Development of an aeroelastic code based on three‐dimensional viscous–inviscid method for wind turbine computations

Aerodynamic and structural dynamic performance analysis of modern wind turbines are routinely estimated in the wind energy field using computational tools known as aeroelastic codes. Most aeroelastic codes use the blade element momentum (BEM) technique to model the rotor aerodynamics and a modal, multi‐body or the finite‐element approach to model the turbine structural dynamics. The present work describes the development of a novel aeroelastic code that combines a three‐dimensional viscous–inviscid interactive method, method for interactive rotor aerodynamic simulations (MIRAS), with the structural dynamics model used in the aeroelastic code FLEX5. The new code, called MIRAS‐FLEX, is an improvement on standard aeroelastic codes because it uses a more advanced aerodynamic model than BEM. With the new aeroelastic code, more physical aerodynamic predictions than BEM can be obtained as BEM uses empirical relations, such as tip loss corrections, to determine the flow around a rotor. Although more costly than BEM, a small cluster is sufficient to run MIRAS‐FLEX in a fast and easy way. MIRAS‐FLEX is compared against the widely used FLEX5 and FAST, as well as the participant codes from the Offshore Code Comparison Collaboration Project. Simulation tests consist of steady wind inflow conditions with different combinations of yaw error, wind shear, tower shadow and turbine‐elastic modeling. Turbulent inflow created by using a Mann box is also considered. MIRAS‐FLEX results, such as blade tip deflections and root‐bending moments, are generally in good agreement with the other codes. Copyright © 2017 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.     

CFD simulations of the MEXICO rotor

The wake behind a wind turbine model is investigated using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), and results are compared with measurements. The turbine investigated is the three‐bladed test rotor (D = 4.5 m) used in the Model Experiments in Controlled Conditions (MEXICO) wind tunnel experiment. During the MEXICO experiment, particle image velocimetry measurements of the induction upstream and downstream of the rotor were performed for different operating conditions, giving a unique dataset to verify theoretical models and CFD models. The present paper first describes the efforts in reproducing the experimental results using the Reynold‐Averaged Navier‐Stokes method. Second, three‐dimensional airfoil characteristics are extracted that allow simulations with simpler wake models. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Evaluation of the effects of turbulence model enhancements on wind turbine wake predictions

The modelling of wind turbine wakes is investigated in this paper using a Navier–Stokes solver employing the k–ω turbulence model appropriately modified for atmospheric flows. It is common knowledge that even single‐wind turbine wake predictions with computational fluid dynamic methods underestimate the near wake deficit, directly contributing to the overestimation of the power of the downstream turbines. For a single‐wind turbine, alternative modelling enhancements under neutral and stable atmospheric conditions are tested in this paper to account for and eventually correct the turbulence overestimation that is responsible for the faster flow recovery that appears in the numerical predictions. Their effect on the power predictions is evaluated with comparison with existing wake measurements. A second issue addressed in this paper concerns multi‐wake predictions in wind farms, where the estimation of the reference wind speed that is required for the thrust calculation of a turbine located in the wake(s) of other turbines is not obvious. This is overcome by utilizing an induction factor‐based concept: According to it, the definition of the induction factor and its relationship with the thrust coefficient are employed to provide an average wind speed value across the rotor disk for the estimation of the axial force. Application is made on the case of five wind turbines in a row. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effect of rotor–tower interaction,tilt angle,and yaw misalignment on the aeroelasticity of a large horizontal axis wind turbine with composite blades

This paper presents a detailed analysis of the rotor–tower interaction and the effects of the rotor's tilt angle and yaw misalignment on a large horizontal axis wind turbine. A high‐fidelity aeroelastic model is employed, coupling computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and structural mechanics (CSM). The wind velocity stratification induced by the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) is modeled. On the CSM side, the complex composite structure of each blade is accurately modeled using shell elements. The rotor–tower interaction is analyzed by comparing results of a rotor‐only simulation and a full‐machine simulation, observing a sudden drop in loads, deformations, and power production of each blade, when passing in front of the tower. Subsequently, a tilt angle is introduced on the rotor, and its effect on blade displacements, loads, and performance is studied, representing a novelty with respect to the available literature. The tilt angle leads to a different contribution of gravity to the blade deformations, sensibly affecting the stresses in the composite material. Lastly, a yaw misalignment is introduced with respect to the incoming wind, and the resulting changes in the blade solicitations are analyzed. In particular, a reduction of the blade axial displacement amplitude during each revolution is observed.     

