency sounds and thus creates periodic sound. This effect is stronger at night because in a stable atmosphere there is a greater difference between rotor averaged and neartower wind speed. Measurements have shown that more turbines can interact to further amplify this effect. The effect is confirmed by residents near wind turbines who mention the same common observation: often late in the afternoon or in the evening the turbine sound changes to a more ‘clapping’ or ‘beating’ sound, the rhythm in agreement with the blade passing frequency. It is clear from the observations that this is associated to a change to a higher atmospheric stability. The increased annoyance has not been investigated as such, although there are indications from literature this effect is relevant. It is of increasing relevance as the effect is stronger for modern (that is: tall) wind turbines.

Paper presented at the 11th International Meeting on Low Frequency Noise and Vibration and Its Control, Maastricht, The Netherlands, 30 August to 1 September 2004.

Download original document: “Do wind turbines produce significant low frequency sound levels? [1]”

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/documents/do-wind-turbines-produce-significant-low-frequency-sound-levels/

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[1] Do wind turbines produce significant low frequency sound levels?: https://docs.wind-watch.org/vandenBerg-lowfreqnoise.pdf