Predicting wind turbine blade loads and aeroelastic response using a coupled CFD–CSD method

The aeroelastic response and the airloads of horizontal-axis wind turbine rotor blades were numerically investigated using a coupled CFD–CSD method. The blade aerodynamic loads were obtained from a Navier–Stokes CFD flow solver based on unstructured meshes. The blade elastic deformation was calculated using a FEM-based CSD solver which employs a nonlinear coupled flap-lag-torsion beam theory. The coupling of the CFD and CSD solvers was accomplished in a loosely coupled manner by exchanging the information between the two solvers at infrequent intervals. At first, the present coupled CFD–CSD method was applied to the NREL 5MW reference wind turbine rotor under steady axial flow conditions, and the mean rotor loads and the static blade deformation were compared with other predicted results. Then, the unsteady blade aerodynamic loads and the dynamic blade response due to rotor shaft tilt and tower interference were investigated, along with the influence of the gravitational force. It was found that due to the aeroelastic blade deformation, the blade aerodynamic loads are significantly reduced, and the unsteady dynamic load behaviors are also changed, particularly by the torsional deformation. From the observation of the tower interference, it was also found that the aerodynamic loads are abruptly reduced as the blades pass by the tower, resulting in oscillatory blade deformation and vibratory loads, particularly in the flapwise direction.     

New vortex‐lift and tangential‐force models for HAWT aerodynamic load prediction

Horizontal axis wind turbines (HAWTs) experience three‐dimensional rotational and unsteady aerodynamic phenomena at the rotor blades sections. These highly unsteady three‐dimensional effects have a dramatic impact on the aerodynamic load distributions on the blades, in particular, when they occur at high angles of attack due to stall delay and dynamic stall. Unfortunately, there is no complete understanding of the flow physics yet at these unsteady 3D flow conditions, and hence, the existing published theoretical models are often incapable of modelling the impact on the turbine response realistically. The purpose of this paper is to provide an insight on the combined influence of the stall delay and dynamic stall on the blade load history of wind turbines in controlled and uncontrolled conditions. New dynamic stall vortex and nonlinear tangential force coefficient modules, which integrally take into account the three dimensional rotational effect, are also proposed in this paper. This module along with the unsteady influence of turbulent wind speed and tower shadow is implemented in a blade element momentum (BEM) model to estimate the aerodynamic loads on a rotating blade more accurately. This work presents an important step to help modelling the combined influence of the stall delay and dynamic stall on the load history of the rotating wind turbine blades which is vital to have lighter turbine blades and improved wind turbine design systems.     

A CFD study of coupled aerodynamic‐hydrodynamic loads on a semisubmersible floating offshore wind turbine

The prediction of dynamic characteristics for a floating offshore wind turbine (FOWT) is challenging because of the complex load coupling of aerodynamics, hydrodynamics, and structural dynamics. These loads should be accurately calculated to yield reliable analysis results in the design phase of a FOWT. In this study, a high‐fidelity fluid‐structure interaction simulation that simultaneously considers the influence of aero‐hydrodynamic coupling due to the dynamic motion of a FOWT has been conducted using computational fluid dynamics based on an overset grid technique. The DeepCwind semisubmersible floating platform with the NREL 5‐MW baseline wind turbine model is considered for objective numerical verification with the NREL FAST code. A state‐of‐the‐art computational model based on the coupled computational fluid dynamics and dynamic structure analysis is constructed and analyzed to solve multiphase flow, 6 degrees of freedom motions of OC4 semisubmersible FOWT. A quasi‐static mooring solver is also applied to resolve the constraint motion of floater because of a 3‐line mooring system. The influence of tower shadow on the unsteady aerodynamic performance and loads is also demonstrated. Finally, complex unsteady flow fields considering blade and tower interference effects among blade‐tip vortices, shedding vortices, and turbulent wakes are numerically visualized and investigated in detail.     

