scholarly journals Investigation of the Unsteady Flow Behaviour on a Wind Turbine Using a BEM and a RANSE Method

2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Israa Alesbe ◽  
Moustafa Abdel-Maksoud ◽  
Sattar Aljabair

Analyses of the unsteady flow behaviour of a 5 MW horizontal-axis wind turbine (HAWT) rotor (Case I) and a rotor with tower (Case II) are carried out using a panel method and a RANSE method. The panel method calculations are obtained by applying the in-house boundary element method (BEM) panMARE code, which is based on the potential flow theory. The BEM is a three-dimensional first-order panel method which can be used for investigating various steady and unsteady flow problems. Viscous flow simulations are carried out by using the RANSE solver ANSYS CFX 14.5. The results of Case I allow for the calculation of the global integral values of the torque and the thrust and include detailed information on the local flow field, such as the pressure distribution on the blade sections and the streamlines. The calculated pressure distribution by the BEM is compared with the corresponding values obtained by the RANSE solver. The tower geometry is considered in the simulation in Case II, so the unsteady forces due to the interaction between the tower and the rotor blades can be calculated. The application of viscous and inviscid flow methods to predict the forces on the HAWT allows for the evaluation of the viscous effects on the calculated HAWT flows.

Author(s):  
Hagninou E. V. Donnou ◽  
Drissa Boro ◽  
Jean Noé Fabiyi ◽  
Marius Tovoeho ◽  
Aristide B. Akpo

In the present work, the study and design of a horizontal axis wind turbine suitable for the Cotonou site were investigated on the coast of Benin. A statistical study using the Weibull distribution was carried out on the hourly wind data measured at 10 m from the ground by the Agency for Air Navigation Safety in Africa and Madagascar (ASECNA) over the period from January 1981 to December 2014. Then, the models, techniques, tools and approaches used to design horizontal axis wind turbines were presented and the wind turbine components characteristics were determined. The numerical design and assembly of these components were carried out using SolidWorks software. The results revealed that the designed wind turbine has a power of 571W. It is equipped with a permanent magnet synchronous generator and has three aluminum blades with NACA 4412 biconvex asymmetrical profile. The values obtained for the optimum coefficient of lift and drag are estimated at 1.196 and 0.0189 respectively. The blades are characterised by an attack optimum angle estimated at 6° and the wedge angle at 5°. Their length is 2.50 m and the maximum thickness is estimated at 0.032 m for a rope length of 0.27 m. The wind turbine efficiency is 44%. The computer program designed on SolidWorks gives three-dimensional views of the geometrical shape of the wind turbine components and their assembly has allowed to visualize the compact shape of the wind turbine after export via its graphical interface. The energy quantity that can be obtained from the wind turbine was estimated at 2712,718 kWh/year. This wind turbine design study is the first of its kind for the study area. In order to reduce the technological dependence and the import of wind energy systems, the results of this study could be used to produce lower cost wind energy available on our study site.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Rui Zhu ◽  
Da-duo Chen ◽  
Shi-wei Wu

A 1.5 MW horizontal-axis wind turbine blade and fluid field model are established to study the difference in the unsteady flow field and structural vibration of the wind turbine blade under one- and two-way fluid-structure interactions. The governing equations in fluid field and the motion equations in structural were developed, and the corresponding equations were discretized with the Galerkin method. Based on ANSYS CFX fluid dynamics and mechanical structural dynamics calculation software, the effects of couplings on the aerodynamic and vibration characteristics of the blade are compared and analyzed in detail. Results show that pressure distributions at different sections of the blade are concentrated near the leading edge, and the leeward side of two-way coupling is slightly higher than that of one-way coupling. Deformation along the blade span shows a nonlinear change under the coupling effect. The degree of amplitude attenuation in two-way coupling is significantly greater than that in one-way coupling because of the existence of aerodynamic damping. However, the final amplitude is still higher than the one-way coupling. The Mises stress fluctuation in the windward and leeward sides is more obvious than one-way coupling, and the discrepancy must not be ignored.


2006 ◽  
Vol 128 (4) ◽  
pp. 432-444 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chanin Tongchitpakdee ◽  
Sarun Benjanirat ◽  
Lakshmi N. Sankar

The aerodynamic performance of a wind turbine rotor equipped with circulation enhancement technology (trailing-edge blowing or Gurney flaps) is investigated using a three-dimensional unsteady viscous flow analysis. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory Phase VI horizontal axis wind turbine is chosen as the baseline configuration. Experimental data for the baseline case is used to validate the flow solver, prior to its use in exploring these concepts. Calculations have been performed for axial and yawed flow at several wind conditions. Results presented include radial distribution of the normal and tangential forces, shaft torque, root flap moment, and surface pressure distributions at selected radial locations. At low wind speed (7m∕s) where the flow is fully attached, it is shown that a Coanda jet at the trailing edge of the rotor blade is effective at increasing circulation resulting in an increase of lift and the chordwise thrust force. This leads to an increased amount of net power generation compared to the baseline configuration for moderate blowing coefficients (Cμ⩽0.075). A passive Gurney flap was found to increase the bound circulation and produce increased power in a manner similar to Coanda jet. At high wind speed (15m∕s) where the flow is separated, both the Coanda jet and Gurney flap become ineffective. The effects of these two concepts on the root bending moments have also been studied.


