Mechanisms of dynamic near-wake modulation of a utility-scale wind turbine

DOI10.1017/JFM.2021.737zbMATH Open1496.76046arXiv2006.16321OpenAlexW3199109472MaRDI QIDQ5154775FDOQ5154775

Authors: Aliza Abraham, Luis A. Martínez-Tossas, Jiarong Hong 

Publication date: 5 October 2021

Published in: Journal of Fluid Mechanics (Search for Journal in Brave)

Abstract: The current study uses large eddy simulations to investigate the transient response of a utility-scale wind turbine wake to dynamic changes in atmospheric and operational conditions, as observed in previous field-scale measurements. Most wind turbine wake investigations assume quasi-steady conditions, but real wind turbines operate in a highly stochastic atmosphere, and their operation (e.g., blade pitch, yaw angle) changes constantly in response. Furthermore, dynamic control strategies have been recently proposed to optimize wind farm power generation and longevity. Therefore, improved understanding of dynamic wake behaviors is essential. First, changes in blade pitch are investigated and the wake expansion response is found to display hysteresis as a result of flow inertia. The timescales of the wake response to different pitch rates are quantified. Next, changes in wind direction with different timescales are explored. Under short timescales, the wake deflection is in the opposite direction of that observed under quasi-steady conditions. Finally, yaw changes are implemented at different rates, and the maximum inverse wake deflection and timescale are quantified, showing a clear dependence on yaw rate. To gain further physical understanding of the mechanism behind the inverse wake deflection, the streamwise vorticity in different parts of the wake is quantified. The results of this study provide guidance for the design of advanced wake flow control algorithms. The lag in wake response observed for both blade pitch and yaw changes shows that proposed dynamic control strategies must implement turbine operational changes with a timescale on the order of the rotor timescale or slower.

Full work available at URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/2006.16321

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zbMATH Keywords

vortex dynamicslarge eddy simulationincompressible filtered Navier-Stokes equationsunstructured finite volume formulationwake expansion responsewake hysteresis

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Navier-Stokes equations for incompressible viscous fluids (76D05) General theory of rotating fluids (76U05) Wakes and jets (76D25) Direct numerical and large eddy simulation of turbulence (76F65) Finite volume methods applied to problems in fluid mechanics (76M12) Viscous vortex flows (76D17)

Cites Work

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Cited In (9)

• Coherent dynamics in the rotor tip shear layer of utility-scale wind turbines
• Transition to bluff-body dynamics in the wake of vertical-axis wind turbines
• Effect of wind turbine nacelle on turbine wake dynamics in large wind farms
• A physics-based model for wind turbine wake expansion in the atmospheric boundary layer
• Investigation of wind turbine wakes and wake recovery in a tandem configuration using actuator line model with LES
• A nonlinear model for aerodynamic configuration of wake behind horizontal-axis wind turbine
• Linear stability analysis of wind turbine wakes performed on wind tunnel measurements
• Data-driven RANS closures for wind turbine wakes under neutral conditions
• Wake dynamics of wind turbines in unsteady streamwise flow conditions

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