Numerical Investigations and Modelling of Wind Turbine Tower Effects on Wake and Aerodynamic Forces

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25820455
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Energy engineering
• Research Institution: Kanazawa University
• Principal Investigator: KONO Takaaki 金沢大学, サステナブルエネルギー研究センター, 助教 (90630921)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: 風車 / 後流 / 風力発電 / 流体 / CFD / 乱流 / 風荷重

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study investigated the influence of a wind turbine tower on wind velocity distribution in the wake of a wind turbine. Large-eddy simulations of the wind flow around the wind turbine were performed for cases in which a wind turbine tower was explicitly resolved and cases in which the tower was neglected. In addition, the aerodynamic force on the tower was analyzed. Moreover, the tower was modelled by adding sink terms that include the aerodynamic force coefficients to the Navier-Stokes equations.
Results confirmed that the effects of the tower on the wind velocity distribution were significant and changed with tip-speed ratio. It was also confirmed that the local drag and lift coefficients of the tower changed drastically in the vertical direction. Regarding the simulation using the tower model, the asymmetric distribution of the wind velocity at the height of the hub height was not regenerated.

Free Research Field

風車工学