Load control on a dynamically pitching finite span wind turbine blade using synthetic jets

The feasibility of active flow control, via arrays of synthetic jet actuators, to mitigate hysteresis was investigated experimentally on a dynamically pitching finite span S809 blade. In the present work, a six‐component load cell was used to measure the unsteady lift, drag and pitching moment. Stereoscopic Particle Image Velocimetry (SPIV) measurements were also performed to understand the effects of synthetic jets on flow separation during dynamic pitch and to correlate these effects with the forces and moment measurements. It was shown that active flow control could significantly reduce the hysteresis in lift, drag and pitching moment coefficients during dynamic pitching conditions. This effect was further enhanced when the synthetic jets were pulsed modulated. Furthermore, additional reduction in the unsteady load oscillations can be observed in post‐stall conditions during dynamic motions. This reduction in the unsteady aerodynamic loading can potentially lead to prolonged life of wind turbine blades. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

海上浮式水平轴风力机气动特性研究

以NREL-5 MW风力机为研究对象,基于叶素动量理论,考虑动态失速、风剪切及塔影效应等气动修正模型,开发Matlab非定常气动载荷计算程序,研究浮式水平轴风力机气动特性。结果表明:为保证风力机气动载荷模拟的正确性,气动修正模型必不可少;基础运动对风力机气动性能有显著影响,基础运动使风力机输出功率增大,但同时存在较大的振荡幅度,导致功率输出不稳定;叶片变桨失效导致功率输出更加不稳定。     

Effect of platform disturbance on the performance of offshore wind turbine under pitch control

The aerodynamic performance of offshore floating wind turbines (OFWTs) is more complicated than onshore wind turbines due to 6‐degree of freedom (DOF) motion of the floating platform. In the current study, the aerodynamic analysis of a horizontal‐axis floating offshore wind turbine is performed with the aim of studying the effects of floating platform movement on the aerodynamic characteristics of the turbine in the presence of a pitch angle control system. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) 5‐MW offshore wind turbine is selected as the baseline wind turbine. For this sake, the unsteady blade element momentum method with dynamic stall and dynamic inflow models have been employed to obtain the unsteady aerodynamic loads. The baseline pitch angle control system is assumed to be coupled with the aerodynamic model to maintain the rated condition of the wind turbine and also to approach a closer model of wind turbine. In case of pitching motion input, the reduction of mean power coefficient for tip speed ratios (TSRs) less that 7 is expected by an amount of 16% to 20% at pitch amplitude of 2° and frequency of 0.1 Hz. For high TSRs, the trend is reverse with respect to fixed‐platform case. The mean thrust coefficient is reduced for almost all range of TSRs with maximum loss of 37%. Moreover, the mean control pitch angle that is an index of control system effort is increased. The results also represent the importance of considering the pitch control system for aerodynamic analysis of disturbed OFWT.     

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.     

基于Theodorsen理论的新型动态失速预测模型及其应用

风力机叶片动态失速时的非定常气动特性及严重的迟滞现象使得风力机功率实测值严重偏离其静态预测值。鉴于此,基于Theodorsen理论、基尔霍夫势流理论,在忽略低阶附加质量引起的下洗气流加速度项及状态变量转换后,提出一种包括翼型附着流和后缘动态分离流的新型动态失速模型。利用该模型分析NREL 5 MW海上风力机叶片6种翼型的非定常动态失速特性得出：通过翼型的气流在完全附着流与完全分离流之间不断转换,受附着流脱落尾诱导的动态下洗气流影响及边界层动态分离产生的压力滞后的双重作用,动态升力系数变化曲线和静态升力现象曲线偏差较大,6种翼型动态升力系数变化曲线均呈非常明显的迟滞环现象。DU40、DU35、DU30、DU25、DU21和NACA64这6种翼型动态升力系数增幅明显,分别达17.6%、60.9%、60.7%、55.1%、63.7%和40.8%。动态失速攻角极大地超过静态失速攻角,分别增大到36.53°、21.40°、20.20°、17.68°、16.97°和21.42°。6种翼型动态失速预测结果与公开实验数据结论一致,证实所提出的动态失速气动模型计算结果准确可信,具有较强通用性。     

