Articles | Volume 9, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-203-2024
© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-203-2024
© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
22 Jan 2024
Research article |
| 22 Jan 2024
| 22 Jan 2024
Influence of rotor blade flexibility on the near-wake behavior of the NREL 5 MW wind turbine
Leo Höning
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Institute of Physics, Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg, Küpkersweg 70, 26129 Oldenburg, Germany
Aerodynamics and Numerical Wind Energy Meteorology, Fraunhofer Institute for Wind Energy Systems – Fraunhofer IWES, Küpkersweg 70, 26129 Oldenburg, Germany
Laura J. Lukassen
Institute of Physics, Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg, Küpkersweg 70, 26129 Oldenburg, Germany
ForWind, Institute of Physics, Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg, Küpkersweg 70, 26129 Oldenburg, Germany
Bernhard Stoevesandt
Aerodynamics and Numerical Wind Energy Meteorology, Fraunhofer Institute for Wind Energy Systems – Fraunhofer IWES, Küpkersweg 70, 26129 Oldenburg, Germany
Iván Herráez
Laboratory for Wind and Solar Energy, University of Applied Sciences Emden/Leer, Constantiapl. 4, 26723 Emden, Germany
Related authors
Andreas Rott, Leo Höning, Paul Hulsman, Laura J. Lukassen, Christof Moldenhauer, and Martin Kühn
Wind Energ. Sci., 8, 1755–1770, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-1755-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-1755-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
This study examines wind vane measurements of commercial wind turbines and their impact on yaw control. The authors discovered that rotor interference can cause an overestimation of wind vane measurements, leading to overcorrection of the yaw controller. A correction function that improves the yaw behaviour is presented and validated in free-field experiments on a commercial wind turbine. This work provides new insights into wind direction measurements and suggests ways to optimize yaw control.
Khaled Yassin, Arne Helms, Daniela Moreno, Hassan Kassem, Leo Höning, and Laura J. Lukassen
Wind Energ. Sci., 8, 1133–1152, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-1133-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-1133-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
The current turbulent wind field models stated in the IEC 61400-1 standard underestimate the probability of extreme changes in wind velocity. This underestimation can lead to the false calculation of extreme and fatigue loads on the turbine. In this work, we are trying to apply a random time-mapping technique to one of the standard turbulence models to adapt to such extreme changes. The turbulent fields generated are compared with a standard wind field to show the effects of this new mapping.
Koen Boorsma, Gerard Schepers, Helge Aagard Madsen, Georg Pirrung, Niels Sørensen, Galih Bangga, Manfred Imiela, Christian Grinderslev, Alexander Meyer Forsting, Wen Zhong Shen, Alessandro Croce, Stefano Cacciola, Alois Peter Schaffarczyk, Brandon Lobo, Frederic Blondel, Philippe Gilbert, Ronan Boisard, Leo Höning, Luca Greco, Claudio Testa, Emmanuel Branlard, Jason Jonkman, and Ganesh Vijayakumar
Wind Energ. Sci., 8, 211–230, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-211-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-211-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Within the framework of the fourth phase of the International Energy Agency's (IEA) Wind Task 29, a large comparison exercise between measurements and aeroelastic simulations has been carried out. Results were obtained from more than 19 simulation tools of various fidelity, originating from 12 institutes and compared to state-of-the-art field measurements. The result is a unique insight into the current status and accuracy of rotor aerodynamic modeling.
Andreas Rott, Leo Höning, Paul Hulsman, Laura J. Lukassen, Christof Moldenhauer, and Martin Kühn
Wind Energ. Sci., 8, 1755–1770, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-1755-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-1755-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
This study examines wind vane measurements of commercial wind turbines and their impact on yaw control. The authors discovered that rotor interference can cause an overestimation of wind vane measurements, leading to overcorrection of the yaw controller. A correction function that improves the yaw behaviour is presented and validated in free-field experiments on a commercial wind turbine. This work provides new insights into wind direction measurements and suggests ways to optimize yaw control.
Khaled Yassin, Arne Helms, Daniela Moreno, Hassan Kassem, Leo Höning, and Laura J. Lukassen
Wind Energ. Sci., 8, 1133–1152, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-1133-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-1133-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
The current turbulent wind field models stated in the IEC 61400-1 standard underestimate the probability of extreme changes in wind velocity. This underestimation can lead to the false calculation of extreme and fatigue loads on the turbine. In this work, we are trying to apply a random time-mapping technique to one of the standard turbulence models to adapt to such extreme changes. The turbulent fields generated are compared with a standard wind field to show the effects of this new mapping.
Koen Boorsma, Gerard Schepers, Helge Aagard Madsen, Georg Pirrung, Niels Sørensen, Galih Bangga, Manfred Imiela, Christian Grinderslev, Alexander Meyer Forsting, Wen Zhong Shen, Alessandro Croce, Stefano Cacciola, Alois Peter Schaffarczyk, Brandon Lobo, Frederic Blondel, Philippe Gilbert, Ronan Boisard, Leo Höning, Luca Greco, Claudio Testa, Emmanuel Branlard, Jason Jonkman, and Ganesh Vijayakumar
Wind Energ. Sci., 8, 211–230, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-211-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-211-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Within the framework of the fourth phase of the International Energy Agency's (IEA) Wind Task 29, a large comparison exercise between measurements and aeroelastic simulations has been carried out. Results were obtained from more than 19 simulation tools of various fidelity, originating from 12 institutes and compared to state-of-the-art field measurements. The result is a unique insight into the current status and accuracy of rotor aerodynamic modeling.
Sonja Krüger, Gerald Steinfeld, Martin Kraft, and Laura J. Lukassen
Wind Energ. Sci., 7, 323–344, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-323-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-323-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Detailed numerical simulations of turbines in atmospheric conditions are challenging with regard to their computational demand. We coupled an atmospheric flow model and a turbine model in order to deliver extensive details about the flow and the turbine response within reasonable computational time. A comparison to measurement data was performed and showed a very good agreement. The efficiency of the tool enables applications such as load calculation in wind farms or during low-level-jet events.
Janna Kristina Seifert, Martin Kraft, Martin Kühn, and Laura J. Lukassen
Wind Energ. Sci., 6, 997–1014, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-6-997-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-6-997-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Fluctuations in the power output of wind turbines are one of the major challenges in the integration and utilisation of wind energy. By analysing the power output fluctuations of wind turbine pairs in an offshore wind farm, we show that their correlation depends on their location within the wind farm and their inflow. The main outcome is that these correlation dependencies can be characterised by statistics of the power output of the wind turbines and sorted by a clustering algorithm.
