Iván Herráez

Fluid-structure coupled computations of the NREL 5MW wind turbine blade during standstill

This work is aimed at investigating the aero-elastic behavior of a wind turbine blade subjected to strong wind speeds during standstill. This type of investigation still remains a challenge for most wind turbine simulation codes. For this purpose, a new developed high fidelity framework for fluid-structure coupled computations of wind turbines is presented and numerical simulations are conducted on the NREL 5MW reference wind turbine. The framework couples the open-source Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) toolbox OpenFOAM with an in-house beam solver, based on the Geometrically Exact Beam Theory (GEBT). The obtained results are compared to the aero-elastic tool FAST, which is based on the Blade Element Momentum theory (BEM) and can be considered as a state-of-the-art wind turbine simulation code. The evaluation of the fluid-structure coupled CFD simulations reveals clear differences in the results compared to FAST. While the mean deflections show a reasonable agreement, the dynamics of the edgewise deflections differ significantly. Furthermore, the effect of an explicit coupling versus an implicit coupling strategy on the results is investigated.

Aerodynamic Simulation of the MEXICO Rotor

CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) simulations are a very promising method for predicting the aerodynamic behavior of wind turbines in an inexpensive and accurate way. One of the major drawbacks of this method is the lack of validated models. As a consequence, the reliability of numerical results is often difficult to assess. The MEXICO project aimed at solving this problem by providing the project partners with high quality measurements of a 4.5 meters rotor diameter wind turbine operating under controlled conditions. The large measurement data-set allows the validation of all kind of aerodynamic models. This work summarizes our efforts for validating a CFD model based on the open source software OpenFoam. Both steady- state and time-accurate simulations have been performed with the Spalart-Allmaras turbulence model for several operating conditions. In this paper we will concentrate on axisymmetric inflow for 3 different wind speeds. The numerical results are compared with pressure distributions from several blade sections and PIV-flow data from the near wake region. In general, a reasonable agreement between measurements the and our simulations exists. Some discrepancies, which require further research, are also discussed.

Experimental and Numerical Quantification of Radial Flow in the Root Region of a HAWT

This paper explores the evolution of radial flow in a Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine (HAWT) blade root region. The radial flow is analyzed in the potential flow and viscous flow regions. An experiment carried out by means of stereo Particle Image Velocimetry to measure the velocity field produced by a HAWT blade. While the radial flow in the potential flow region was obtained from the measurements, the radial flow in the boundary layer was derived from CFD. By the direct observations obtained from the experiment, an insight is gained about the nature of the radial flow in the suction side of the blade as well as in the near wake. An outboard radial flow motion is observed in the root region. This tendency of the flow changes dramatically when it reaches the maximum chord position of the blade, where the radial flow moves inboard. The trace of the viscous region due to merging of the boundary layers and trailing vorticity are observed clearly in the radial velocity and vorticity distributions at 135o azimuth angle of the blade. In the viscous flow region the radial flow is more pronounced than in the potential flow region. The performed CFD simulations are able to predict the vortex formation in the maximum chord region and its interaction with the nacelle.

Influence of the conservative rotor loads on the near wake of a wind turbine

The presence of conservative forces on rotor blades is neglected in the blade element theory and all the numerical methods derived from it (like e.g. the blade element momentum theory and the actuator line technique). This might seem a reasonable simplification of the real flow of rotor blades, since conservative loads, by definition, do not contribute to the power conversion. However, conservative loads originating from the chordwise bound vorticity might affect the tip vortex trajectory, as we discussed in a previous work. In that work we also hypothesized that this effect, in turn, could influence the wake induction and correspondingly the rotor performance. In the current work we extend a standard actuator line model in order to account for the conservative loads at the blade tip. This allows to isolate the influence of conservative forces from other effects. The comparison of numerical results with and without conservative loads enables to confirm qualitatively their relevance for the near wake and the rotor performance. However, an accurate quantitative assessment of the effect still remains out of reach due to the inherent uncertainty of the numerical model.

DES Study of Airfoil Lift Coefficient Sensitivity to Flow Turbulence

The aerodynamic behavior of wind turbines is strongly influenced by the turbulence level. However, the design of the rotor blades is usually based on experimental results of airfoils operating under laminar conditions. This leads to great uncertainties in the design process, which in turn make wind turbines less reliable and cost-effective. In this work a DES numerical study of the flow around a Wortmann FX 79-W-151A airfoil is performed for different turbulence intensities. Special attention is paid to the resulting loads. The simulations are then compared and validated with already available load measurements. The aim of this work is on one hand to gain a better understanding of the aerodynamics of an airfoil working in a turbulent flow. On the other hand, it is also of great interest to see up to which degree the numerical simulations are able to predict the force coefficients.