风剪切下塔影效应对水平轴风力机叶片及风轮气动载荷的影响

采用CFD方法,以NH1500三叶片大型水平轴风力机为研究对象,研究额定风速剪切来流下的塔影效应对水平轴风力机叶片和风轮非定常气动载荷的影响。结果表明：剪切来流下,叶片和风轮的气动载荷均呈余弦变化规律,塔影效应的主要影响叶片方位角范围为160°~210°,且该范围不随风剪切指数的变化而变化。相同风剪切指数下,塔影效应对叶片和风轮气动载荷的均方根影响较小,对其波动影响较大。当风剪切指数从0.12增至0.30时,塔影效应下,叶片气动载荷的均方根减小,推力和转矩的波动幅度增大,偏航力矩和倾覆力矩的波动幅度减小;风轮推力和转矩的均方根减小,波动幅度变化较小,而倾覆力矩和偏航力矩的均方根增大,且波动幅度也增大。     

Aeroelastic analysis of a floating offshore wind turbine in platform‐induced surge motion using a fully coupled CFD‐MBD method

Modern offshore wind turbines are susceptible to blade deformation because of their increased size and the recent trend of installing these turbines on floating platforms in deep sea. In this paper, an aeroelastic analysis tool for floating offshore wind turbines is presented by coupling a high‐fidelity computational fluid dynamics (CFD) solver with a general purpose multibody dynamics code, which is capable of modelling flexible bodies based on the nonlinear beam theory. With the tool developed, we demonstrated its applications to the NREL 5 MW offshore wind turbine with aeroelastic blades. The impacts of blade flexibility and platform‐induced surge motion on wind turbine aerodynamics and structural responses are studied and illustrated by the CFD results of the flow field, force, and wake structure. Results are compared with data obtained from the engineering tool FAST v8.     

分形尾缘叶片气动性能及流场数值模拟

针对风力机存在尾流效应问题,通过在垂直轴风力机叶片尾缘布置分形孔的方法,建立分形叶片三维实体造型,进行了分形叶片和原始叶片三维非定常不可压流动的分析,得出叶片绕流流场数值模拟结果,重点研究具有分形特征的尾缘对叶片尾流流场及叶片气动特性的影响。结果表明:分形叶片对改善叶片尾流流场有较显著作用。在8°~18°攻角范围内,分形叶片升、阻力系数随攻角变化波动性小于原始叶片;当攻角大于原始叶片失速攻角时,这种波动性差距更大。分形孔的存在使叶片周围流场结构及气动参数对攻角变化敏感性降低:在攻角大于原始叶片失速攻角时,分形叶片阻力系数随攻角变化标准差仅为原始叶片的0.6倍,升力系数标准差仅为原始叶片0.4倍。研究结果将改善垂直轴风力机叶片尾流互相干扰及水平轴风力机叶尖脱落涡情况。     

Numerical Analysis of the Aeroelastic Behaviour for the Last Turbine Stage in 3D Transonic Flow

An understanding of the physics of the mutual interaction between gas flow and oscillating blades, and the development of predictive capabilities is essential for improving overall efficiency, durability and reliability. In this study presented the algorithm proposed involving the coupled solution of 3D unsteady flow through a turbine stage and dynamic problem for rotor blades motion by action of aerodynamic forces without separating outer and inner flow fluctuations. There has been performed the calculations for the last stage of the steam turbine under design and off-design regimes. It has investigated the mutual influence of both outer flow non-uniformity and blades oscillations. It has shown that amplitude-frequency spectrum of blade oscillations contains the high frequency harmonics, corresponding to rotor moving one stator blade pitch, and low frequency harmonics caused by blade oscillations and flow non-uniformity downstream from the blade row.     

PIV measurements of flows around the wind turbines with a flanged-diffuser shroud

The wind turbines with a flanged-diffuser shroud -so called ＂wind lens turbine＂- are developed as one of high performance wind turbines by Ohya et al. In order to investigate the flow characteristics and flow acceleration, the paper presents the flow velocity measurements of a long-type and a compact-type wind turbines with a flanged-diffuser shroud by particle image velocimetry. In the case of the long type wind turbine, the velocity vec- tors of the inner flow field of the diffuser for turbine blades rotating and no blades rotating are presented at Rey- nolds number, 0.9x105. Fur~thermore the flow fields between with and without rotating are compared. Through the PIV measurement results, one can realize that the turbine blades rotating affects as suppress the disturbance and the flow separation near the inner wall of the diffuser. The time average velocity vectors are made on the av- erage of the instantaneous velocity data. There are two large vortices in downstream region of the diffuser. One vortex behind the flange acts as suck in wind to the diffuser and raise the inlet flow velocity. Another large vortex appears in downstream. It might be act as blockage vortex of main flow. The large blockage vortex is not clear in the instantaneous velocity vectors, however it exists clearly in the time average flow field. The flow field around the wind turbine with a compact-type flanged-diffuser shroud is also investigated. The flow pattern behind the flange of the compact-type turbine is the same as the long-type one. It means that the effect of flow acceleration is caused by the unsteady vortices behind the flange. The comparison with CFD and PIV results of meridional time-average streamlines after the compact-type diffuser is also presented.     