Khaled Yassin, Hassan Kassem, Bernhard Stoevesandt, Thomas Klemme, and Joachim Peinke
Wind Energ. Sci. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-2021-3, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-2021-3, 2021
Revised manuscript not accepted
Short summary
Short summary
When ice forms on wind turbine blades, the smooth surface of the blade becomes rough which changes its aerodynamic performance. So, it is very important to know how to simulate this rough surface since most CFD simulations depend on assuming a smooth surface. This article compares different mathematical models specialized in simulating rough surfaces with results of real ice profiles. The study presents the most accurate model and recommends using it in future airflow simulation of iced blades.
Maciej Karczewski, Piotr Domagalski, Arnoldus van Wingerde, Bernhard Stoevesandt, Peter Jamieson, and Lars Roar Saetran
Wind Energ. Sci. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-2020-23, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-2020-23, 2020
Revised manuscript not accepted
Short summary
Short summary
The paper presents a concept of a multi-rotor system as a floating off-shore wind turbine. The results show that it may be an alternative to conventional wind turbines and even be cheaper in a long run, thus lowering the cost of energy to consumers. It may also solve technological barriers. The motivation for research was the idea of providing a technology vision for regions, where certain local supply chain can be employed to revitalize the shipyard industry while using renewable energy.
Siamak Akbarzadeh, Hassan Kassem, Renko Buhr, Gerald Steinfeld, and Bernhard Stoevesandt
Wind Energ. Sci., 4, 619–632, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-4-619-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-4-619-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
The numerical flow simulation solvers are extensively used for site assessment in the wind energy industry. However, due to the complexity of flow regimes, it is essential to calibrate the important parameters of such algorithms with measurement data. In this paper, we present a computationally cheap (adjoint) solver that can be coupled with any standard gradient-based optimizer to calibrate the inflow boundary of a CFD solver using the wind speed measurements from the interior of a domain.
Dominik Traphan, Iván Herráez, Peter Meinlschmidt, Friedrich Schlüter, Joachim Peinke, and Gerd Gülker
Wind Energ. Sci., 3, 639–650, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-3-639-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-3-639-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
Wind turbines are exposed to harsh weather, leading to surface defects on rotor blades emerging from the first day of operation. Defects
grow quickly and affect the performance of wind turbines. Thus, there is demand for an easily applicable remote-inspection method that is sensitive to small
surface defects. In this work we show that infrared thermography can meet these requirements by visualizing differences in the surface temperature
of the rotor blades downstream of surface defects.
Iván Herráez, Elia Daniele, and J. Gerard Schepers
Wind Energ. Sci., 3, 1–9, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-3-1-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-3-1-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
Several methods have been proposed in the past for extracting the blade performance of wind turbines from simulations. In this work, we present a new method that allows obtaining those data easily not only from simulation results but also from flow measurements. We apply the method to both experiments and simulations of a well-known wind turbine model. The results provide insight into the wind turbine aerodynamics and open up new possibilities for the validation of simulation models.
Iván Herráez, Buşra Akay, Gerard J. W. van Bussel, Joachim Peinke, and Bernhard Stoevesandt
Wind Energ. Sci., 1, 89–100, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-1-89-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-1-89-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
The flow in the blade root region of horizontal axis wind turbines is highly three-dimensional. Furthermore, it is influenced by the presence of strong trailing vortices. In this work we study the complex root flow by means of experiments and numerical simulations. The simulations are shown to be reliable at predicting the main flow features of the rotor blades. Additionally, new insight into the physical mechanisms governing the blade root aerodynamics is given.
Related subject area
Thematic area: Fluid mechanics | Topic: Wind turbine aerodynamics
Glauert's optimum rotor disk revisited – a calculus of variations solution and exact integrals for thrust and bending moment coefficients
Drop-size-dependent effects in leading-edge rain erosion and their impact on erosion-safe mode operation
Characterization of dynamic stall of a wind turbine airfoil with a high Reynolds number
Numerical analysis of transonic flow over the FFA-W3-211 wind turbine tip airfoil
Characterization of vortex-shedding regimes and lock-in response of a wind turbine airfoil with two high-fidelity simulation approaches
Aerodynamic interaction of rain and wind turbine blades: the significance of droplet slowdown and deformation for leading-edge erosion
Force-partitioning analysis of vortex-induced vibrations of wind turbine tower sections
Investigation of blade flexibility effects on the loads and wake of a 15 MW wind turbine using a flexible actuator line method
On optimizing the sensor spacing for pressure measurements on wind turbine airfoils
Experimental analysis of a horizontal-axis wind turbine with swept blades using PIV data
On the influence of cross-sectional deformations on the aerodynamic performance of wind turbine rotor blades
Aerodynamic characterisation of a thrust-scaled IEA 15 MW wind turbine model: experimental insights using PIV data
Going beyond BEM with BEM: an insight into dynamic inflow effects on floating wind turbines
Quantifying the impact of modeling fidelity on different substructure concepts – Part 2: Code-to-code comparison in realistic environmental conditions
Wind turbine rotors in surge motion: new insights into unsteady aerodynamics of floating offshore wind turbines (FOWTs) from experiments and simulations
An insight into the capability of the actuator line method to resolve tip vortices
Aerodynamic model comparison for an X-shaped vertical-axis wind turbine
Development and application of a mesh generator intended for unsteady vortex-lattice method simulations of wind turbines and wind farms
An experimental study on the aerodynamic loads of a floating offshore wind turbine under imposed motions
Developing a digital twin framework for wind tunnel testing: validation of turbulent inflow and airfoil load applications
Field-data-based validation of an aero-servo-elastic solver for high-fidelity large-eddy simulations of industrial wind turbines
An analytical linear two-dimensional actuator disc model and comparisons with computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations
On the characteristics of the wake of a wind turbine undergoing large motions caused by a floating structure: an insight based on experiments and multi-fidelity simulations from the OC6 project Phase III
Forced-motion simulations of vortex-induced vibrations of wind turbine blades – a study of sensitivities
Towards smart blades for vertical axis wind turbines: different airfoil shapes and tip speed ratios
Numerical study of the unsteady blade root aerodynamics of a 2 MW wind turbine equipped with vortex generators
Generalized analytical body force model for actuator disc computations of wind turbines
Nonlinear inviscid aerodynamics of a wind turbine rotor in surge, sway, and yaw motions using a free-wake panel method
OC6 project Phase III: validation of the aerodynamic loading on a wind turbine rotor undergoing large motion caused by a floating support structure
A simple vortex model applied to an idealized rotor in sheared inflow
Comparison of free vortex wake and blade element momentum results against large-eddy simulation results for highly flexible turbines under challenging inflow conditions
Numerical simulations of ice accretion on wind turbine blades: are performance losses due to ice shape or surface roughness?