Quantification of the S817 airfoil aerodynamic properties and their control using synthetic jet actuators

Wind tunnel experiments were conducted at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's Center for Flow Physics and Control's subsonic wind tunnel, which experimentally quantified the aerodynamic performance of the S817 airfoil. This study has two main thrusts: Experimentally evaluate common aerodynamic properties of the S817 airfoil, and develop flow control strategies using continuously actuated and pulse‐modulated synthetic jets for future field testing to show the reduction of unsteady loading and increased aerodynamic performance. Quasi‐2D and finite span 3D configurations were utilized, where integrated aerodynamic loading, surface pressure, and stereoscopic particle image velocimetry data were collected to quantify the overall aerodynamic performance and stall characteristics of this airfoil. Experiments showed that synthetic jets, located at x/c=0.35 and angled at 45° with respect to the surface, increased the lift curve slope by 3.8%, the maximum lift coefficient by 10.5%, increased the L/D by as much as 39% at high angles of attack and delayed the stall angle of attack by 3°. Global particle image velocimetry measurements quantified the flowfield and showed flow reattachment could be achieved at various angles of attack using flow control where the flow would otherwise be separated. Near field measurements of the synthetic jet orifice yielded insight as to how synthetic jets interact with the cross‐flow in the time‐ and phase‐averaged sense. For very high angles of attack, a pulsed modulation technique was implemented, demonstrating flow reattachment in scenarios where a sinusoidal synthetic jet actuation scheme was unable to reattach the flow, with the benefit of achieving this with lower energy consumption compared with sinusoidal actuation.     

Wind tunnel quantification of dynamic stall on an S817 airfoil and its control using synthetic jet actuators

Wind tunnel experiments were performed to quantify the aerodynamic characteristics of the S817 airfoil in dynamic stall conditions, and the subsequent application of active flow control to modify the manner by which dynamic stall incepts. Both quasi‐2D and cantilevered finite span configurations were tested. Surface pressure, six‐component force‐torque sensor, and stereoscopic particle image velocimetry (SPIV) were used to quantify the baseline flow and the benefits of actuating synthetic jets (installed at x/c = 0.35, angled 45° into the flow, and at a momentum coefficient C_μ = 0.012). The airfoil was pitched at reduced frequencies of k_f = 0.025 and 0.05 and at shallow and deep stall. Vortex induced lift from dynamic stall was observed and was eliminated by the use of synthetic jets for nearly all conditions; pitching moment deviation was also observed to be significant, and was eliminated at shallow stall and significantly reduced during deep dynamic stall when the synthetic jets were actuated. Moreover, the activation of synthetic jets resulted in significant reduction in the hysteresis (area within the pitching up and pitching down load history) of the lift and pitching moment through all experimental conditions, as much as 41% and 85%, respectively. SPIV flow fields in shallow dynamic stall demonstrated that actuation of synthetic jets confined the separated region to the trailing edge, in both the instantaneous and time averaged sense. To further reduce the lift and pitching moment hysteresis at high angles of attack, a pulse modulation technique was used and showed a marked increase in synthetic jet performance compared with the continuously actuated case and achieved this result with approximately 65% less power consumption.     

尾缘非定常射流襟翼对垂直轴风力机气动特性影响研究

为提升垂直轴风力机气动性能并改善其动态失速特性,将射流襟翼布置于翼型尾缘压力面,并提出5种射流控制策略,采用计算流体力学方法研究不同策略对垂直轴风力机气动性能影响,从而确定最佳控制策略。结果表明：在180°~360°相位角范围内施加射流控制可使风力机风能利用系数在最佳尖速比下提升31.31%,并有效抑制吸力面尾缘涡形成与发展,增大翼面两侧压差;射流越靠近尾缘,垂直轴风力机气动性能提升效果越好。     

Validation of the Beddoes–Leishman dynamic stall model for horizontal axis wind turbines using MEXICO data

