Wake impacts on aerodynamic and aeroelastic behaviors of a horizontal axis wind turbine blade for sheared and turbulent flow conditions

The magnitude and temporal variations of wind speed considerably influence aerodynamic and structural responses of MW-sized horizontal axis wind turbines. Thus, this paper investigates the variations in airloads and blade behavior of a wind turbine blade resulting from operations in sheared and turbulent flow conditions. First, in order to validate the present methods, comparisons of aerodynamic results were made among the blade element momentum method, free-wake method, and numerical results from the previous studies. Then, the validated methods were applied to a national renewable energy laboratory 5 MW reference wind turbine model for fluid–structure interaction analyses. From the numerical simulations, it can be clearly seen that unfavorable airloads and blade deformations occur due to the sheared and turbulent flow conditions. In addition, it is clear that wake impacts are not as substantial at those of high wind speeds; however, the effects obviously affect the aerodynamic and structural behaviors of the blade at lower wind speeds. Therefore, it is concluded that the numerical results markedly indicate the demand for accurate assessment of wake dynamics for accurate estimations of the aerodynamic and structural responses for sheared and turbulent flow environments.     

Visualization by PIV of dynamic stall on a vertical axis wind turbine

The aerodynamic behavior of a vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) is analyzed by means of 2D particle image velocimetry (PIV), focusing on the development of dynamic stall at different tip speed ratios. The VAWT has an unsteady aerodynamic behavior due to the variation with the azimuth angle θ of the blade’s sections’ angle of attack, perceived velocity and Reynolds number. The phenomenon of dynamic stall is then an inherent effect of the operation of a VAWT at low tip speed ratios, impacting both loads and power. The present work is driven by the need to understand this phenomenon, by visualizing and quantifying it, and to create a database for model validation. The experimental method uses PIV to visualize the development of the flow over the suction side of the airfoil for two different reference Reynolds numbers and three tip speed ratios in the operational regime of a small urban wind turbine. The field-of-view of the experiment covers the entire rotation of the blade and almost the entire rotor area. The analysis describes the evolution of the flow around the airfoil and in the rotor area, with special focus on the leading edge separation vortex and trailing edge shed vorticity development. The method also allows the quantification of the flow, both the velocity field and the vorticity/circulation (only the results of the vorticity/circulation distribution are presented), in terms of the phase locked average and the random component.     

Dynamic wind loads and wake characteristics of a wind turbine model in an atmospheric boundary layer wind

An experimental study was conducted to characterize the dynamic wind loads and evolution of the unsteady vortex and turbulent flow structures in the near wake of a horizontal axis wind turbine model placed in an atmospheric boundary layer wind tunnel. In addition to measuring dynamic wind loads (i.e., aerodynamic forces and bending moments) acting on the wind turbine model by using a high-sensitive force-moment sensor unit, a high-resolution digital particle image velocimetry (PIV) system was used to achieve flow field measurements to quantify the characteristics of the turbulent vortex flow in the near wake of the wind turbine model. Besides conducting “free-run” PIV measurements to determine the ensemble-averaged statistics of the flow quantities such as mean velocity, Reynolds stress, and turbulence kinetic energy (TKE) distributions in the wake flow, “phase-locked” PIV measurements were also performed to elucidate further details about evolution of the unsteady vortex structures in the wake flow in relation to the position of the rotating turbine blades. The effects of the tip-speed-ratio of the wind turbine model on the dynamic wind loads and wake flow characteristics were quantified in the terms of the variations of the aerodynamic thrust and bending moment coefficients of the wind turbine model, the evolution of the helical tip vortices and the unsteady vortices shedding from the blade roots and turbine nacelle, the deceleration of the incoming airflows after passing the rotation disk of the turbine blades, the TKE and Reynolds stress distributions in the near wake of the wind turbine model. The detailed flow field measurements were correlated with the dynamic wind load measurements to elucidate underlying physics in order to gain further insight into the characteristics of the dynamic wind loads and turbulent vortex flows in the wakes of wind turbines for the optimal design of the wind turbines operating in atmospheric boundary layer winds.     