Progress in the validation of rotor aerodynamic codes using field data
A comparison of dynamic inflow models for the blade element momentum method
Multiple limit cycle amplitudes in high-fidelity predictions of standstill wind turbine blade vibrations
Model tests of a 10 MW semi-submersible floating wind turbine under waves and wind using hybrid method to integrate the rotor thrust and moments
Atmospheric rotating rig testing of a swept blade tip and comparison with multi-fidelity aeroelastic simulations
A WaveNet-based fully stochastic dynamic stall model
Experimental analysis of the dynamic inflow effect due to coherent gusts
High-Reynolds-number wind turbine blade equipped with root spoilers – Part 2: Impact on energy production and turbine lifetime
Wind tunnel investigation of the aerodynamic response of two 15 MW floating wind turbines
Vertical wake deflection for floating wind turbines by differential ballast control
High-fidelity aeroelastic analyses of wind turbines in complex terrain: fluid–structure interaction and aerodynamic modeling
Development of a wireless, non-intrusive, MEMS-based pressure and acoustic measurement system for large-scale operating wind turbine blades
How should the lift and drag forces be calculated from 2-D airfoil data for dihedral or coned wind turbine blades?
Divya Tyagi and Sven Schmitz
Wind Energ. Sci., 10, 451–460, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-10-451-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-10-451-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
This paper adds to the literature on rotor disk theory by solving a century-old problem with a different mathematical approach. The classical results are recovered, while also adding expressions and asymptotic limits for performance coefficients that were not included in the original theory. This work adds to classical rotor disk theory as a valuable contribution to research and teaching in wind turbine aerodynamics.
Nils Barfknecht and Dominic von Terzi
Wind Energ. Sci., 10, 315–346, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-10-315-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-10-315-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
The paper investigates the influence of the rain drop diameter on the formation of erosion damage and its implications for erosion-safe mode (ESM). By building an erosion damage model that incorporates several drop-size effects, we found that large droplets are significantly more erosive than small droplets. It is shown that the performance of the ESM is significantly increased when drop-size effects are correctly accounted for. A method to derive optimal ESM strategies is given as well.
Hye Rim Kim, Jasson A. Printezis, Jan Dominik Ahrens, Joerg R. Seume, and Lars Wein
Wind Energ. Sci., 10, 161–175, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-10-161-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-10-161-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
The need for renewable energy, thus more efficient wind turbines, is ever increasing. Accurate prediction of the performance in the design stage is necessary. In particular, predicting the dynamic performance of a wind turbine in the region where it undergoes highly unsteady flow is very challenging. We investigated the dynamic performance of an airfoil, which is typical for megastructure wind farms, in support of the development of more efficient design tools in the future.
Maria Cristina Vitulano, Delphine De Tavernier, Giuliano De Stefano, and Dominic von Terzi
Wind Energ. Sci., 10, 103–116, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-10-103-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-10-103-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Next-generation wind turbines are the largest rotating machines ever built, experiencing local flow Mach where the incompressibility assumption is violated, and even transonic flow can occur. This study assesses the transonic features over the FFA-W3-211 wind turbine tip airfoil for selected industrial test cases, defines the subsonic–supersonic flow threshold and evaluates the Reynolds number effects on transonic flow occurrence. Shock wave occurrence is also depicted.
Ricardo Fernandez-Aldama, George Papadakis, Oscar Lopez-Garcia, Sergio Avila-Sanchez, Vasilis A. Riziotis, Alvaro Cuerva-Tejero, and Cristobal Gallego-Castillo
Wind Energ. Sci., 10, 17–39, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-10-17-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-10-17-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
As longer wind turbine blades are designed, concern about vortex-induced vibration (VIV) grows. This study identifies a new intermittent vortex-shedding behaviour through a long-time simulation of a 3D wind turbine airfoil. This finding motivates a novel evaluation of airfoil vibrations at different inflow velocities. Our results show that both 2D and 3D simulations predict similar VIV characteristics during large motions, enhancing our understanding and prediction of VIV in turbine blades.
Nils Barfknecht and Dominic von Terzi
Wind Energ. Sci., 9, 2333–2357, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-2333-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-2333-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Rain droplets damage wind turbine blades due to the high impact speed at the tip. In this study, it is found that rain droplets and wind turbine blades interact aerodynamically. The rain droplets slow down and deform close to the blade. A model from another field of study was adapted and validated to study this process in detail. This effect reduced the predicted erosion damage by up to 50 %, primarily affecting smaller drops. It is shown how the slowdown effect can influence erosion mitigation.
Shyam VimalKumar, Delphine De Tavernier, Dominic von Terzi, Marco Belloli, and Axelle Viré
Wind Energ. Sci., 9, 1967–1983, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-1967-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-1967-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
When standing still without a nacelle or blades, the vibrations on a wind turbine tower are of concern to its structural health. This study finds that the air which flows around the tower recirculates behind the tower, forming so-called wakes. These wakes initiate the vibration, and the movement itself causes the vibration to increase or decrease depending on the wind speed. The current study uses a methodology called force partitioning to analyse this in depth.
Francois Trigaux, Philippe Chatelain, and Grégoire Winckelmans
Wind Energ. Sci., 9, 1765–1789, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-1765-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-1765-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
In this research, the impact of blade flexibility is investigated for a very large wind turbine using numerical simulations. It is shown that bending and torsion decrease the power production and affect aerodynamic loads. Blade deformation also affects the flow of wind behind the turbine, resulting in a higher mean velocity. Our study highlights the importance of including blade flexibility in the simulation of large wind turbines to obtain accurate power and load predictions.
