Helge Aagaard Madsen

Dynamic stall and aerodynamic damping

A dynamic stall model is used to analyze and reproduce open air blade section measurements as well as wind tunnel measurements. The dynamic stall model takes variations in both angle of attack and flow velocity into account. The paper gives a brief description of the dynamic stall model and presents results from analyses of dynamic stall measurements for a variety of experiments with different airfoils in wind tunnel and on operating rotors. The wind tunnel experiments comprises pitching as well as plunging motion of the airfoils. The dynamic stall model is applied for derivation of aerodynamic damping characteristics for cyclic motion of the airfoils in flapwise and edgewise direction combined with pitching. The investigation reveals that the airfoil dynamic stall characteristics depend on the airfoil shape, and the type of motion (pitch, plunge). The aerodynamic damping characteristics, and thus the sensitivity to stall induced vibrations, depend highly on the relative motion of the airfoil in flapwise and edgewise direction, and on a possibly coupled pitch variation, which is determined by the structural characteristics of the blade.

Yaw aerodynamics analyzed with three codes in comparison with experiment

Yaw aerodynamics were computed with three codes of different complexity; 1) The 3D Navier Stokes solver Ellipsys3D using 5–8 million grid points; 2) HAWC3D which is a 3D actuator disc model coupled to a blade element model and using 20–30.000 grid points and 3) HAWC, a finite element based aeroelastic code using The Blade Element Momentum (BEM) model for the aerodynamics. Simulations were performed for two experiments. The first is the field rotor measurements on a 100 kW turbine at Risoe where local flow angle (LFA) and local relative velocity (LRV) at one radial station have been measured in a yaw angle interval of ±60°. The other experiment is the NREL measurements on a 10 m rotor in the NASA Ames 80 ft × 120 ft wind tunnel. LFA were measured at five radial stations and data for the 45° yaw case were analyzed. The measured changes in LFA caused by the yawing were used as the main parameter in the comparison with the models. In general a good correlation was found comparing the Ellipsys3D results with the LFA measured on the NREL rotor whereas a systematic underestimation of the amplitude in LFA as function of azimuth was observed for the two other models. This could possibly be ascribed to upwash influence on the measured LFA.Copyright

Observations and hypothesis of double stall

The double-stall phenomenon of aerofoil flows is characterized by at least two distinct stall levels for identical inflow conditions. In the present work a likely explanation of double stall is presented. Observations on full-scale rotors, in wind tunnel experiments and in CFD calculations could show at least two different distinct lift levels for identical inflow conditions, with sudden shifts between them. CFD calculations revealed the generation of a small, laminar separation bubble at the leading edge of the aerofoil for incidences near maximum lift. The bursting of this bubble could explain the sudden shift in lift levels. This investigation indicated that bursting will occur if the position of the free transition is only a small distance upstream from the position where forced transition would first cause leading-edge stall. Thus the investigation indicated that double stall is closely related to the actual geometry of the leading edge of the aerofoil and that it probably can be avoided in the design of new aerofoils. The investigation indicated further that double stall can be predicted from CFD calculations. Copyright

Implementation of the Actuator Cylinder flow model in the HAWC2 code for aeroelastic simulations on Vertical Axis Wind Turbines

The paper presents the implementation of the Actuator Cylinder (AC) flow model in the HAWC2 aeroelastic code originally developed for simulation of Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine (HAWT) aeroelasticity. This is done within the DeepWind project where the main objective is to explore the competitiveness of VAWTs for floating MW concepts. The AC model is a 2D flow model and has thus some advantages compared with the stream tube models often used in VAWT aerodynamic and aeroelastic simulation models. A major finding presented in the present paper is a simple way to correct the results from the linear version of the AC model so that they correlate closely with the results of the full AC model. The linear model has very low computational requirements and is thus well suited for implementation in an aeroelastic model where the induction in a number of points on the rotor swept surface is updated at each time step. The AC model is described and the implementation of the model in HAWC2 is briefly presented. Results illustrating the accuracy of the different versions of the AC model are presented. Finally, initial simulations on the 5MW baseline rotor with the new HAWC2 version with the AC model implemented are presented.

Implementation of a Mixing Length Turbulence Formulation Into the Dynamic Wake Meandering Model

The work presented in this paper focuses on improving the description of wake evolution due to turbulent mixing in the dynamic wake meandering (DWM) model. From wake investigations performed with high-fidelity actuator line simulations carried out in ELLIPSYS3D , it is seen that the current DWM description, where the eddy viscosity is assumed to be constant in each cross-section of the wake, is insufficient. Instead, a two-dimensional eddy viscosity formulation is proposed to model the shear layer generated turbulence in the wake, based on the classical mixing length model. The performance of the modified DWM model is verified by comparing the mean wake velocity distribution with a set of ELLIPSYS3D actuator line calculations. The standard error (defined as the standard deviation of the difference between the mean velocity field of the DWM and the actuator line model), in the wake region extending from 3 to 12 diameters behind the rotor, is reduced by 27% by using the new eddy viscosity formulation.