Aeroelastic analysis of large horizontal wind turbine baldes

A nonlinear aeroelastic analysis method for large horizontal wind turbines is described. A vortex wake method and a nonlinear finite element method (FEM) are coupled in the approach. The vortex wake method is used to predict wind turbine aerodynamic loads of a wind turbine, and a three-dimensional (3D) shell model is built for the rotor. Average aerodynamic forces along the azimuth are applied to the structural model, and the nonlinear static aeroelastic behaviors are computed. The wind rotor modes are obtained at the static aeroelastic status by linearizing the coupled equations. The static aeroelastic performance and dynamic aeroelastic responses are calculated for the NH1500 wind turbine. The results show that structural geometrical nonlinearities significantly reduce displacements and vibration amplitudes of the wind turbine blades. Therefore, structural geometrical nonlinearities cannot be neglected both in the static aeroelastic analysis and dynamic aeroelastic analysis.     

风速不确定性对风力机气动力影响量化研究

风力机气动力学一直是国内外研究的热点课题之一.目前相关研究大都是基于确定性工况条件,但因风力机常年工作在自然来流复杂环境,风速随机波动致使风电系统呈现不确定性,对电网稳定性带来巨大挑战,因此进行不确定风速条件下风力机气动力学研究具有重要意义.为揭示不确定性对风力机流场影响机理并明确其对气动力的影响程度,本文提出一种风力机不确定空气动力学分析方法,基于修正叶素动量理论和非嵌入式概率配置点法,建立水平轴风力机不确定性空气动力学响应模型;以NREL Phase VI S809风力机叶轮为研究对象,基于该模型提取风力机输出随机响应信息,量化不确定风速对风力机风轮功率、推力、叶片挥舞弯矩和摆振弯矩的影响程度;通过分析流动诱导因子不确定性在叶片展长方向上的分布规律,揭示不确定因素在风力机本体上的传播机制,为风电系统设计及应用提供理论依据和重要参考.结果表明,风速波动对风力机功率和气动力影响显著,高斯风速标准差由0.05倍增大至0.15倍均值,功率和推力最大波动幅度分别由13.44%和8.00%增大至35.11%和22.02%,叶片挥舞弯矩和摆振弯矩最大波动幅度分别由7.20%和12.84%增大至1...     

Aeroelastic analysis of a rotating wind turbine blade using a geometrically exact formulation

In this paper, an aeroelastic analysis of a rotating wind turbine blade is performed by considering the effects of geometrical nonlinearities associated with large deflection of the blade produced during wind turbine operation. This source of nonlinearity has become more important in the dynamic analysis of flexible blades used in more recent multi-megawatt wind turbines. The structural modeling, involving the coupled edgewise, flapwise and torsional DOFs, has been performed by using a nonlinear geometrically exact beam formulation. The aerodynamic model is presented based on the strip theory, by applying the principles of quasi-steady and unsteady airfoil aerodynamics. Compared to the conventional steady aerodynamic model, the presented model offers a more realistic consideration of fluid–structure interactions. The resulting governing equation, expanded up to the third-order terms, is analyzed by using the reduced-order model (ROM). The ROM is developed by employing the coupled mode shapes of a cantilever blade under free loading condition. The specifications of the 5MW-NREL wind turbine are used in the simulation study. After verifying the ROM results by comparing them with those of the full FEM model, the model is used in additional static, modal and transient dynamics analyses. The results indicate the important effect of geometrical nonlinearity, especially for larger structural deformations. Moreover, nonlinear analyses reveal the important effects of torsion induced by lateral deformations. It is also found that the governing equation is more efficient, and sufficiently accurate, when it is developed by using the second-order kinetic terms, third-order potential terms and the second-order aerodynamic terms together with third-order damping. Finally, the effects of nonlinearities on the flutter characteristics of wind turbine blades are evaluated through frequency and dynamic analyses.     