High‐fidelity linear time‐invariant model of a smart rotor with adaptive trailing edge flaps

A high‐fidelity linear time‐invariant model of the aero‐servo‐elastic response of a wind turbine with trailing‐edge flaps is presented and used for systematic tuning of an individual flap controller. The model includes the quasi‐steady aerodynamic effects of trailing‐edge flaps on wind turbine blades and is integrated in the linear aeroelastic code HAWCStab2. The dynamic response predicted by the linear model is validated against non‐linear simulations, and the quasi‐steady assumption does not cause any significant response bias for flap deflection with frequencies up to 2–3 Hz. The linear aero‐servo‐elastic model support the design, systematic tuning and model synthesis of smart rotor control systems. As an example application, the gains of an individual flap controller are tuned using the Ziegler–Nichols method for the full‐order poles. The flap controller is based on feedback of inverse Coleman transformed and low‐pass filtered flapwise blade root moments to the cyclic flap angles through two proportional‐integral controllers. The load alleviation potential of the active flap control, anticipated by the frequency response of the linear closed‐loop model, is also confirmed by non‐linear time simulations. The simulations report reductions of lifetime fatigue damage up to 17% at the blade root and up to 4% at the tower bottom. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Load analysis of hydraulic‐pneumatic flywheel configurations integrated in a wind turbine rotor

In this paper, the impact on the mechanical loads of a wind turbine due to a previously proposed hydraulic‐pneumatic flywheel system is analysed. Load simulations are performed for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) 5‐MW wind turbine using fatigue, aerodynamics, structures, and turbulence (FAST). It is discussed why FAST is applied although it cannot simulate variable rotor inertia. Several flywheel configurations, which increase the rotor inertia of the 5‐MW wind turbine by 15%, are implemented in the 61.5‐m rotor blade. Load simulations are performed twice for each configuration: Firstly, the flywheel system is discharged, and secondly, the flywheel is charged. The change in ultimate and fatigue loads on the tower, the low speed shaft, and the rotor blades is juxtaposed for all flywheel configurations. As the blades are mainly affected by the flywheel system, the increase in ultimate and fatigue loads of the blade is evaluated. Simulation results show that the initial design of the flywheel system causes the lowest impact on the mechanical loads of the rotor blades although this configuration is the heaviest.     

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.     

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.     

Effect of tower and nacelle on the flow past a wind turbine

Large eddy simulations (LES) of the flow past a wind turbine with and without tower and nacelle have been performed at 2 tip speed ratios (TSR, ), λ=3 and 6, where the latter corresponds to design conditions. The turbine model is placed in a virtual wind tunnel to reproduce the “Blind test 1” experiment performed at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) closed‐loop wind tunnel. The wind turbine was modeled using the actuator line model for the rotor blades and the immersed boundary method for the tower and nacelle. The aim of the paper is to highlight the impact of tower and nacelle on the turbine wake. Therefore, a second set of simulations with the rotating blades only (neglecting the tower and nacelle) has been performed as reference. Present results are compared with the experimental measurements made at NTNU and numerical simulations available in the literature. The tower and nacelle not only produce a velocity deficit in the wake but they also affect the turbulent kinetic energy and the fluxes. The wake of the tower interacts with that generated by the turbine blades promoting the breakdown of the tip vortex and increasing the mean kinetic energy flux into the wake. When tower and nacelle are modeled in the numerical simulations, results improve significantly both in the near wake and in the far wake.     

An experimental and numerical study of the atmospheric stability impact on wind turbine wakes

In this paper, the impact of atmospheric stability on a wind turbine wake is studied experimentally and numerically. The experimental approach is based on full‐scale (nacelle based) pulsed lidar measurements of the wake flow field of a stall‐regulated 500 kW turbine at the DTU Wind Energy, Risø campus test site. Wake measurements are averaged within a mean wind speed bin of 1 m s^?1 and classified according to atmospheric stability using three different metrics: the Obukhov length, the Bulk–Richardson number and the Froude number. Three test cases are subsequently defined covering various atmospheric conditions. Simulations are carried out using large eddy simulation and actuator disk rotor modeling. The turbulence properties of the incoming wind are adapted to the thermal stratification using a newly developed spectral tensor model that includes buoyancy effects. Discrepancies are discussed, as basis for future model development and improvement. Finally, the impact of atmospheric stability on large‐scale and small‐scale wake flow characteristics is presently investigated. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Low‐frequency dynamics of a floating wind turbine in wave tank–scaled experiments with SiL hybrid method

