A Modified Free Wake Vortex Ring Method for Horizontal-Axis Wind Turbines

Journal article (2019)

Authors

J. Dong Wind Energy - Aerospace Engineering
A.C. Viré Wind Energy - Aerospace Engineering
Carlos Ferreira Wind Energy - Aerospace Engineering
Zhangrui Li Shanghai Electric Group Company
G.J.W. van Bussel Wind Energy - Aerospace Engineering
Research Group
Wind Energy (Aerospace Engineering) (TU Delft)
Copyright: © 2019 J. Dong, A.C. Viré, Carlos Ferreira, Zhangrui Li, G.J.W. van Bussel
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Published Date

2019

Language

English

Faculty

Aerospace Engineering

Department

Flow Physics and Technology

Research Group

Wind Energy

Abstract

A modified free-wake vortex ring model is proposed to compute the dynamics of a floating horizontal-axis wind turbine, which is divided into two parts. The near wake model uses a blade bound vortex model and trailed vortex model, which is developed based on vortex filament method with straight lifting lines assumption. By contrast, the far wake model is based on the vortex ring method. The proposed model is a good compromise between accuracy and computational cost, for example when compared with more complex vortex methods. The present model is used to assess the influence of floating platform motions on the performance of a horizontal-axis wind turbine rotor. The results are validated on the 5 MW NREL rotor and compared with other aerodynamic models for the same rotor subjected to different platform motions. The results show that the proposed method is reliable. In addition, the proposed method is less time consuming and has similar accuracy when comparing with more advanced vortex based methods.