风力机叶片非线性挥舞分析

将风力机叶片简化为绕轮毂旋转的变截面Euler-Bernoulli悬臂梁,基于Greenberg公式给出非线性气动力,建立叶片挥舞振动非线性控制方程.由于变截面梁的弯曲刚度和线密度是沿梁轴线变化的函数,无法给出模态函数解析式,论文提出使用假设模态法计算的模态函数,作为基函数对控制方程进行Galerkin截断,通过将挥舞振动分解为静态位移和动态扰动合成,对其进行动态响应分析,同时讨论了叶轮转速、风速和旋转位置对振动特性的影响.研究表明:(1)叶轮转速对叶片挥舞特性影响显著,风速和叶片转角对振动特性影响很小.(2)静态位移随风速增加而增大,大体上成线性关系,气动阻尼随风速增加而减小.(3)风速较低时,非线性挥舞振动表现为衰减振动,随着风速增加,振动由衰减振动演化为周期运动,再由周期运动演化为拟周期运动.     

基于CFD技术的垂直轴风力机动态尾流特性研究

利用CFD软件对麦克马斯特大学垂直轴风力机进行不同叶尖速比下的数值模拟,计算结果与风洞试验数据吻合良好。近场尾流中,与单叶片的风力机模拟结果比较,上游叶片产生并向下游延伸的旋涡影响下游运行轨道上叶片的升阻力特性,不仅使叶片扭矩输出峰值降低,而且峰值产生的时间延迟。对垂直轴风力机叶片叶梢进行修改,模拟结果显示,叶片扭矩输出峰值不变,但是谷值有所降低,修改后风力机沿风向推力幅值降低明显;远场尾流中,采用风速轮廓线原理,以瑞典的法尔肯贝里市200kW垂直轴风力机为原型,按照真实的空间排布进行数值模拟。模拟结果显示,上游风力机上下两端处产生较为集中的远场尾流,影响下游风力机叶片下半段的气动性能,下游风力机功率输出降低明显。     

A brief review on wind turbine aerodynamics

This article briefly reviews wind turbine aerodynamics, which follows an explanation of the aerodynamic complexity. The aerodynamic models including blade momentum theory, vortex wake model, dynamic stall and rotational effect, and their applications in wind turbine aerodynamic performance prediction are discussed and documented. Recent progress in computational fluid dynamics for wind turbine is addressed. Wind turbine aerodynamic experimental studies are also selectively introduced.     

Flow field studies on a micro-air-vehicle-scale cycloidal rotor in forward flight

This paper examines the flow physics and principles of force production on a cycloidal rotor (cyclorotor) in forward flight. The cyclorotor considered here consists of two blades rotating about a horizontal axis, with cyclic pitch angle variation about the blade quarter-chord. The flow field at the rotor mid-span is analyzed using smoke flow visualization and particle image velocimeV are compared with flow fields predicted using 2D CFD and time-averaged force measurements acquired in an open-jet wind tunnel at three advance ratios. It is shown that the experimental flow field is nearly two dimensional at μ = 0.73 allowing for qualitative comparisons to be made with CFD. The incoming flow velocity decreases in magnitude as the flow passes through the retreating (upper) half of the rotor and is attributed to power extraction by the blades. A significant increase in flow velocity is observed across the advancing (lower) half of the rotor. The aerodynamic analysis demonstrates that the blades accelerate the flow through the lower aft region of the rotor, where they operate in a high dynamic pressure environment. This is consistent with CFD-predicted values of instantaneous aerodynamic forces which reveal that the aft section of the rotor is the primary region of force production. Phase-averaged flow field measurements showed two blade wakes in the flow, formed by each of the two blades. Analysis of the blades at several azimuthal positions revealed two significant blade-wake interactions. The locations of these blade-wake interactions are correlated with force peaks in the CFD-predicted instantaneous blade forces and highlight their importance to the generation of lift and propulsive force of the cyclorotor.     

Progresses in application of computational fluid dynamic methods to large scale wind turbine aerodynamics

The computational fluid dynamics (CFD) methods are applied to aerodynamic problems for large scale wind turbines. The progresses including the aerodynamic analyses of wind turbine profiles, numerical flow simulation of wind turbine blades, evaluation of aerodynamic performance, and multi-objective blade optimization are discussed. Based on the CFD methods, significant improvements are obtained to predict two/three dimensional aerodynamic characteristics of wind turbine airfoils and blades, and the vortical structure in their wake flows is accurately captured. Combining with a multi-objective genetic algorithm, a 1.5 MW NH-1500 optimized blade is designed with high efficiency in wind energy conversion.     

