| 18 Jul 2025
CFD analysis of dynamic wind turbine airfoil characteristics in transonic flow using URANS
Abstract. Modern large wind turbine rotors can encounter airflow at inflow Mach numbers around 0.3 and a Reynolds number of the order of ten million at the blade tip. Our previous study (Vitulano et al., 2025) showed that for these operational conditions, the incompressibility assumption is violated and supersonic flow can occur locally. This follow-up study reports on a numerical investigation of the dynamic behavior of the FFA-W3-211 wind turbine tip airfoil in transonic flow using Unsteady Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (URANS) simulations. The simulations are performed for a highly unsteady aerodynamic regime by imposing a dynamic sinusoidal pitching motion across the transonic threshold determined in our previous study. This way, the airfoil is forced to enter and leave the supersonic flow regime. The simulations are conducted by varying the reduced frequency and the inflow Mach number, while keeping the Reynolds number constant at nine million. The choice of non-negligible inflow Mach numbers combined with high Reynolds numbers represents a realistic combination for full-scale wind turbines, but it is still challenging to be achieved experimentally with the test facilities available nowadays. The dynamic pitching motion is found to lead to the formation of a hysteresis loop with an extent depending on both reduced frequency and inflow Mach number. In particular, it is observed that an increase in one of these two parameters induces an expansion of the hysteresis loop with the consequences of (1) an increase in the magnitude and variability of loads experienced by the airfoil, (2) a delay in the beginning and ending of the transonic flow regime, and (3) the onset of shock waves, that take place at inflow Mach numbers lower than those estimated under static conditions. Moreover, since the formation of a hysteresis loop implies a range of conditions in which transonic flow can occur, this needs to be better understood and considered when defining any safety margin in the definition of the transonic threshold for turbine design and operation purposes. In general, the study suggests the need to take into account dynamic compressibility effects when predicting aerodynamic loads and performance for next-generation wind turbine rotors.
The authors presented ”CFD analysis of dynamic wind turbine airfoil characteristics in transonic flow using URANS”. This study investigates the effects of aerodynamic performance for unsteady dynamic wind turbines airfoil on compressible and transonic flow condition. URANS method is used to simulate flowfield of wind turbines airfoil. The findings are presented in manuscript, and the conclusions are supported by the results. The study falls within the scope of wind energy science. It is recommended that the manuscript be accepted after the following comments are addressed.
“Study of air compressibility effects on the aerodynamic performance of the IEA-15 MW offshore wind turbine” in Energy Conversion and Management journal. And “Quantification of air compressibility on large wind turbine blades using Computational Fluid Dynamics” in Renewable Energy journal.
3. For simulation method, the validation case should be considered.
4. In simulation case, did you make the independent of mesh? I think the authors should do independent of mesh.
5. In case setting, the authors simulate the range angle within negative angle of attack, if considering within positive angle of attack when the airfoil pitch condition.
6. For figure 7, it is better that three sub-figures become a figure.
7. In figure 12 and 13, can you explain that the small white areas is found, especially figure 12 (b) and figure (13) close pressure face of airfoil? What happen and what reason?