基于CFD的水平轴风力机叶尖小翼增功研究

基于风力机叶片增功装置设计要求,以NREL 5 MW叶片为设计原型,以扭角、上反角及后掠角3种小翼外形参数为优化因素设计正交试验表,每种因素分别选取4个水平值,采用计算流体力学(CFD)方法对加装16种不同构型小翼的叶片进行数值模拟。计算结果表明,叶片整体可增功约1.466%,同时推力增加约1.570%;影响扭矩的最主要因素为扭角,影响推力的最主要因素为上反角;通过分析叶片近尾迹流场发现,优化的叶尖小翼布局可改变叶片叶尖涡强度分布,调整叶尖翼型截面气动力特性,进而改善叶片气动性能。     

预弯对10MW级风力机叶片气动特性的影响

为分析预弯处理对10 MW级风力机叶片气动特性的影响,以DTU 10 MW风力机为例,采用CFD数值模拟方法,研究均匀来流不同风速下风力机的输出功率,并与BEM计算结果进行对比。同时,对比分析直叶片和预弯叶片风力机的功率特性、沿展向出力分布、沿展向不同截面翼型的流动特性。研究结果表明,直叶片各截面翼型的压力差较预弯叶片的大,做功能力较强。预弯通过对叶片的三维流动产生扰动,进而影响风力机的输出功率,且主要体现在叶片展向70%~90%的位置。研究成果可为风力机叶片气动性能的设计与优化提供参考。     

Classical flutter analysis of composite wind turbine blades including compressibility

For wind turbine blades with the increased slenderness ratio, flutter instability may occur at lower wind and rotational speeds. For long blades, at the flutter condition, relative velocities at blade sections away from the hub center are usually in the subsonic compressible range. In this study, for the first time for composite wind turbine blades, a frequency domain classical flutter analysis methodology has been presented including the compressibility effect only for the outboard blade sections, which are in the compressible flow regime exceeding Mach 0.3. Flutter analyses have been performed for the baseline blade designed for the 5‐MW wind turbine of NREL. Beam‐blade model has been generated by making analogy with the structural model of the prewisted rotating thin‐walled beam (TWB) and variational asymptotic beam section (VABS) method has been utilized for the calculation of the sectional properties of the blade. To investigate the compressibility effect on the flutter characteristics of the blade, frequency and time domain aeroelastic analyses have been conducted by utilizing unsteady aerodynamics via incompressible and compressible indicial functions. This study shows that with use of compressible indicial functions, the effect of compressibility can be taken into account effectively in the frequency domain aeroelastic stability analysis of long blades whose outboard sections are inevitably in the compressible flow regime at the onset of flutter.     

Application of the actuator surface concept to wind turbine rotor aerodynamics

The structure of blade tip vortices is recognized as a key issue in wind turbine aerodynamic modelling by many researchers in the field. In the search for an intermediate model between full Navier–Stokes and blade‐element momentum simulations, this article presents a method using rotating actuator surfaces to model wind turbine aerodynamics. An actuator surface is a simple planar surface, porous to the flow, which is characterized by velocity and pressure discontinuities, whose action on the flow is achieved through an attached system of forces. These discontinuities and forces are determined from blade‐element analysis and the Kutta–Joukowski relation. After implementing this concept in a three‐dimensional CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) method, results are produced for the experimental rotors of NREL and TUDelft. The method is validated against both experimental measurements and the predictions of three other numerical models for wind turbine aerodynamic analysis. Qualitative and quantitative comparisons show that the actuator surface concept agrees well with the other numerical models. In addition to rotor aerodynamic analysis, the actuator surface concept can be used in the study of wake aerodynamics, or as the Eulerian flow solver in hybrid methods. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Passive control of wind turbine vibrations including blade/tower interaction and rotationally sampled turbulence

