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Preprints
https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-2024-116
https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-2024-116
15 Oct 2024
 | 15 Oct 2024
Status: a revised version of this preprint was accepted for the journal WES and is expected to appear here in due course.

Spatial development of planar and axisymmetric wakes of porous objects under a pressure gradient: a wind tunnel study

Wessel van der Deijl, Martin Obligado, Stéphane Barre, and Christophe Sicot

Abstract. We report an experimental study on the effect of a constant adverse pressure gradient on the spatial evolution of turbulent wakes generated by different objects. A porous disk, designed to mimic the wake of a horizontal axis wind turbine, and a porous cylinder, whose wake matches that of a vertical axis wind turbine, were tested in a wind tunnel for Reynolds numbers (based on the generator diameter) in the range of 2.6 × 105 to 3.9 × 105. Experiments were conducted between 1 and 7 diameters downstream of the disk and from 2 to 12 diameters downstream of the cylinder.

We find that the effect of the pressure gradient is significant in all cases, resulting in larger velocity deficits and wider wakes. Moreover, these variations are stronger for the cylinder-generated wake. We also find that current analytical models for wakes evolving in pressure gradients, developed from momentum conservation, satisfactorily fit our data. Our results provide a benchmark case that will contribute to improving energy harvesting in cases where pressure gradients are relevant, such as in wind plants installed over complex topographies and tidal stream generators.

Publisher's note: Copernicus Publications remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims made in the text, published maps, institutional affiliations, or any other geographical representation in this preprint. The responsibility to include appropriate place names lies with the authors.
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We present a wind tunnel study on the effect of an adverse pressure gradient on wakes from...
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