Shark skin has for many years inspired engineers to produce biomimetic structures reducing surface drag or acting as an anti-fouling layer. Both effects are presumed to be consequences of the structure of shark skin that is composed of arrays of so-called dermal denticles. However, the understanding of the full functional role of the dermal denticles is still a topic of research. We report optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy of dermal denticles from three slowly swimming shark species for which the functional role of the dermal denticles is suggested as one of defense (possibly understood as anti-fouling) and/or abrasion strength. The three species are Greenland shark (Somnosius microcephalus), small-spotted catshark (Scyliorhinus canicula) and spiny dogfish (Squalus acanthias). Samples were taken at over 30 different positions on the bodies of the sharks. In addition, we demonstrate that the flow pattern near natural shark skin can be measured by micro-PIV (particle image velocimetry). The microfluidic experiments are complemented by numerical flow simulations. Both visualize unsteady flow, small eddies, and recirculation bubbles behind the natural dermal denticles.

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DecoWind is a 3-year Danish research project whose goal is to devise advanced control strategies for wind turbines and farms for minimizing their acoustic impact. Noise propagation models (Nord2000 and WindStar) are verified through dedicated measurement campaigns onshore. Long-range offshore measurements are also conducted to understand these specific conditions. A Parabolic Equation method for noise propagation, which have mostly been restricted to academic use in the past, is integrated into an engineering context for wind farm control. This framework can be used to define a wind farm optimal control strategy. The energy production is maximized while limiting the noise impact at dwellings, depending on the considered site, by operating the turbines using their different noise operational modes. This framework is demonstrated through numerical test-cases. In addition, a public survey is conducted to assess the socio-acoustical impact of wind turbine noise, looking at several factors. The ultimate goal is to produce a set of recommendations regarding wind turbine noise regulations that would connect the new engineering design capabilities and the findings regarding public annoyance. The project is a collaboration between DTU, Siemens-Gamesa Renewable Energy, FORCE Technology, and EMD International. In this contribution, the main achievements of the project are summarized.

Sound propagation from wind turbines through the atmosphere has previously been analytically examined through numerous studies, but the amount of comparisons to measurements is limited. This paper applies three different sound propagation models; The ISO 9613-2 model, the Nord2000 ray tracing model and the WindSTAR-Pro model, to evaluate the noise at receivers in the near- and far-field of a wind turbine. The evaluation is performed by accounting for different meteorological and terrain parameters. For validation purposes, the study further uses two different data sets from measurement campaigns; Loudspeaker noise and wind turbine noise measurements. The validation evidently shows that especially the WindSTAR-Pro model and the Nord2000 model provide good agreement to the measurements for some of the validation cases, while other results are heavily influenced by the turbine wake, signal to noise ratio in the measurements or directivity of the noise source.

In this paper, four noise propagation models including the parabolic-equation based WindSTAR model, ray-tracing based Nord2000 model, Danish regulation BEK 135 model and ISO 9613-2 standard model are validated against flow and acoustic measurements of a sound source created from a speaker located at a turbine hub of 109 m height. The flow was measured with a fully instrumented met-mast at 350 m and 218 degrees from the turbine tower base. The sound was measured with 11 microphones: 8 were along a line of 45 degrees and a distance up to 1200 m away from the sound source, 3 were located at IEC positions, and 1 microphone close to the speaker, which was used to measure the source strength. White noise and 1/1 band-limited white noise sound at 2 different wind shears with exponents of 0.12 and 0.23 are used for validation. Results show that an overall agreement between experiment and computation is reached for all the numerical models. Among the 4 numerical models, Nord2000 gives the best prediction for the nearfield microphones of mic 4-mic 6 and WindSTAR gives the best prediction for the far-field microphones of mic 7 and mic 8.