Frederik Zahle

Overset Grid Flow Simulation on a Modern Wind Turbine

This paper provides unique insight into the unsteady aerodynamics of a modern wind turbine using an incompressible overset grid Navier-Stokes flow solver. A multi-megawatt wind turbine is modelled, and a simulation of the rotor operating in an atmospheric shear flow is presented along with two simulations of the turbine with both the rotor and the tower included. Results show that the inflow shear gives rise to hysteresis effects on the blade forces, delaying the recovery from the low velocity region close to the ground. When including the tower, the simulation predicts a clear influence of the tower shadow on the rotor loads, and gives insight into the unsteady interaction of the rotor wake and the tower. The development of the wake behind a rotor operating in shear is very different from that of a uniformly loaded rotor. The rotation of the wake gives rise to an upward ejection and mixing of the low velocity fluid in the bottom half of the wake with the higher velocity from the upper part of the wake, which appears to disintegrate the wake more rapidly than for a uniform inflow.

First-order aerodynamic and aeroelastic behavior of a single-blade installation setup

Limitations on the wind speed at which blade installation can be performed bears important financial consequences. The installation cost of a wind farm could be significantly reduced by increasing the wind speed at which blade mounting operations can be carried out. This work characterizes the first-order aerodynamic and aeroelastic behavior of a single blade installation system, where the blade is grabbed by a yoke, which is lifted by the crane and stabilized by two taglines. A simple engineering model is formulated to describe the aerodynamic forcing on the blade subject to turbulent wind of arbitrary direction. The model is coupled with a schematic aeroelastic representation of the taglines system, which returns the minimum line tension required to compensate for the aerodynamic forcing. The simplified models are in excellent agreement with the aeroelastic code HAWC2, and provide a solid basis for future design of an upgraded single blade installation system able to operate at higher wind speeds.

Comprehensive Aerodynamic Analysis of a 10 MW Wind Turbine Rotor Using 3D CFD

This article describes a comprehensive aerodynamic analysis carried out on the DTU 10 MW Reference Wind Turbine (DTU 10MW RWT), in which 3D CFD simulations were used to analyse the rotor performance and derive airfoil aerodynamic characteristics for use in aero-elastic simulation tools. The 3D CFD airfoil data derived using the Azimuthal Averaging Technique (AAT) was compared to airfoil data based on 2D CFD simulations on airfoil sections in combination with an array of 3D-correction engineering models, which indicated that the model by Chaviaropoulos and Hansen was in best agreement with the 3D CFD predictions. BEM simulations on the DTU 10MW RWT using the AAT-based airfoil data were carried out and compared to BEM simulations using the original airfoil data and the 3D CFD results, which showed clear improvements, particularly on the inner part of the rotor. Finally, 3D unsteady Detached Eddy Simulations (DES) were carried out to derive airfoil data for standstill conditions in the range of angles of attack of AOA = [-180, 180] deg. showing distinct differences compared to the baseline data.

Comparison of wind turbine wake properties in non-uniform inflow predicted by different rotor models

The wake of the 2MW NM80 wind turbine subject to non-uniform and laminar inflow conditions is simulated using CFD with a fully resolved rotor geometry, an actuator line method and actuator disc method, respectively and in all simulations the wake properties are compared. Based on the comparison the strengths and limitations of the models are pointed out.

Airfoil design: Finding the balance between design lift and structural stiffness

When upscaling wind turbine blades there is an increasing need for high levels of structural efficiency. In this paper the relationships between the aerodynamic characteristics; design lift and lift-drag ratio; and the structural characteristics were investigated. Using a unified optimization setup, airfoils were designed with relative thicknesses between 18% and 36%, a structural box height of 85% of the relative thickness, and varying box widths in chordwise direction between 20% and 40% of the chord length. The results from these airfoil designs showed that for a given flapwise stiffness, the design lift coefficient increases if the box length reduces and at the same time the relative thickness increases. Even though the conclusions are specific to the airfoil design approach used, the study indicated that an increased design lift required slightly higher relative thickness compared to airfoils with lower design lift to maintain the flapwise stiffness. Also, the study indicated that the lift-drag ratio as a function of flapwise stiffness was relatively independent of the airfoil design with a tendency that the lift-drag ratio decreased for large box lengths. The above conclusions were supported by an analysis of the three airfoil families Riso-C2, DU and FFA, where the lift-drag ratio as a function of flapwise stiffness was decreasing, but relatively independent of the airfoil design, and the design lift coefficient was varying depending on the design philosophy. To make the analysis complete also design lift and lift- drag ratio as a function of edgewise and torsional stiffness were shown.

Simulations of wind turbine rotor with vortex generators

This work presents simulations of the DTU 10MW wind turbine rotor equipped with vortex generators (VGs) on the inner part of the blades. The objective is to study the influence of different VG configurations on rotor performance and in particular to investigate the radial dependence of VGs, i.e. how VGs at one section of the blade may affect the aerodynamic characteristics at other radial positions. Furthermore, the performance of different sections on the blade is compared to their corresponding performance in 2D flow.

Multipoint high-fidelity CFD-based aerodynamic shape optimization of a 10tMW wind turbine

The wind energy industry relies heavily on computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to analyze new turbine designs. To utilize CFD earlier in the design process, where lower-fidelity methods such as blade element momentum (BEM) are more common, requires the development of new tools. Tools that utilize numerical optimization are particularly valuable because they reduce the reliance on design by trial and error. We present the first comprehensive 3-D CFD adjoint-based shape optimization of a modern 10 MW offshore wind turbine. The optimization problem is aligned with a case study from International Energy Agency (IEA) Wind Task 37, making it possible to compare our findings with the BEM results from this case study and therefore allowing us to determine the value of design optimization based on high-fidelity models. The comparison shows that the overall design trends suggested by the two models do agree, and that it is particularly valuable to consult the high-fidelity model in areas such as root and tip where BEM is inaccurate. In addition, we compare two different CFD solvers to quantify the effect of modeling compressibility and to estimate the accuracy of the chosen grid resolution and order of convergence of the solver. Meshes up to 14× 106 cells are used in the optimization whereby flow details are resolved. The present work shows that it is now possible to successfully optimize modern wind turbines aerodynamically under normal operating conditions using Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) models. The key benefit of a 3-D RANS approach is that it is possible to optimize the blade planform and cross-sectional shape simultaneously, thus tailoring the shape to the actual 3-D flow over the rotor. This work does not address evaluation of extreme loads used for structural sizing, where BEM-based methods have proven very accurate, and therefore will likely remain the method of choice.