The design of floating wind turbines needs the validation of numerical models against measurements obtained from experiments that accurately represent the system dynamics. This requires solving the conflict in the scaling of the hydrodynamic and aerodynamic forces that arises in tests with wind and waves. To sort out this conflict, we propose a hybrid testing method that uses a ducted fan to replace the rotor and introduce a force representing the aerodynamic thrust. The force is obtained from a simulation of the rotor coupled in real time with the measured platform displacements at the basin. This method is applied on a test campaign of a semisubmersible wind turbine with a scale factor of 1/45. The experimental data are compared with numerical computations using linear and non‐linear hydrodynamic models. Pitch decays in constant wind show a good agreement with computations, demonstrating that the hybrid testing method correctly introduces the aerodynamic damping. Test cases with constant wind and irregular waves show better agreement with the simulations in the power spectral density's (PSD's) low‐frequency region when non‐linear hydrodynamics are computed. In cases with turbulent wind at rated wind speed, the low‐frequency platform motions are dominated by the wind, hiding the differences from hydrodynamic non‐linearities. In these conditions, the agreement between experiments using the proposed hybrid method and computations is good in all the frequency range both for the linear and the non‐linear hydrodynamic models. Conversely, for turbulent winds producing lower rotor thrust, non‐linear hydrodynamics are relevant for the simulation of the low‐frequency system dynamics.     

Application and validation of incrementally complex models for wind turbine aerodynamics,isolated wind turbine in uniform inflow conditions

A comparison of several incrementally complex methods for predicting wind turbine performance, aeroelastic behavior, and wakes is provided. Depending on a wind farm's design, wake interference can cause large power losses and increased turbulence levels within the farm. The goal is to employ modeling methods to reach an improved understanding of wake effects and to use this information to better optimize the layout of new wind farms. A critical decision faced by modelers is the fidelity of the model that is selected to perform simulations. The choice of model fidelity can affect the accuracy, but will also greatly impact the computational time and resource requirements for simulations. To help address this critical question, three modeling methods of varying fidelity have been developed side by side and are compared in this article. The models from low to high complexity are as follows: a blade element‐based method with a free‐vortex wake, an actuator disc‐based method, and a full rotor‐based method. Fluid/structure interfaces are developed for the aerodynamic modeling approaches that allow modeling of discrete blades and are then coupled with a multibody structural dynamics solver in order to perform an aeroelastic analysis. Similar methods have individually been tested by researchers, but we suggest that by developing a suite of models, they can be cross‐compared to grasp the subtleties of each method. The modeling methods are applied to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory Phase VI rotor to predict the turbine aerodynamic and structural loads and then also the wind velocities in the wake. The full rotor method provides the most accurate predictions at the turbine and the use of adaptive mesh refinement to capture the wake to 20 radii downstream is proven particularly successful. Though the full rotor method is unmatched by the lower fidelity methods in stalled conditions and detailed prediction of the downstream wake, there are other less complex conditions where these methods perform as accurately as the full rotor method. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Characterization of the unsteady flow in the nacelle region of a modern wind turbine

A three‐dimensional Navier–Stokes solver has been used to investigate the flow in the nacelle region of a wind turbine where anemometers are typically placed to measure the flow speed and the turbine yaw angle. A 500 kW turbine was modelled with rotor and nacelle geometry in order to capture the complex separated flow in the blade root region of the rotor. A number of steady state and unsteady simulations were carried out for wind speeds ranging from 6 m s^?1 to 16 m s^?1 as well as two yaw and tilt angles. The flow in the nacelle region was found to be highly unsteady, dominated by unsteady vortex shedding from the cylindrical part of the blades, which interacted with the root vortices from each blade, generating high‐velocity gradients. As a consequence, the nacelle wind speed and the nacelle flow angle were found to vary significantly with the height above the nacelle surface. The nacelle anemometry showed significant dependence on both yaw and tilt angles with yaw errors of up to 10 degrees when operating in a tilted inflow. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Actuator volumes and hr‐adaptive methods for three‐dimensional simulation of wind turbine wakes and performance

This paper presents a three‐dimensional numerical model for horizontal axis wind turbines, capable of simulating both the dynamic response of the turbine to changing flow conditions, and the full wake generated by the turbine. The turbine model is coupled to computational fluid dynamics software using Large Eddy Simulation to solve for unsteady flow conditions, with the Smagorinsky method handling sub‐grid turbulence. Wind tunnel simulations are compared with experimental data, and then a simulation of a real turbine in complex terrain is compared with LIDAR data from the same site, in both cases agreeing favourably. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Verification and validation of an actuator disc model

Wind turbine wake can be studied in computational fluid dynamics with the use of permeable body forces (e.g. actuator disc, line and surface). This paper presents a general flexible method to redistribute wind turbine blade forces as permeable body forces in a computational domain. The method can take any kind of shape discretization, determine the intersectional elements with the computational grid and use the size of these elements to redistribute proportionally the forces. This method can potentially reduce the need for mesh refinement in the region surrounding the rotor and, therefore, also reduce the computational cost of large wind farm wake simulations. The special case of the actuator disc is successfully validated with an analytical solution for heavily loaded turbines and with a full‐rotor computation in computational fluid dynamics. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Simulating the aerodynamic performance and wake dynamics of a vertical‐axis wind turbine