A Novel Concept for Floating Offshore Wind Turbines: Recent Developments in the Concept and Investigation on Fluid Interaction With the Rotating Foundation

This paper describes the recent developments regarding a new concept for deep sea offshore vertical axis wind turbines. The concept utilizes a cylindrical foundation rotating in the water. The 2D Navier-Stokes solver EllipSys2D has been used to investigate the interaction between the rotating foundation and a water flow stream passing the turbine. Lift and drag forces, and the friction moment on the rotating foundation of the turbine have been computed. The calculations are repeated for different operating conditions of the wind turbine on a range of rotational speeds. The Reynolds number, based on the diameter of the foundation, is 5×106 .Copyright

Aerodynamic Noise Characterization of a Full-Scale Wind Turbine through High-Frequency Surface Pressure Measurements

The aim of this work is to investigate and characterize the high-frequency surface pressure fluctuations on a full-scale wind turbine blade and in particular the influence of the atmospheric turbulence. As these fluctuations are highly correlated to the sources of both turbulent inflow noise and trailing edge noise, recognized to be the two main sources of noise from wind turbines, this work contributes to a more detailed insight into noise from wind turbines. The study comprises analysis and interpretation of measurement data that were acquired during an experimental campaign involving a 2 MW wind turbine with a 80 m diameter rotor as well as measurements of an airfoil section tested in a wind tunnel. The turbine was extensively equipped in order to monitor the local inflow onto the rotating blades. Further a section of the 38 m long blade was instrumented with 50 microphones flush-mounted relative to the blade surface. The measurements of surface pressure spectra are compared with the results of two engineering models for trailing edge noise and for turbulent inflow noise. The measured pressure fluctuations are related to the local inflow angle and are also compared to measurements in a wind tunnel on a copy of the blade section of the full scale blade. Computational Fluid Dynamics calculations were conducted to investigate the influence of the inflow conditions on the airfoil and blade sections aerodynamics and aeroacoustics. Comparisons between measurement data and model results show the influence of atmospheric turbulence. The different noise generation mechanisms can be identified and the influence of various parameters can be consistently reproduced by the models.

Design and Aero-Elastic Simulation of a 5MW Floating Vertical Axis Wind Turbine

This paper deals with the design of a 5MW floating offshore Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT). The design is based on a new offshore wind turbine concept (DeepWind concept), consisting of a Darrieus rotor mounted on a spar buoy support structure, which is anchored to the sea bed with mooring lines [1]. The design is carried out in an iterative process, involving the different sub-components and addressing several conflicting constraints. The present design does not aim to be the final optimum solution for this concept. Instead, the goal is to have a baseline model, based on the present technology, which can be improved in the future with new dedicated technological solutions. The rotor uses curved blades, which are designed in order to minimize the gravitational loads and to be produced by the pultrusion process. The floating platform is a slender cylindrical structure rotating along with the rotor, whose stability is achieved by adding ballast at the bottom. The platform is connected to the mooring lines with some rigid arms, which are necessary to absorb the torque transmitted by the rotor. The aero-elastic simulations are carried out with Hawc2, a numerical solver developed at Riso-DTU. The numerical simulations take into account the fully coupled aerodynamic and hydrodynamic loads on the structure, due to wind, waves and currents. The turbine is tested in operative conditions, at different sea states, selected according to the international offshore standards. The research is part of the European project DeepWind (2010–2014), which has been financed by the European Union (FP7-Future Emerging Technologies).Copyright

Aeroelastic Optimization of a 10 MW Wind Turbine Blade with Active Trailing Edge Flaps

This article presents the aeroelastic optimization of a 10MW wind turbine ’smart blade’ equipped with active trailing edge flaps. The multi-disciplinary wind turbine analysis and optimization tool HawtOpt2 is utilized, which is based on the open-source framework OpenMDAO. The tool interfaces to several state-of-the art simulation codes, allowing for a wide variety of problem formulations and combinations of models. A simultaneous aerodynamic and structural optimization of a 10 MW wind turbine rotor is carried out with respect to material layups and outer shape. Active trailing edge flaps are integrated in the design taking into account their achieved fatigue load reduction. The optimized ’smart blade’ design is compared to an aeroelastically optimized design with no flaps and the baseline design.

Numerical Study on Aerodynamic Damping of Floating Vertical Axis Wind Turbines

Harvesting offshore wind energy resources using floating vertical axis wind turbines (VAWTs) has attracted an increasing interest in recent years. Due to its potential impact on fatigue damage, the aerodynamic damping should be considered in the preliminary design of a floating VAWT based on the frequency domain method. However, currently the study on aerodynamic damping of floating VAWTs is very limited. Due to the essential difference in aerodynamic load characteristics, the aerodynamic damping of a floating VAWT could be different from that of a floating horizontal axis wind turbine (HAWT). In this study, the aerodynamic damping of floating VAWTs was studied in a fully coupled manner, and its influential factors and its effects on the motions, especially the pitch motion, were demonstrated. Three straight-bladed floating VAWTs with identical solidity and with a blade number varying from two to four were considered. The aerodynamic damping under steady and turbulent wind conditions were estimated using fully coupled aero-hydro-servo-elastic time domain simulations. It is found that the aerodynamic damping ratio of the considered floating VAWTs ranges from 1.8% to 5.3%. Moreover, the aerodynamic damping is almost independent of the rotor azimuth angle, and is to some extent sensitive to the blade number.