Erik K. Fritz, Christopher L. Kelley, and Kenneth A. Brown
Wind Energ. Sci., 9, 1713–1726, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-1713-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-1713-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This study investigates the benefits of optimizing the spacing of pressure sensors for measurement campaigns on wind turbine blades and airfoils. It is demonstrated that local aerodynamic properties can be estimated considerably more accurately when the sensor layout is optimized compared to commonly used simpler sensor layouts. This has the potential to reduce the number of sensors without losing measurement accuracy and, thus, reduce the instrumentation complexity and experiment cost.
Erik Fritz, Koen Boorsma, and Carlos Ferreira
Wind Energ. Sci., 9, 1617–1629, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-1617-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-1617-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This study presents results from a wind tunnel experiment on a model wind turbine with swept blades, thus blades curved in the rotor plane. Using a non-intrusive measurement technique, the flow around the turbine blades was measured from which blade-level aerodynamics are derived in post-processing. The detailed experimental database gives insight into swept-blade aerodynamics and has great value in validating numerical tools, which aim at simulating swept wind turbine blades.
Julia Sabrina Gebauer, Felix Konstantin Prigge, Dominik Ahrens, Lars Wein, and Claudio Balzani
Wind Energ. Sci. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-2024-91, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-2024-91, 2024
Revised manuscript accepted for WES
Short summary
Short summary
The amount of energy that can be extracted from wind depends primarily on the blade geometry, which can be affected by elastic deformations. This paper presents a first study analysing the influence of cross-sectional deformations of a 15 MW wind turbine blade on the aero-elastic simulations. The results show small changes in geometry, and aerodynamic and structural loads even for a test case. These findings show the potential to be particularly important for larger and more flexible blades.
Erik Fritz, André Ribeiro, Koen Boorsma, and Carlos Ferreira
Wind Energ. Sci., 9, 1173–1187, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-1173-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-1173-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This study presents results from a wind tunnel experiment on a model wind turbine. Using a non-intrusive measurement technique, the flow around the turbine blades was measured. In post-processing, the blade-level aerodynamics are derived from the measured flow fields. The detailed experimental database has great value in validating numerical tools of varying complexity, which aim at simulating wind turbine aerodynamics as accurately as possible.
Francesco Papi, Jason Jonkman, Amy Robertson, and Alessandro Bianchini
Wind Energ. Sci., 9, 1069–1088, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-1069-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-1069-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Blade element momentum (BEM) theory is the backbone of many industry-standard aerodynamic models. However, the analysis of floating offshore wind turbines (FOWTs) introduces new challenges, which could put BEM models to the test. This study systematically compares four aerodynamic models, ranging from BEM to computational fluid dynamics, in an attempt to shed light on the unsteady aerodynamic phenomena that are at stake in FOWTs and whether BEM is able to model them appropriately.
Francesco Papi, Giancarlo Troise, Robert Behrens de Luna, Joseph Saverin, Sebastian Perez-Becker, David Marten, Marie-Laure Ducasse, and Alessandro Bianchini
Wind Energ. Sci., 9, 981–1004, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-981-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-981-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Wind turbines need to be simulated for thousands of hours to estimate design loads. Mid-fidelity numerical models are typically used for this task to strike a balance between computational cost and accuracy. The considerable displacements of floating wind turbines may be a challenge for some of these models. This paper enhances comprehension of how modeling theories affect floating wind turbine loads by comparing three codes across three turbines, simulated in a real environment.
Christian W. Schulz, Stefan Netzband, Umut Özinan, Po Wen Cheng, and Moustafa Abdel-Maksoud
Wind Energ. Sci., 9, 665–695, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-665-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-665-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Understanding the underlying physical phenomena of the aerodynamics of floating offshore wind turbines (FOWTs) is crucial for successful simulations. No consensus has been reached in the research community on which unsteady aerodynamic phenomena are relevant and how much they can influence the loads acting on a FOWT. This work contributes to the understanding and characterisation of such unsteady phenomena using a novel experimental approach and comprehensive numerical investigations.
Pier Francesco Melani, Omar Sherif Mohamed, Stefano Cioni, Francesco Balduzzi, and Alessandro Bianchini
Wind Energ. Sci., 9, 601–622, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-601-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-601-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The actuator line method (ALM) is a powerful tool for wind turbine simulation but struggles to resolve tip effects. The reason is still unclear. To investigate this, we use advanced angle of attack sampling and vortex tracking techniques to analyze the flow around a NACA0018 finite wing, simulated with ALM and blade-resolved computational fluid dynamics. Results show that the ALM can account for tip effects if the correct angle of attack sampling and force projection strategies are adopted.
Adhyanth Giri Ajay, Laurence Morgan, Yan Wu, David Bretos, Aurelio Cascales, Oscar Pires, and Carlos Ferreira
Wind Energ. Sci., 9, 453–470, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-453-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-453-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This paper compares six different numerical models to predict the performance of an X-shaped vertical-axis wind turbine, offering insights into how it works in 3D when its blades are fixed at specific angles. The results showed the 3D models here reliably predict the performance while still taking this turbine's complex aerodynamics into account compared to 2D models. Further, these blade angles caused more complexity in predicting the turbine's behaviour, which is highlighted in this paper.
Bruno A. Roccia, Luis R. Ceballos, Marcos L. Verstraete, and Cristian G. Gebhardt
Wind Energ. Sci., 9, 385–416, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-385-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-385-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
In the literature there is a lack of meshing tools when it comes to building aerodynamic grids of wind turbines/farms to be used along with potential flow solvers. In this work, we present a detailed description of the geometric modeling and computational implementation of an interactive mesh generator, named UVLMeshGen, for onshore/offshore wind farms. The work is completed by providing a series of aerodynamic results related to wind turbines/farms to show the capacity of the mesh generator.
Federico Taruffi, Felipe Novais, and Axelle Viré
Wind Energ. Sci., 9, 343–358, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-343-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-343-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Floating wind turbines are subject to complex aerodynamics that are not yet fully understood. Lab-scale experiments are crucial for capturing these phenomena and validate numerical tools. This paper presents a new wind tunnel experimental setup able to study the response of a wind turbine rotor when subjected to prescribed motions in 6 degrees of freedom. The observed unsteady effects underscore the importance of pursuing research on the impact of floater motions on wind turbine performance.