This paper investigates the use of a passive control device, namely, a tuned mass damper (TMD), for the mitigation of vibrations due to the along‐wind forced vibration response of a simplified wind turbine. The wind turbine assembly consists of three rotating uniform rotor blades connected to the top of a flexible uniform annular tower, constituting a multi‐body dynamic system. First, the free vibration properties of the tower and rotating blades are each obtained separately using a discrete parameter approach, with those of the tower including the presence of a rigid mass at the top, representing the nacelle, and those of the blade including the effects of centrifugal stiffening due to blade rotation and self‐weight. Drag‐based loading is assumed to act on the rotating blades, in which the phenomenon of rotationally sampled wind turbulence is included. Blade response time histories are obtained using the mode acceleration method, allowing base shear forces due to flapping motion for the three blades to be calculated. The resultant base shear is imparted into the top of the tower. Wind drag loading on the tower is also considered, and includes Davenport‐type spatial coherence information. The tower/nacelle is then coupled with the rotating blades by combining their equations of motion. A TMD is placed at the top of the tower, and when added to the formulation, a Fourier transform approach allows for the solution of the displacement at the top of the tower under compatibility of response conditions. An inverse Fourier transform of this frequency domain response yields the response time history of the coupled blades/tower/damper system. A numerical example is included to qualitatively investigate the influence of the damper. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Wind turbine rotor‐tower interaction using an incompressible overset grid method

In this paper, 3D Navier–Stokes simulations of the unsteady flow over the NREL Phase VI turbine are presented. The computations are carried out using the structured grid, incompressible, finite volume flow solver EllipSys3D, which has been extended to include the use of overset grids. Computations are presented, firstly, on an isolated rotor, and secondly, on the downwind configuration of the turbine, which includes modelling of the rotor, tower and tunnel floor boundary. The solver successfully captures the unsteady interaction between the rotor blades and the tower wake, and the computations are in good agreement with the experimental data available. The interaction between the rotor and the tower induces significant increases in the transient loads on the blades and is characterized by an instant deloading and subsequent reloading of the blade, associated with the velocity deficit in the wake, combined with the interaction with the shed vortices, which causes a strongly time‐varying response. Finally, the results show that the rotor has a strong effect on the tower shedding frequency, causing under certain flow conditions vortex lock‐in to take place on the upper part of the tower. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Modelling the aerodynamics of vertical‐axis wind turbines in unsteady wind conditions

Most numerical and experimental studies of the performance of vertical‐axis wind turbines have been conducted with the rotors in steady, and thus somewhat artificial, wind conditions—with the result that turbine aerodynamics, under varying wind conditions, are still poorly understood. The vorticity transport model has been used to investigate the aerodynamic performance and wake dynamics, both in steady and unsteady wind conditions, of three different vertical‐axis wind turbines: one with a straight‐bladed configuration, another with a curved‐bladed configuration and another with a helically twisted configuration. The turbines with non‐twisted blades are shown to be somewhat less efficient than the turbine with helically twisted blades when the rotors are operated at constant rotational speed in unsteady wind conditions. In steady wind conditions, the power coefficients that are produced by both the straight‐bladed and curved‐bladed turbines vary considerably within one rotor revolution because of the continuously varying angle of attack on the blades and, thus, the inherent unsteadiness in the blade aerodynamic loading. These variations are much larger, and thus far more significant, than those that are induced by the unsteadiness in the wind conditions. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The inverse design of the wind turbine blade sections by the singularities method

The aerodynamic characteristics of wind turbines are closely related to the geometry of their blades. The innovation and the technological development of wind turbine blades can be centred on two tendencies. The first is to improve the shape of existing blades; the second is to design new shapes of blades. The aspiration in the two cases is to achieve an optimal circulation and hence enhancing some more ambitious aerodynamic characteristics. This paper presents an inverse design procedure, which can be adapted to both thin and thick wind turbine blade sections aiming to optimise the geometry for a prescribed distribution of bound vortices. A method for simulating the initial contour of the blade section is exposed, which simultaneously satisfy the aerodynamic and geometrical constraints under nominal conditions. A detailed definition of the function characterising the bound vortex distribution is presented. The inviscid velocity field and potential function distributions are obtained by the singularities method. In the design method implemented, these distributions and the circulation of bound vortices on the camber line of the blade profile, are used to rectify its camber in an iterative calculation leading to the final and optimal form of the blade section once convergence is attained. The scheme proposed has been used to design the entire blade of the wind turbine for a given span-wise distribution of bound circulation around the blade contour.     