DYNAMIC CHARACTERISTICS OF LAG VIBRATION OF A WIND TURBINE BLADE

Lagwise dynamic characteristics of a wind turbine blade subjected to unsteady aero- dynamic loads are studied in this paper. The partial differential equations governing the coupled longitudinal-transverse vibration of the blade with large bending deflection are obtained by ap- plying Hamilton＇s principle. The modal problem of the coupled vibration is handled by using the method of numerical integration of Green＇s function. Influences of the rotating speed, the pitch angle, the setting angle, and the aerodynamic loads on natural frequencies are discussed. Results show that： （I） Lagwise natural frequencies ascend with the increase of rotating speed; effects of the rotating speed on low-frequencies are dramatic while these effects on high-frequencies become less. （2） Influences of the pitch angle on natural frequencies are little; in the range of the normal rotating speed, the first frequency ascends with the increase of the absolute value of the pitch angle, while it is contrary to the second and third frequencies. （3） Effects of the setting angle on natural frequencies depend on the rotating speed; influences are not significant at low speed, while they are dramatic on the first frequency at high speed. （4） Effects of the aerodynamic loads on natural frequencies are very little; frequencies derived from the model considering aerodynamic loads are smaller than those from the model neglecting aerodynamic loads; relative errors of the results corresponding to two models ascend with the increase of the absolute value of the setting angle.     

Nonlinear aeroelastic stability analysis of wind turbine blade with bending–bending–twist coupling

In this study, the nonlinear aeroelastic stability of wind turbine blade with bending–bending–twist coupling has been investigated for composite thin-walled structure with pretwist angle. The aerodynamic model used here is the differential dynamic stall nonlinear ONERA model. The nonlinear aeroelastic equations are reduced to ordinary equations by Galerkin method, with the aerodynamic force decomposition by strip theory. The nonlinear resulting equations are solved by a time-marching approach, and are linearized by small perturbation about the equilibrium point. The nonlinear aeroelastic stability characteristics are investigated through eigenvalue analysis, nonlinear time domain response, and linearized time domain response.     

大于切出风速的大型风力机运行控制策略研究

运用非定常叶素动量(BEM)理论计算气动载荷,叠加重力载荷和惯性载荷,建立并数值求解全机动力学模型。基于快速非支配排序遗传算法(NSGA),在切出风速以上,优化得到变速变桨和定速变桨两种控制规律曲线,实现大型风力机在25m/s~40m/s风速之间正常运行的目的。比较两种控制策略的输出功率、风轮推力和转矩,得出变速变桨控制策略更适合于25m/s~40m/s之间风力机运行控制的结论。计算稳态工况时8种叶根载荷的极限值,由各载荷的变化趋势可知,Fy在25m/s之后增大9%,其他载荷均安全。     

A DPIV study of the trailing vortex elements from the blades of a horizontal axis wind turbine in yaw

Digital particle image velocimetry (DPIV) has been used in a wind tunnel study to measure the velocity field of the trailing vortices from the blades of a horizontal axis wind-turbine (HWAT) in yaw. The creation of the trailing vortex circulation is shown to vary as a function of the phase angle of the rotor and the angle of yaw between the wind and turbine rotor. The strength of the convecting vorticity was also shown to vary with time. The initial formation of the vortex is shown determined by the flow expansion angle while in yawed flows the developing vortex is then influenced by the vortex sheet shed from the inboard blade trailing edge. This interaction is shown to significantly affect the roll up of the tip vortex. Received: 17 December 1997/Accepted: 16 June 1999     