Rishabh Mishra, Emmanuel Guilmineau, Ingrid Neunaber, and Caroline Braud
Wind Energ. Sci., 9, 235–252, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-235-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-235-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
To investigate the impact of turbulence on aerodynamic forces, we first model turbulent kinetic energy decay theoretically using the Taylor length scale and employ this model to create a digital wind tunnel replica for simulating grid-generated turbulence. Experimental validation shows good alignment among theory, simulations, and experiments, paving the way for aerodynamic simulations. Finally, we successfully use the digital replica to obtain force coefficients for a 2D rotor blade section.
Etienne Muller, Simone Gremmo, Félix Houtin-Mongrolle, Bastien Duboc, and Pierre Bénard
Wind Energ. Sci., 9, 25–48, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-25-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-25-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This article presents an advanced tool designed for the high-fidelity and high-performance simulation of operating wind turbines, allowing for instance the computation of a blade deformation, as well as of the surrounding airflow. As this tool relies on coupling two existing codes, the coupling strategy is first described in depth. The article then compares the code results to field data for validation.
Helge Aagaard Madsen
Wind Energ. Sci., 8, 1853–1872, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-1853-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-1853-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
We present a linear analytical solution for a two-dimensional (2-D) actuator disc (AD) for a plane disc, a yawed disc and a coned disc. Comparisons of the 2-D model with three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) AD simulations for a circular yawed disc and with an axis-symmetric CFD simulation of a coned disc show good correlation for the normal velocity component of the disc. This indicates that the 2-D AD model could form the basis for a consistent, simple new rotor induction model.
Stefano Cioni, Francesco Papi, Leonardo Pagamonci, Alessandro Bianchini, Néstor Ramos-García, Georg Pirrung, Rémi Corniglion, Anaïs Lovera, Josean Galván, Ronan Boisard, Alessandro Fontanella, Paolo Schito, Alberto Zasso, Marco Belloli, Andrea Sanvito, Giacomo Persico, Lijun Zhang, Ye Li, Yarong Zhou, Simone Mancini, Koen Boorsma, Ricardo Amaral, Axelle Viré, Christian W. Schulz, Stefan Netzband, Rodrigo Soto-Valle, David Marten, Raquel Martín-San-Román, Pau Trubat, Climent Molins, Roger Bergua, Emmanuel Branlard, Jason Jonkman, and Amy Robertson
Wind Energ. Sci., 8, 1659–1691, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-1659-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-1659-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Simulations of different fidelities made by the participants of the OC6 project Phase III are compared to wind tunnel wake measurements on a floating wind turbine. Results in the near wake confirm that simulations and experiments tend to diverge from the expected linearized quasi-steady behavior when the reduced frequency exceeds 0.5. In the far wake, the impact of platform motion is overestimated by simulations and even seems to be oriented to the generation of a wake less prone to dissipation.
Christian Grinderslev, Felix Houtin-Mongrolle, Niels Nørmark Sørensen, Georg Raimund Pirrung, Pim Jacobs, Aqeel Ahmed, and Bastien Duboc
Wind Energ. Sci., 8, 1625–1638, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-1625-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-1625-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
In standstill conditions wind turbines are at risk of vortex-induced vibrations (VIVs). VIVs can become large and lead to significant fatigue of the wind turbine structure over time. Thus it is important to have tools that can accurately compute this complex phenomenon. This paper studies the sensitivities to the chosen models of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations when modelling VIVs and finds that much care is needed when setting up simulations, especially for specific flow angles.
Mohammad Rasoul Tirandaz, Abdolrahim Rezaeiha, and Daniel Micallef
Wind Energ. Sci., 8, 1403–1424, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-1403-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-1403-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Vertical axis wind turbines experience a variation of torque and power throughout their rotation. Traditional non-morphing blades are intrinsically not able to respond to this variation, resulting in a turbine which has suboptimal performance. In principle, it is possible to have a morphing blade that adapts to the blade's rotation and changes its geometry in such a way as to optimise the performance of the turbine. This paper addresses the question of how such blade should morph as it rotates.
Ferdinand Seel, Thorsten Lutz, and Ewald Krämer
Wind Energ. Sci., 8, 1369–1385, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-1369-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-1369-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Vortex generators are evaluated on a 2 MW wind turbine rotor blade by computational fluid dynamic methods. Those devices delay flow separation on the airfoils and thus increase their efficiency. On the wind turbine blade, rotational phenomena (e.g. rotational augmentation) appear and interact with the vortices from the vortex generators. The understanding of those interactions is crucial in order to optimise the placement of the vortex generators and evaluate their real efficiency on the blade.
Jens N. Sørensen
Wind Energ. Sci., 8, 1017–1027, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-1017-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-1017-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
The paper presents a simple analytical model that, with surprisingly good accuracy, represents the loading for virtually any horizontal axis wind turbine, independent of size and operating regime. The aim of the model is to have a simple tool that may represent the loading of any wind turbine without having access to the details regarding the specific geometry and airfoil data, information that is normally kept confidential by the manufacturer of the turbine.
André F. P. Ribeiro, Damiano Casalino, and Carlos S. Ferreira
Wind Energ. Sci., 8, 661–675, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-661-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-661-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Floating offshore wind turbines move due to not having a rigid foundation. Hence, as the blades rotate they experience more complex aerodynamics than standard onshore wind turbines. In this paper, we show computational simulations of a wind turbine rotor moving in various ways and quantify the effects of the motion in the forces acting on the blades. We show that these forces behave in nonlinear ways in some cases.
Roger Bergua, Amy Robertson, Jason Jonkman, Emmanuel Branlard, Alessandro Fontanella, Marco Belloli, Paolo Schito, Alberto Zasso, Giacomo Persico, Andrea Sanvito, Ervin Amet, Cédric Brun, Guillén Campaña-Alonso, Raquel Martín-San-Román, Ruolin Cai, Jifeng Cai, Quan Qian, Wen Maoshi, Alec Beardsell, Georg Pirrung, Néstor Ramos-García, Wei Shi, Jie Fu, Rémi Corniglion, Anaïs Lovera, Josean Galván, Tor Anders Nygaard, Carlos Renan dos Santos, Philippe Gilbert, Pierre-Antoine Joulin, Frédéric Blondel, Eelco Frickel, Peng Chen, Zhiqiang Hu, Ronan Boisard, Kutay Yilmazlar, Alessandro Croce, Violette Harnois, Lijun Zhang, Ye Li, Ander Aristondo, Iñigo Mendikoa Alonso, Simone Mancini, Koen Boorsma, Feike Savenije, David Marten, Rodrigo Soto-Valle, Christian W. Schulz, Stefan Netzband, Alessandro Bianchini, Francesco Papi, Stefano Cioni, Pau Trubat, Daniel Alarcon, Climent Molins, Marion Cormier, Konstantin Brüker, Thorsten Lutz, Qing Xiao, Zhongsheng Deng, Florence Haudin, and Akhilesh Goveas
Wind Energ. Sci., 8, 465–485, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-465-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-465-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
This work examines if the motion experienced by an offshore floating wind turbine can significantly affect the rotor performance. It was observed that the system motion results in variations in the load, but these variations are not critical, and the current simulation tools capture the physics properly. Interestingly, variations in the rotor speed or the blade pitch angle can have a larger impact than the system motion itself.