The accurate prediction of the aerodynamics and performance of vertical‐axis wind turbines is essential if their design is to be improved but poses a significant challenge to numerical simulation tools. The cyclic motion of the blades induces large variations in the angle of attack of the blades that can manifest as dynamic stall. In addition, predicting the interaction between the blades and the wake developed by the rotor requires a high‐fidelity representation of the vortical structures within the flow field in which the turbine operates. The aerodynamic performance and wake dynamics of a Darrieus‐type vertical‐axis wind turbine consisting of two straight blades is simulated using Brown's Vorticity Transport Model. The predicted variation with azimuth of the normal and tangential force on the turbine blades compares well with experimental measurements. The interaction between the blades and the vortices that are shed and trailed in previous revolutions of the turbine is shown to have a significant effect on the distribution of aerodynamic loading on the blades. Furthermore, it is suggested that the disagreement between experimental and numerical data that has been presented in previous studies arises because the blade–vortex interactions on the rotor were not modelled with sufficient fidelity. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An actuator line method with novel blade flow field coupling based on potential flow equivalence

A Reynolds‐averaged Navier–Stokes‐embedded actuator line model for wind and tidal turbine simulation has been implemented and validated using the National Renewable Energy Laboratory Phase VI wind tunnel experimental results. Actuator line models, first introduced by Sørensen and Shen, represent the blades virtually, enabling time‐resolved rotor simulations without requiring blade boundary layer discretization. This results in a lower computational cost than blade‐resolved simulations while preserving the predominant features of the rotor flow. The present method introduces a novel technique, based on potential flow equivalence, to determine the local flow velocity at the blade, and a method of projecting the resulting momentum sources to the flow field. These methods circumvent the requirement for smearing techniques used in other actuator line models. In addition, the model is adapted for use with an unstructured mesh, thereby enabling turbine components such as the tower and nacelle to be explicitly included in the domain. The model is validated through comparison of computed integrated loads and local force coefficients with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory Phase VI experimental results. Results for local force coefficients indicate general agreement with experiment, although discrepancies associated with three‐dimensional flow effects are observed at the tips. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Modelling analysis of transient stability simulation with high penetration of grid‐connected wind farms of DFIG type

This paper shows a model of a doubly fed induction generator (DFIG) including a simplified model of a wind turbine for the purpose of transient stability analysis of large‐scale power systems with great wind farms penetration. The wind turbine model and the DFIG model are systematically deducted in this paper. Specially, the improved model of rotor‐side converter and the simplified grid‐side converter model are considered in our work. The corresponding machine–network interface solution based on the synchronously rotating common x‐y reference frame is elaborately issued in this paper. Furthermore, a method is proposed to calculate the DFIG initial conditions as well. A simplified model of the turbine is used excluding among other components the pitch control. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Experimental study of a small wind turbine for low‐ and medium‐wind regimes

The results of an experimental assessment of a small prototype battery charging wind turbine designed for low‐ and medium‐wind regimes are presented. The turbine is based on a newly designed axial flow permanent magnet synchronous generator and a three‐bladed rotor with variable twist and taper blades. Overspeed control is performed by a furling mechanism. The turbine has the unique feature of being capable of operating at either 12, 24 or 48 V system voltage, requiring no load control in any case. In the 48 V configuration, the system is capable of providing 2 kWh day^?1 for an average wind speed as low as 3.5 m s^?1 and an air density of 85% of the standard pressure and temperature value. The experimental assessment has been conducted under field conditions with the turbine mounted on a 20 m guy‐wired tubular tower. The experimental power curves are shown to be in good agreement with a detailed aerodynamical and electromechanical model of the turbine for non‐furling conditions and for wind speeds above the theoretical cut‐in speed. In the case of the rapidly spinning load configurations, a finite power production at wind speeds below the theoretical cut‐in speed can be observed, which can be explained in terms of inertia effects. During the measurement campaigns with high loads, we were able to observe bifurcations of the power curve, which can be explained in terms of instabilities arising in situations of transition from attached to separated flow. A full experimental C_p(λ)‐curve has been constructed by operating the turbine under different load conditions and the findings are in good agreement with a variable Reynolds‐number blade‐element momentum model. The three proposed system configurations have been found to operate with a high aerodynamic efficiency with typical values of the power coefficient in the 0.40–0.45 range. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.