Author(s):  
Takao Maeda ◽  
Yasunari Kamada ◽  
Keita Naito ◽  
Yuu Ouchi ◽  
Masayoshi Kozawa

This paper describes an experimental field study of the rotor aerodynamics of wind turbines. The test wind turbine is a horizontal axis wind turbine, or: HAWT with a diameter of 10m. The pressure distributions on the rotating blade are measured with multi point pressure transducers. Sectional aerodynamic forces are analyzed from pressure distribution. Blade root moments are measured simultaneously by a pair of strain gauges. The inflow wind is measured by a three component sonic anemometer, the local inflow of the blade section are measured by a pair of 7 hole Pitot tubes. The relation between the aerodynamic moments on the blade root from pressure distribution and the mechanical moment from strain gauges is discussed. The aerodynamic moments are estimated from the sectional aerodynamic forces and show oscillation caused by local wind speed and direction change. The mechanical moment shows similar oscillation to the aerodynamic excepting the short period oscillation of the blade first mode frequency. The fluctuation of the sectional aerodynamic force triggers resonant blade oscillations. Where stall is present along the blade section, the blade’s first mode frequency is dominant. Without stall, the rotating frequency is dominant in the blade root moment.


Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. 2649 ◽  
Author(s):  
Artur Bugała ◽  
Olga Roszyk

This paper presents the results of the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation of the airflow for a 300 W horizontal axis wind turbine, using additional structural elements which modify the original shape of the rotor in the form of multi-shaped bowls which change the airflow distribution. A three-dimensional CAD model of the tested wind turbine was presented, with three variants subjected to simulation: a basic wind turbine without the element that modifies the airflow distribution, a turbine with a plano-convex bowl, and a turbine with a centrally convex bowl, with the hyperbolic disappearance of convexity as the radius of the rotor increases. The momentary value of wind speed, recorded at measuring points located in the plane of wind turbine blades, demonstrated an increase when compared to the base model by 35% for the wind turbine with the plano-convex bowl, for the wind speed of 5 m/s, and 31.3% and 49% for the higher approaching wind speed, for the plano-convex bowl and centrally convex bowl, respectively. The centrally convex bowl seems to be more appropriate for higher approaching wind speeds. An increase in wind turbine efficiency, described by the power coefficient, for solutions with aerodynamic bowls was observed.


2020 ◽  
pp. 0309524X2096139
Author(s):  
Fangrui Shi ◽  
Yingqiao Xu ◽  
Xiaojing Sun

In this paper, a three-dimensional numerical simulation of the aerodynamic performance of a horizontal axis wind turbine (HAWT) whose blades are equipped with a new active flow control concept called Co-Flowing Jet (CFJ) is carried out. Numerical results show that the use of CFJ over the blade suction surface can effectively delay flow separation, thus improving the net torque and power output of HAWT. Besides, this increment in the net power produced by the turbine is considerably higher than the power consumed by the CFJ. Thus, the overall efficiency of the HAWT can be greatly increased. Furthermore, influences of different CFJ operating parameters including location of injection port, jet momentum coefficient and slot length on the performance enhancement of a HAWT are also systematically studied and the optimal combination of these parameters to obtain the best possible turbine efficiency throughout a range of different wind speeds has been identified.


2012 ◽  
Vol 512-515 ◽  
pp. 754-757
Author(s):  
Xian Yi ◽  
Kai Chun Wang ◽  
Hong Lin Ma

A three dimensional numerical method and its computer codes, which are suitable to predict the process of horizontal axis wind turbine icing, are presented. The method is composed of the Multiple Reference Frame (MRF) method to calculate flowfield of air, an Eulerian method to compute collection efficiency and a three dimensional icing model companying with an iterative arithmetic for solving the model. Ice accretion on a 1.5 MW horizontal axis wind turbine is then computed with the numerical method, and characteristics of droplet collection efficiency and ice shape/type are obtained. The results show that ice on the hub and blade root is slight and it can be neglected comparing with ice near blade tip. From blade tip to root, ice becomes thinner and glaze ice may changes into rime ice.


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