The aim of this study is to assess the load predicting capability of a classical Beddoes–Leishman dynamic stall model in a horizontal axis wind turbine environment, in the presence of yaw misalignment. The dynamic stall model was tailored to the horizontal axis wind turbine environment and validated against unsteady thick airfoil data. Subsequently, the dynamic stall model was implemented in a blade element‐momentum code for yawed flow, and the results were compared with aerodynamic measurements obtained in the MEXICO (Model Rotor Experiments under Controlled Conditions) project on a wind turbine rotor placed in a large scale wind tunnel. In general, reasonable to good agreement was found between the blade element‐momentum model and MEXICO data. When large yaw misalignments were imposed, poor agreement was found in the downstroke of the movement between the model and the experiment. Still, over a revolution, the maximum normal force coefficient predicted was always within 8% of experimental data at the inboard stations, which is encouraging especially when blade fatigue calculations are being considered. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Comparison of pneumatic jets and tabs for Active Aerodynamic Load Control

A fast, efficient way to control loads on utility scale wind turbines is important for the growth of the wind industry. Microtabs and microjets are two Active Aerodynamic Load Control devices, which address this need. Both act perpendicular to the surface of the airfoil, and these actively controlled devices are used to mitigate changes in aerodynamic loading experienced by wind turbine rotors due to wind gusts, wind shear, or other atmospheric phenomena. This work explores the aerodynamic effects of microjets and then compares them to those of microtabs. Flow around an airfoil with an activated microjet at the trailing edge has been simulated using the Reynolds‐averaged Navier–Stokes solver OVERFLOW‐2. Using a Chimera overset grid topology, a microjet has been placed near the trailing edge of the lower surface of a NACA 0012 airfoil. For a jet velocity about half of the freestream velocity, the microjet can change the lift up to ΔC_L = 0.2, but the amount of change varies with the momentum coefficient of the jet. The change in lift is not symmetric for positive and negative angles of attack due to changes in the boundary layer thickness with angle of attack. Increasing the Reynolds number reduces the effectiveness of the microjet only slightly. The effects of jet velocity, jet activation time, and airfoil angle of attack on airfoil lift, drag, and pitching moment are compared with previous work, which illustrates the deployment of a microtab at the 95% chord location of a NACA 0012 airfoil. This study shows that microjets and microtabs have very similar responses in lift and pitching moment, but the drag for the microjet is noticeably lower. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Open‐loop frequency response analysis of a wind turbine using a high‐order linear aeroelastic model

Wind turbine controllers are commonly designed on the basis of low‐order linear models to capture the aeroelastic wind turbine response due to control actions and disturbances. This paper characterizes the aeroelastic wind turbine dynamics that influence the open‐loop frequency response from generator torque and collective pitch control actions of a modern non‐floating wind turbine based on a high‐order linear model. The model is a linearization of a geometrically non‐linear finite beam element model coupled with an unsteady blade element momentum model of aerodynamic forces including effects of shed vorticity and dynamic stall. The main findings are that the lowest collective flap modes have limited influence on the response from generator torque to generator speed, due to large aerodynamic damping. The transfer function from collective pitch to generator speed is affected by two non‐minimum phase zeros below the frequency of the first drivetrain mode. To correctly predict the non‐minimum phase zeros, it is essential to include lateral tower and blade flap degrees of freedom. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Efficiency enhancement in transonic compressor rotor blades using synthetic jets: A numerical investigation

Several passive and active techniques were studied and developed by compressor designers with the aim of improving the aerodynamic behavior of compressor blades by reducing, or even eliminating, flow separation. Fluidic-based methods, in particular, have been investigated for a long time, including both steady and unsteady suction, blowing and oscillating jets. Recently, synthetic jets (zero mass flux) have been proposed as a promising solution to reduce low-momentum fluid regions inside turbomachines. Synthetic jets, with the characteristics of zero net mass flux and non-zero momentum flux, do not require a complex system of pumps and pipes. They could be very efficient because at the suction part of the cycle the low-momentum fluid is sucked into the device, whereas in the blowing part a high-momentum jet accelerates it. To the authors’ knowledge, the use of synthetic jets has never been experimented in transonic compressor rotors, where this technique could be helpful (i) to reduce the thickness and instability of blade suction side boundary layer after the interaction with the shock, and (ii) to delay the arising of the low-momentum region which can take place from the shock-tip clearance vortex interaction at low flow operating conditions, a flow feature which is considered harmful to rotor stability. Therefore, synthetic jets could be helpful to improve both efficiency and stall margin in transonic compressor rotors. In this paper, an accurate and validated CFD model is used to simulate the aerodynamic behavior of a transonic compressor rotor with and without synthetic jets. Four technical solutions were evaluated, different for jet position and velocity, and one was investigated in detail.     

