Numerical Study of the Wind Turbine Wake Flow and Effects of the Inflow Turbulence

Abstract

Considering the fact that wind turbines operate at the bottom of the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) where the turbulence is at a high level, and the difficulty of mesh generation in the fully modelled numerical simulation. It is necessary to carry out researches to study the wake flow of wind turbines with consideration of the inflow turbulence. Therefore, a numerical method generating turbulence was proposed and the results show good agreement with those in experiment, based on which the flow fields in the wake of a wind turbine at two tip speed ratios were examined in detail through three actuator methods, namely, ADM, ADM-R and ALM. The performances of these methods were studied and the error sources for each method are clarified. Moreover, the computational efficiency was revealed and the influencing factor for the efficiency is concluded. Besides, the equilibrium relation of the N-S equation in the wake is revealed, which provides a theoretical basis for the optimal arrangement of the wind turbine. It shows that the mean velocity and fluctuating velocity vary greatly near the wind turbine, and become stable gradually away from the wind turbine. The results of ALM method show the best agreement with the experiment. At near wake region, the turbulent stress term, pressure gradient term and convection term mainly contribute to the equation equilibrium, and convection term is in equilibrium with the turbulent stress term at far wake. The results of ALM method are the most accurate and the most time consuming.

Optimisation of stress distribution in a highly loaded radial-axial gas microturbine using FEM

“…For safety reasons, this was not possible in the present case. The drift velocity of the blade tip (which is an important operating parameter not only in gas microturbines but also in wind turbines [36]) is very high. Therefore, destructive tests (where the rotational speed of the rotor is increased until the rotor disc is destroyed) are extremely dangerous.…”