Numerical prediction of wind turbine noise

This paper develops and validates the first principle based numerical method for predicting the noise radiated from the rotating Horizontal-Axis Wind Turbine (HAWT) blades. The noise radiated to the far-field was predicted by the code based on Ffowcs Williams–Hawkings (FW–H) equation, using both original non-permeable formulation and permeable formulation. A commercially available CFD solver, ANSYS CFX 11.0, was used to calculate the flow parameters on and around the blade surface that are required for FW–H codes. A capability of the solver for modelling the flow field around the wind turbine blades was validated by comparing with the experimental results of NREL phase VI wind turbine blades. The FW–H codes were validated using acoustic results of UH-1H helicopter rotor in hover and Hartzell aircraft propeller in forward motion, which were measured in anechoic wind tunnel facility. Then the developed FW–H acoustic codes were applied to calculate the noise radiated from NREL Phase VI wind turbine blades.     

前缘结节对风力机气动性能影响的数值研究

基于座头鲸的鱼鳍前缘结节的流动特性,开展前缘结节对改造的Phase Ⅵ仿生风力机叶片性能及流动特性影响的数值研究。结果表明：在设计工况下（V_∞=10 m/s）,结节放置在叶片展向81%位置时,叶片根部的回流区域消除,但结节处的旋涡扰动会破坏叶片稳定流动,使叶片性能相对较低。在高风速下（V_∞=15、20、25 m/s）,由于前缘结节的结构特征,叶片表面产生旋涡,发生阻塞作用,叶片吸力侧压力减小,叶片正背面压差增大,升力增大,进而使仿生叶片的性能得到提升。     

Design and performance of a double-pitch wind turbine with non-twisted blades

A new design has been proposed for inexpensive wind turbine blades with high power coefficients.The new wind turbine blade has been subdivided into two, each with a different pitch angle, to optimise aerodynamic flow, absence of twist, and carries a variable chord along the blade itself.The new blade reveals some energy loss due to the tip vortices of each blade part (which can be minimised by winglets), yet proves that it is possible to create a wind turbine with high power coefficients.To design and evaluate the performance of the new wind turbine a numerical code, developed by the authors and based on blade element momentum theory, was implemented after validation by experimental measurement found in scientific literature. The code led to better choices of layout to maximise turbine performance.     

Aerodynamic simulations of offshore floating wind turbine in platform‐induced pitching motion

Forfloating offshore wind turbines, rotors are under coupled motions of rotating and platform‐induced motions because of hydrodynamics impacts. Notably, the coupled motion of platform pitching and rotor rotating induces unsteadiness and nonlinear aerodynamics in turbine operations; thus having a strong effect on the rotor performances including thrust and power generation. The present work aims at developing a computational fluid dynamics model for simulations of rotor under floating platform induced motions. The rotor motion is realized using arbitrary mesh interface, and wind flows are modelled by incompressible Navier‐Stokes flow solver appended by the k  ? ω shear stress transport turbulence model to resolve turbulence quantities. In order to investigate the fully coupled motion of floating wind turbine, the six degree of freedom solid body motion solver is extended to couple with multiple motions, especially for the motion of rotor coupled with the prescribed surge‐heave‐pitch motion of floating platform. The detailed methodology of multiple motion coupling is also described and discussed in this work. Both steady and unsteady simulations of offshore floating wind turbine are considered in the present work. The steady aerodynamic simulation of offshore floating wind turbine is implemented by the multiple reference frames approach and for the transient simulation, the rotor motion is realized using arbitrary mesh interface. A rigorous benchmark of the present numerical model is performed by comparing to the reported literatures. The detailed elemental thrust and power comparisons of wind turbine are carried out by comparing with the results from FAST developed by National Renewable Energy Laboratory and various existing numerical data with good agreement. The proposed approach is then applied for simulations of National Renewable Energy Laboratory 5MW turbine in coupled platform motion at various wind speeds under a typical load case scenario. Transient effect of flows over turbines rotor is captured with good prediction of turbine performance as compared with existing data from FAST. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.