直接测力俯仰振荡翼型动态气动性能研究

在西北工业大学NF-3低速风洞二元实验段开展翼型俯仰振荡运动动态气动性能深入研究。实验模型为展向三段式测力模型,测力仅在模型中段进行以减小风洞侧壁干扰的影响。实验中采集模型的转动瞬态迎角、计算模型中段的惯性力和惯性力矩、并从天平采集数据中扣除以修正模型惯性对结果的影响。结果表明,迎角超过正向或负向静态失速迎角是升力系数和俯仰力矩系数产生大的迟滞环的必要条件。随着振荡缩减频率增大,动态失速会推迟,升力系数迟滞环增大,阻力系数增大,最大迎角附近的俯仰力矩系数减小。在迎角小于静态失速迎角或超过不大的迎角范围,随着缩减频率的增大,翼型振荡运动俯仰力矩系数上行时减小,下行时增大。随着振荡振幅的增大,翼型振荡运动动态升力系数和俯仰力矩系数的迟滞环增大。随着平均迎角的增大,翼型迎角更多地进入正向失速区,升力系数迟滞环增大,俯仰力矩系数最小值变小。雷诺数对升力系数、阻力系数和俯仰力矩系数迟滞环无明显影响;但是,在翼型模型下行过程,随着雷诺数的增大,升力恢复提前,同时迟滞环随雷诺数增大而减小。     

吹气控制策略对垂直轴风力机气动性能的影响

为改善垂直轴风力机周围流场结构并提升气动性能,在风力机叶片中采用外吹式流动控制,并提出5种吹气控制策略,通过数值模拟的方法研究不同吹气控制策略对垂直轴风力机气动性能的影响,进一步分析在最佳吹气流动控制策略时的涡量场与载荷波动。研究表明:采用上开口抛物线控制策略时的风力机气动性能最佳,当最大吹气动量系数为0. 025时,风能利用系数及平均力矩系数提升26%,并可抑制大涡的形成及发展,同时改善翼型表面压力分布。     

尾缘气动弹片对翼型动态失速特性影响研究

通过研究尾缘气动弹片对翼型动态失速特性影响,提出一种基于气动弹片的主动控制策略,使其于大攻角时抬起,小攻角时闭合。并采用计算流体动力学方法对比分析主动式气动弹片对不同厚度翼型抑制流动分离作用的效果。结果表明：对于薄翼型,发生动态失速时,气动弹片可延缓翼型尾缘涡旋与前缘主流涡的相互作用,减小翼型升力系数骤降幅度;随翼型厚度增加,流动分离点从翼型前缘转向后缘,气动弹片可有效分割较大分离涡,减轻流动分离程度,限制分离涡发展,同时抑制尾缘伴随小涡产生,提高翼型升阻比。     

Dynamic stall modelling of the S809 aerofoil and comparison with experiments

An analysis of dynamic stall for the S809 aerofoil has been performed in conjunction with the Leishman–Beddoes dynamic stall model that was modified for wind turbine applications. Numerical predictions of the lift, drag and pitching moment coefficients were compared with measurements obtained for an oscillating S809 aerofoil at various reduced frequencies, mean angles of attack and angle of attack amplitudes. It was found that the results using the modified model were in good agreement with the experimental data. Hysteresis in the aerodynamic coefficients was captured well, although the drag coefficient was slightly underpredicted in the deep stall flow regime. Validation against the experimental data showed overall good agreement. The mathematical structure of the model is such that it can be readily incorporated into a comprehensive analysis code for a wind turbine. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The application of passive air jet vortex‐generators to stall suppression on wind turbine blades