复杂大气入流下海上风机力学特性研究

随着风能技术的不断进步, 风机叶片逐渐向大型化发展, 这使得真实复杂大气入流对风机运行性能的影响愈发显著. 为研究真实复杂大气入流下海上风机的力学特性响应, 利用基于大涡模拟的域前模拟方法生成复杂大气入流, 并结合致动线模型模拟风机叶片, 对中性复杂大气入流下海上固定式风机进行数值模拟, 重点分析风机的气动性能及转子和叶片根部的力学特性, 并与均匀入流计算工况进行对比. 计算结果表明, 中性复杂大气入流中的大尺度低速气流团使得风机气动功率输出值在较长一段时间处于较低水平, 此外, 中性复杂大气入流的高湍流强度特征使得风机气动功率的变化幅值和标准差较均匀入流工况大幅增加; 风机轴向推力的标准差值增加到均匀入流的53倍, 中性复杂大气入流的来流流场扰动引起偏航力矩的最大值、均方根和标准差分别增加到均匀入流的10、4.4和4.3倍; 速度垂向分布的不均匀性以及轮毂高度附近的大尺度低速羽流结构导致摆振剪力和弯矩的标准差响应值分别为均匀入流的2倍和4.6倍.      

Analysis of Coupled Vibration Characteristics of Wind Turbine Blade Based on Green's Functions

This paper presents the analysis of dynamic characteristics of horizontal axis wind turbine blade, where the mode coupling among axial extension, flap vibration(out-of-plane bending), lead/lag vibration(in-plane bending) and torsion is emphasized. By using the Bernoulli-Euler beam to describe the slender blade which is mounted on rigid hub and subjected to unsteady aerodynamic force, the governing equation and characteristic equation of the coupled vibration of the blade are obtained. Due to the combined influences of mode coupling, centrifugal effect, and the non-uniform distribution of mass and stiffness, the explicit solution of characteristic equation is impossible to obtain. An equivalent transformation based on Green's functions is taken for the characteristic equation, and then a system of integrodifferential equations is derived. The numerical difference methods are adopted to solve the integrodifferential equations to get natural frequencies and mode shapes. The influences of mode coupling, centrifugal effect, and rotational speed on natural frequencies and mode shapes are analyzed. Results show that:(1) the influence of bending-torsion coupling on natural frequency is tiny;(2) rotation has dramatic influence on bending frequency but little influence on torsion frequency;(3) the influence of bending-bending coupling on dynamic characteristics is notable at high rotational speed;(4) the effect of rotational speed on bending mode is tiny.     

基于仿生设计的风力发电机叶片力学性能的实验研究

根据风力机的基本理论和相似理论设计了一个翼型为SG6050,半径为1m的小型风力机叶片。运用结构仿生学原理,对所设计的风力机叶片进行了仿生物中轴铺层设计。通过模态实验与应变实验,比较了传统设计与仿生设计两种不同风力机叶片的力学性能。模态实验结果表明,基于仿生设计的叶片的前六阶固有频率比传统叶片的前六阶固有频率减少约8％;两种叶片的固有频率均满足设计要求;仿生设计的叶片几乎不会改变叶片的动态特性。而应变实验表明,仿生设计的叶片在各种工况下的应变均大于传统的叶片约10％～20％。新设计的叶片具有较好的柔性,有效减小了叶片的应力,提高了叶片的疲劳寿命。     

Optical vortex tracking studies of a horizontal axis wind turbine in yaw using laser-sheet, flow visualisation

 Experimental studies have been conducted on a 0.9 m diameter, horizontal axis wind turbine (HAWT) placed in the open jet of a closed return wind tunnel. The turbine was tested in a three blade and a two blade configuration. The power coefficient of the turbine was measured and wake flow studies conducted for a range of yawed flows by tilting the rotor plane at various angles up to 30° to the incident wind direction. The motion of the shed vorticity was followed using laser-sheet flow visualisation with the overall wake deflection being measured. The results were compared with theoretical predictions and with studies conducted elsewhere. Received: 24 October 1996 / Accepted: 16 May 1997     

Rotational modes of motion for an aerodynamic pendulum with a vertical rotation axis

An aerodynamic pendulum placed in a steady horizontal air flow is studied in connection with modeling a wind-receiving element of a vertical-axis wind turbine (VAWT). When modeling the medium effects on the pendulum, the following two approaches are combined: the quasi-static one based on stationary wind tunnel experiments and the unsteady one based on the added mass effects. The existence of stable and unstable rotational modes is analyzed analytically (via the Poincaré-Pontryagin method) and numerically. The dependence on the parameters responsible for the viscous friction at the rotation axis and for the added mass effects is taken into account.