Mac Gaunaa, Niels Troldborg, and Emmanuel Branlard
Wind Energ. Sci., 8, 503–513, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-503-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-503-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
We present an analytical vortex model. Despite its simplicity, the model is fully consistent with 1D momentum theory. It shows that the flow through a non-uniformly loaded rotor operating in non-uniform inflow behaves locally as predicted by 1D momentum theory. As a consequence, the local power coefficient (based on local inflow) of an ideal rotor is unaltered by the presence of shear. Finally, the model shows that there is no cross-shear deflection of the wake of a rotor in sheared inflow.
Kelsey Shaler, Benjamin Anderson, Luis A. Martínez-Tossas, Emmanuel Branlard, and Nick Johnson
Wind Energ. Sci., 8, 383–399, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-383-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-383-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Free-vortex wake (OLAF) and low-fidelity blade-element momentum (BEM) structural results are compared to high-fidelity simulation results for a flexible downwind turbine for varying inflow conditions. Overall, OLAF results were more consistent than BEM results when compared to SOWFA results under challenging inflow conditions. Differences between OLAF and BEM results were dominated by yaw misalignment angle, with varying shear exponent and turbulence intensity causing more subtle differences.
Francesco Caccia and Alberto Guardone
Wind Energ. Sci., 8, 341–362, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-341-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-341-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Ice roughness deteriorates wind turbine aerodynamics. We have shown numerically that this also occurs when complex ice shapes are present on the leading edge, as long as the blade's wet region extends beyond the ice shape itself and roughness elements are high enough. Such features are typical of icing events on wind turbines but are not captured by current icing simulation tools. Future research should focus on correctly computing both the wet region of the blade and the roughness height.
Koen Boorsma, Gerard Schepers, Helge Aagard Madsen, Georg Pirrung, Niels Sørensen, Galih Bangga, Manfred Imiela, Christian Grinderslev, Alexander Meyer Forsting, Wen Zhong Shen, Alessandro Croce, Stefano Cacciola, Alois Peter Schaffarczyk, Brandon Lobo, Frederic Blondel, Philippe Gilbert, Ronan Boisard, Leo Höning, Luca Greco, Claudio Testa, Emmanuel Branlard, Jason Jonkman, and Ganesh Vijayakumar
Wind Energ. Sci., 8, 211–230, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-211-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-211-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Within the framework of the fourth phase of the International Energy Agency's (IEA) Wind Task 29, a large comparison exercise between measurements and aeroelastic simulations has been carried out. Results were obtained from more than 19 simulation tools of various fidelity, originating from 12 institutes and compared to state-of-the-art field measurements. The result is a unique insight into the current status and accuracy of rotor aerodynamic modeling.
Simone Mancini, Koen Boorsma, Gerard Schepers, and Feike Savenije
Wind Energ. Sci., 8, 193–210, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-193-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-193-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Modern wind turbines are subject to complex wind conditions that are far from the hypothesis of steady uniform inflow at the core of blade element momentum methods (the current industry standard for wind turbine design). Various corrections have been proposed to model this complexity. The present work focuses on modelling the unsteady evolution of wind turbine wakes (dynamic inflow), comparing the different corrections available and highlighting their effects on design load predictions.
Christian Grinderslev, Niels Nørmark Sørensen, Georg Raimund Pirrung, and Sergio González Horcas
Wind Energ. Sci., 7, 2201–2213, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-2201-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-2201-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
As wind turbines increase in size, the risk of flow-induced instabilities increases. This study investigates the phenomenon of vortex-induced vibrations (VIVs) on a large 10 MW wind turbine blade using two high-fidelity methods. It is found that VIVs can occur with multiple equilibrium states for the same flow case, showing an dependence on the initial conditions. This means that a blade which is stable in a flow can become unstable if, e.g., a turbine operation provokes an initial vibration.
Felipe Vittori, José Azcona, Irene Eguinoa, Oscar Pires, Alberto Rodríguez, Álex Morató, Carlos Garrido, and Cian Desmond
Wind Energ. Sci., 7, 2149–2161, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-2149-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-2149-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
This paper describes the results of a wave tank test campaign of a scaled SATH 10 MW INNWIND floating platform. The software-in-the-loop (SiL) hybrid method was used to include the wind turbine thrust and the in-plane rotor moments. Experimental results are compared with a numerical model developed in OpenFAST of the floating wind turbine. The results are discussed, identifying limitations of the numerical models and obtaining conclusions on how to improve them.
Thanasis Barlas, Georg Raimund Pirrung, Néstor Ramos-García, Sergio González Horcas, Ang Li, and Helge Aagaard Madsen
Wind Energ. Sci., 7, 1957–1973, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-1957-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-1957-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
An aeroelastically optimized curved wind turbine blade tip is designed, manufactured, and tested on a novel outdoor rotating rig facility at the Risø campus of the Technical University of Denmark. Detailed aerodynamic measurements for various atmospheric conditions and results are compared to a series of in-house aeroelastic tools with a range of fidelities in aerodynamic modeling. The comparison highlights details in the ability of the codes to predict the performance of such a curved tip.
Jan-Philipp Küppers and Tamara Reinicke
Wind Energ. Sci., 7, 1889–1903, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-1889-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-1889-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Airfoils play a major role in the technical harnessing of energy from currents such as wind and water. When the angle of attack of a wing changes dynamically, the forces on the wing often change more than would have been assumed from static measurements alone. Since these dynamic forces have a strong influence, e.g., on the performance of airplanes and wind turbines, a neural-network-based model was created that can predict these loads and their stochastic fluctuations.