An experimental study was performed to assess the feasibility of passive air jet vortex‐generators to the performance enhancement of a domestic scale wind turbine. It has been demonstrated that these simple devices, properly designed and implemented, can provide worthwhile performance benefits for domestic wind turbines of the type investigated in this study. In particular, this study shows that they can increase the maximum output power coefficient, reduce the cut‐in wind speed and improve power output at lower wind speeds while reducing the sensitivity to wind speed unsteadiness. A theoretical performance analysis of a 500 kW stall‐regulated wind turbine, based on blade element momentum theory, indicates that passive air jet vortex‐generators would be capable of recovering some of the power loss because of blade stall, thereby allowing attainment of rated power output at slightly lower average wind speeds. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A stochastic model for the simulation of wind turbine blades in static stall

The aim of this work is to improve aeroelastic simulation codes by accounting for the unsteady aerodynamic forces that a blade experiences in static stall. A model based on a spectral representation of the aerodynamic lift force is defined. The drag and pitching moment are derived using a conditional simulation technique for stochastic processes. The input data for the model can be collected either from measurements or from numerical results from a Computational Fluid Dynamics code for airfoil sections at constant angles of attack. An analysis of such data is provided, which helps to determine the characteristics of stall. The model is applied to wind turbine rotor cases, including the stand still condition, and results are compared to experimental data. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

合成射流控制策略对垂直轴风力机性能影响研究

设计一种斜出口合成射流激励器并将其应用于垂直轴风力机控制其动态失速,建立不同射流孔数量的叶片并采用5种不同合成射流激励器控制策略,通过FLUENT15.0并采用Realizable k-ε湍流模型分析射流孔数量与控制策略对垂直轴风力机气动性能的影响,进一步研究垂直轴风力机涡量场结构。结果表明:当采用上开口抛物线控制策略、射流吹气系数为0.035,射流孔数量为2时,风能利用系数与平均力矩系数均提升15.2%,随着射流孔数量增多,气动性能降低;采用传统合成射流控制策略的垂直轴风力机承受近乎2倍的载荷波动,改进的控制策略可减小叶片在小攻角时的载荷波动,从而相对提升垂直轴风力机的运行稳定性;另外,合成射流技术可抑制叶片吸力面大涡的生成与发展并使叶片强尾涡削弱成多个小尾涡,减小多个叶片间的流动干扰并降低转轴尾涡强度,从而改善全局流场结构。     

Modeling dynamic stall on wind turbine blades under rotationally augmented flow fields

This paper presents an investigation of two well‐known aerodynamic phenomena, rotational augmentation and dynamic stall, together in the inboard parts of wind turbine blades. This analysis is carried out using the following: (1) the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's Unsteady Aerodynamics Experiment Phase VI experimental data, including constant as well as continuously pitching blade conditions during axial operation; (2) data from unsteady delayed detached eddy simulations (DDES) carried out using the Technical University of Denmark's in‐house flow solver Ellipsys3D; and (3) data from a reduced order dynamic stall model that uses rotationally augmented steady‐state polars obtained from steady Phase VI experimental sequences, instead of the traditional two‐dimensional, non‐rotating data. The aim of this work is twofold. First, the blade loads estimated by the DDES simulations are compared with three select cases of the N‐sequence experimental data, which serves as a validation of the DDES method. Results show reasonable agreement between the two data in two out of three cases studied. Second, the dynamic time series of the lift and the moment polars obtained from the experiments are compared with those from the dynamic stall model. This allowed the differences between the stall phenomenon on the inboard parts of harmonically pitching blades on a rotating wind turbine and the classic dynamic stall representation in two‐dimensional flow to be investigated. Results indicated a good qualitative agreement between the model and the experimental data in many cases, which suggests that the current two‐dimensional dynamic stall model as used in blade element momentum‐based aeroelastic codes may provide a reasonably accurate representation of three‐dimensional rotor aerodynamics when used in combination with a robust rotational augmentation model. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.