Frederik Berger, Lars Neuhaus, David Onnen, Michael Hölling, Gerard Schepers, and Martin Kühn
Wind Energ. Sci., 7, 1827–1846, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-1827-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-1827-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
We proof the dynamic inflow effect due to gusts in wind tunnel experiments with MoWiTO 1.8 in the large wind tunnel of ForWind – University of Oldenburg, where we created coherent gusts with an active grid. The effect is isolated in loads and rotor flow by comparison of a quasi-steady and a dynamic case. The observed effect is not caught by common dynamic inflow engineering models. An improvement to the Øye dynamic inflow model is proposed, matching experiment and corresponding FVWM simulations.
Thomas Potentier, Emmanuel Guilmineau, Arthur Finez, Colin Le Bourdat, and Caroline Braud
Wind Energ. Sci., 7, 1771–1790, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-1771-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-1771-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
A wind turbine blade equipped with root spoilers is analysed using time domain aeroelastic simulations to assess the impact of passive devices on the turbine AEP and lifetime. A novel way to account for aerofoil-generated unsteadiness in the fatigue calculation is proposed and detailed. The outcome shows that spoilers, on average, can increase the AEP of the turbine. However, the structural impacts on the turbine can be severe if not accounted for initially in the turbine design.
Alessandro Fontanella, Alan Facchinetti, Simone Di Carlo, and Marco Belloli
Wind Energ. Sci., 7, 1711–1729, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-1711-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-1711-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
The aerodynamics of floating wind turbines is complicated by large motions permitted by the foundation. The interaction between turbine, wind, and wake is not yet fully understood. The wind tunnel experiments of this paper shed light on the aerodynamic force and wake response of the floating IEA 15 MW turbine subjected to platform motion as would occur during normal operation. This will help future research on turbine and wind farm control.
Emmanouil M. Nanos, Carlo L. Bottasso, Simone Tamaro, Dimitris I. Manolas, and Vasilis A. Riziotis
Wind Energ. Sci., 7, 1641–1660, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-1641-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-1641-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
A novel way of wind farm control is presented where the wake is deflected vertically to reduce interactions with downstream turbines. This is achieved by moving ballast in a floating offshore platform in order to pitch the support structure and thereby tilt the wind turbine rotor disk. The study considers the effects of this new form of wake control on the aerodynamics of the steering and wake-affected turbines, on the structure, and on the ballast motion system.
Giorgia Guma, Philipp Bucher, Patrick Letzgus, Thorsten Lutz, and Roland Wüchner
Wind Energ. Sci., 7, 1421–1439, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-1421-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-1421-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Wind turbine aeroelasticity is becoming more and more important because turbine sizes are increasingly leading to more slender blades. On the other hand, complex terrains are of interest because they are far away from urban areas. These regions are characterized by low velocities and high turbulence and are mostly influenced by the presence of forest, and that is why it is necessary to develop high-fidelity tools to correctly simulate the wind turbine's response.
Sarah Barber, Julien Deparday, Yuriy Marykovskiy, Eleni Chatzi, Imad Abdallah, Gregory Duthé, Michele Magno, Tommaso Polonelli, Raphael Fischer, and Hanna Müller
Wind Energ. Sci., 7, 1383–1398, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-1383-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-1383-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Aerodynamic and acoustic field measurements on operating large-scale wind turbines are key for the further reduction in the costs of wind energy. In this work, a novel cost-effective MEMS (micro-electromechanical systems)-based aerodynamic and acoustic wireless measurement system that is thin, non-intrusive, easy to install, low power and self-sustaining is designed and tested.
Ang Li, Mac Gaunaa, Georg Raimund Pirrung, Alexander Meyer Forsting, and Sergio González Horcas
Wind Energ. Sci., 7, 1341–1365, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-1341-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-1341-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
A consistent method of using two-dimensional airfoil data when using generalized lifting-line methods for the aerodynamic load calculation of non-planar horizontal-axis wind turbines is described. The important conclusions from the unsteady two-dimensional airfoil aerodynamics are highlighted. The impact of using a simplified approach instead of using the full model on the prediction of the aerodynamic performance of non-planar rotors is shown numerically for different aerodynamic models.
Cited articles
Ainslie, J. F.: Calculating the flowfield in the wake of wind turbines, J. Wind Eng. Ind. Aerod., 27, 213–224, 1988. a
Arnold, M. and Brüls, O.: Convergence of the generelized-α scheme for constrained mechanical systems, Multibody Syst. Dyn., 18, 185–202, 2007. a
Global Wind Energy Council: Global Wind Report, , https://gwec.net/global-wind-report-2021/, (last access: April 2022), 2021. a
Grinderslev, C., González Horcas, S., and Sørensen, N. M.: Fluid-structure interaction simulations of a wind turbine rotor in complex flows, valicated through field experiments, Wind Energy, 24, 1–17, https://doi.org/10.1002/we.2639, 2021. a
Guma, G., Bangga, G., Lutz, T., and Krämer, E.: Aeroelastic analysis of wind turbines under turbulent inflow conditions, Wind Energ. Sci., 6, 93–110, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-6-93-2021, 2021. a
Hansen, M.: Aeroelastic instability problems for wind turbines, Wind Energy, 10, 551–577, 2007. a
Heinz, J. C., Sørensen, N. N., and Zahle, F.: Fluid-structure interaction computations for geometrically resolved rotor simulations using CFD, Wind Energy, 19, 2205–2221, 2016a. a
Heinz, J. C., Sørensen, N. N., Zahle, F., and Skrzypiński, W.: Vortex-induced vibrations on a modern wind turbine blade, Wind Energy, 19, 2041–2051, 2016b. a
Herráez, I., Micallef D., and van Kuik, G. A. M.: Influence of the conservative rotor loads on the near wake of a wind turbine, J. Phys Conf. Ser., 854, 012022, https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/854/1/012022, 2017. a, b, c
Hodgkin, A., Laizet, S., and Deskos, G.: Numerical investigation of the influence of shear and thermal stratification on the wind turbine tip-vortex stability, Wind Energy, 25, 1–20, https://doi.org/10.1002/we.2728, 2022. a
Horcas, S. G., Sørensen, N. N., Zahle, F., Pirrung, G. R., and Barlas, T.: Vibrations of wind turbine blades in standstill: Mapping the influence of the inflow angles, Phys. Fluids, 34, 054105, https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0088036, 2022. a
HPC: EDDY, High Performance Cluster, University of Oldenburg, https://uol.de/fk5/wr/hochleistungsrechnen/hpc-facilities/eddy (last access: March 2022). a
Imiela, M., Wienke, F., Rautmann, C., Willberg, C., Hilmer, P., and Krumme, A.: Towards multidisciplinary wind turbine design using high-fidelity methods, AIAA Scitech, 33rd Wind Energy Symposium, Kissimmee, Florida, 5–9 January 2015, Conference Proceedings, 1462, https://doi.org/10.2514/6.2015-1462, 2015. a, b
Jeong, J. and Hussain, F.: On the identification of a vortex, J. Fluid Mech., 285, 69–94, 1995. a
Jonkman, J., Butterfield, S., Musial, W., and Scott, G.: Definition of a 5-MW reference wind turbine for offshore system development, NREL/TP-500-38060, https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy09osti/38060.pdf (last access: 1 March 2023), 2009. a
Manolas, D. I., Chaviaropoulos, P. K., and Riziotis, V. A.: Assessment of Vortex Induced Vibrations on wind turbines, J. Phys. Conf. Ser., 2257, 012011, https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/2257/1/012011, 2022. a
Micallef, D., Ferreira, C. S., Sant, T., and van Bussel, G.: Experimental and numerical investigation of tip vortex generation and evolution on horizontal axis wind turbines, Wind Energy, 19, 1485–1501, https://doi.org/10.1002/we.1932, 2016. a
Micallef, D., Ferreira, C., Herráez, I., Höning, L., Yu, W., and Capdevila, H.: Assessment of actuator disc models in predicting radial flow and wake expansion, J. Wind Eng. Ind. Aerod., 207, 104396, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jweia.2020.104396, 2020. a, b
Mühle, F., Adaramola, M. S., and Sætran, L.: The effect of rotational direction on the wake of a wind turbine rotor-a comparison study of aligned co-and counter rotating turbine arrays, Energy Procedia, 137, 238–245, 2017. a
OpenFOAM: Open Source Field Operation and Manipulation, https://openfoam.org (last access: January 2022). a
Rahimi, H., Daniele, E., Stoevesandt, B., and Peinke, J.: Development and application of a grid generation tool for aerodynamic simulations of wind turbines, Wind Engineering, 40, 148–172, 2016a. a
Rahimi, H., Dose, B., Stoevesandt, B., and Peinke, J.: Investigation of the validity of BEM for simulation of wind turbines in complex load cases and comparison with experiment and CFD, J. Phys. Conf. Ser., 749, 012015, https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/749/1/012015, 2016b. a
Rahimi, H., Hartvelt, M., Peinke, J., and Schepers, J. G.: Investigation of the current yaw engineering models for simulation of wind turbines in BEM and comparison with CFD and experiment, J. Phys. Conf. Ser., 753, 022016, https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/753/2/022016, 2016c. a
Rahimi, H., Martinez Garcia, A., Stoevesandt, B., Peinke, J., and Schepers, G.: An engineering model for wind turbines under yawed conditions derived from high fidelity models, Wind Energy, 21, 618–633, 2018. a
Rajakumar, S. and Ravindran, D.: Computational fluid dynamics of windturbine blade at various angles of attack and low Reynolds number, International Journal of Engineering Science and Technology, 2, 6474–6484, https://www.ijest.info/docs/IJEST10-02-11-073.pdf (last access: 1 March 2023), 2010. a
Reissner, E.: On one-dimensional finite-strain beam theory: the plane problem, Z. Angew. Math. Phys., 23, 795–804, 1972. a
Sayed, M., Lutz, T., Krämer, E., Shayegan, S., and Wüchner, R.: Aeroelastic analysis of 10 MW wind turbine using CFD-CSF explicit FSI-coupling approach, J. Fluid. Struct., 87, 354–377, 2019. a
Schepers, J. G., Boorsma K., Sørensen, N., Voutsinas, Sieros, G., Rahimi, H., Heisselmann, H., Jost, E., Lutz, T., Maeder, T., Gonzalez, A., Ferreira, C., Stoevesandt, B., Barakos, G., Lampropoulos, N., Croce, A., and Madsen, J.: Final results from the EU project AVATAR: Aerodynamic modelling of 10 MW wind turbines, The Science of Making Torque from Wind, J. Phys. Conf. Ser., 1037, 1–18, 2018. a
Serrano-González, J. and Lacal-Arántegui, R.: Technological evolution of onshore wind turbines - a market-based analysis, Wind Energy, 19, 2171–2187, 2016. a
Shen, W. Z., Zakkam, V. A. K., Sørensen, J. N., and Appa, K.: Analysis of counter-rotating wind turbines, Journal of Physics Conference Series, 75, 2007. a
Simo, J. C.: A finite strain beam formulation. The three-dimensional dynamic problem, Part I, Comput. Meth. Appl. Mech. Eng., 49, 55–70, 1985. a
Spalart, P. R., Deck, S., Shur, M. L., Squires, K. D., Strelets, M. K., and Travin, A.: A New Version of Detached-eddy Simulation, Resistant to Ambiguous Grid Densities, Theor. Comp. Fluid Dyn., 20, 181–195, 2006. a
U.S. Department of Energy: Land-Based Wind Market Report: 2021 Edition, U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy, https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2021-08/Land-Based Wind Market Report 2021 Edition_Full Report_FINAL.pdf (last access: 1 March 2023), 2021. a
WindEurope Business Intelligence: Wind Energy in Europe. 2021 Statistics and the outlook for 2022–2026, February 2022, https://windeurope.org/intelligence-platform/product/wind-energy-in-europe-2021-statistics-and-the-outlook-for-2022-2026/ (last access: 10 April 2022), 2022. a
Zhang, W., Markfort, C. D., and Porté-Agel, F.: Near-wake flow structure downwind of a wind turbine in a turbulent boundary layer, Exp. Fluids, 52, 1219–1235, 2012. a
Short summary
This study analyzes the impact of wind turbine rotor blade flexibility on the aerodynamic loading of the blades and the consequential wind characteristics in the near wake of the turbine. It is shown that gravitation leads to rotational periodic fluctuations of blade loading, which directly impacts the trajectory of the blade tip vortex at different rotor blade positions while also resulting in a non-uniform wind velocity deficit in the wake of the wind turbine.
This study analyzes the impact of wind turbine rotor blade flexibility on the aerodynamic...
Altmetrics
Final-revised paper
Preprint