Assessment of an actuator disk‐based approach for the prediction of fatigue loads in a perspective of wind farm‐scale application

This work proposes a methodology aiming at simulating the whole wind farm behavior, from the wake phenomena to the wind turbine fatigue loads, in a both accurate and efficient way and for a large range of operating conditions. This approach is based on Large Eddy Simulation (LES), coupled to an Actuator Disk (AD) approach. In order to recover pertinent fatigue loads with that wind turbine model, the blade trajectories are replicated through the disk and the AD aerodynamic forces are interpolated onto these “virtual blades” at each time step. The wake centerline is also tracked in the whole wind farm, in order to highlight the correlations between the wake phenomena and the wind turbine fatigue damage. The described methodology is deployed in simulations of the Horns Rev wind farm for several wind directions. The time-averaged power production is first compared to measurements and other LES results, with a very good agreement for large wind sectors. We then investigate the fatigue loads for several machines inside the wind farm and wind directions. We clearly show the link between the upstream wake movement and the resulting high and low frequency oscillations of the root bending moments and of the yaw and tilt moments, and therefore on the resulting fatigue equivalent loads. This study demonstrates the capacity of the numerical tool to accurately capture the wind farm flow and the rotor behaviors, as well as the correlations between the wake phenomena and the resulting fatigue loads.

Correlations Between Wake Phenomena and Fatigue Loads Within Large Wind Farms: A Large-Eddy Simulation Study

Wind energy is usually harnessed using wind turbines but it is not the only way of collecting this energy. In this paper, Airborne Wind Energy Systems (AWES) are considered. The understanding of the wake shed by such devices is of primary importance when considering farms, yet it has not been much studied so far, and even less so when considering kites with soft curved wing. In this work, LES is used to analyse the wake of AWES. Two types of wings are considered: a straight wing, modelling the reference rigid wing AWES and a curved wing accounting for leading edge inflatable kites. Both types of wings are modelled using actuator lines. The wake analysis reveals that the wake of curved wings tends to be stronger and to recover faster. For the case of the tilted trajectory, asymmetries in the wake are also noted. The difference is explained by the azimuthal variation of the circulation distribution on the wing. It also relates to some wakes characteristics for tilted wind turbines. The wake of the curved wing is also more sensitive to the variation of the loading when it flies tilted trajectory, due to the varying loading on its tips.

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1742-6596/2505/1/012036/pdf

Large-Eddy Simulation of airborne wind energy systems wakes

Dynamic flow control strategies are raising interest for wake mitigation purposes. Among the different strategies, the so-called helix one relies on individual pitch control (IPC). The numerical simulation of the helix is thus readily performed by means of discrete-blade capturing methods. Yet, if this control strategy is considered at the scale of wind farms, the resolution required by such methods becomes prohibitive and actuator disk (AD) models should be envisioned. It is however not trivial to translate IPC strategies to an AD framework which by definition considers rotor-averaged effects. This work assesses the ability of an AD method to simulate the helix strategy by comparing it to a higher fidelity approach relying on a discrete-blade capturing model. Results show that the disk-type approach supplemented with a disk-adapted IPC scheme is able to capture both the forced motion of the wake at low turbulence and the faster wake recovery at moderate turbulence. From a quantitative perspective, the disk-type approach predicts bigger power gains, compared to those foreseen by the discrete-blade type approach, for a downstream turbine in the wake of a helix-operated one.

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1742-6596/2505/1/012017/pdf

Simulating the helix wake within an actuator disk framework: verification against discrete-blade type simulations

The present study aims at assessing the Actuator Disk (AD) method supplemented with an Individual Pitch Control (IPC) strategy, at a resolution appropriate for the Large Eddy Simulation of large wind farms. The IPC scheme is based on a state-of-the art individual pitch control, generalized to be applied to an AD approach. This procedure also requires an accurate recovery of the flapwise bending moment on each blade, which is not trivial for a disk-type model. In order to compute flapwise moments on each blade, blade trajectories are reproduced through the disk and the AD aerodynamic forces are interpolated onto these virtual blades at each time step. We verify the AD model with IPC in simulations of an isolated wind turbine, for different wind speeds and turbulence intensities, and in a configuration with two rotors. We compare the AD statistics with those obtained using an Actuator Line (AL) method. The comparison done in terms of equivalent moment shows that the AD and AL simulations produce very similar results.

Handling Individual Pitch Control within an Actuator Disk framework: verification against the Actuator Line method and application to wake interaction problems

The current trend of wind turbine upscaling has led to the use of long and slender blades prone to large structural deformations. In the present study, the impact of the aeroelastic effects is assessed for the NREL-5MW wind turbine in a turbulent wind. To this end, an actuator curve method coupled to a one-dimensional finite-element structural solver is implemented in a fourth-order finite difference code that can perform large eddy simulation (LES) of realistic winds. The approach is computationally affordable compared to blade-resolved simulations and hence long time series can be computed. This, combined to the ability of the LES to capture the relevant scales of the unsteadiness wind, leads to a better estimation of the fluctuating loads and power of the turbine. The results are here shown for one and two wind turbines operating in a neutrally stable atmospheric boundary layer. It appears that the blade mostly deforms according to its first bending mode. The rotation of the blade in the sheared atmospheric flow is responsible for large amplitude deformations, but the turbulence also plays a role in causing deformations at higher frequencies with a smaller amplitude. The azimuthal distributions of loads and of power are significantly affected when the aeroelasticity is considered.

A flexible actuator curve model for aeroelastic simulations of wind turbines in atmospheric boundary layers

Tilted wind turbines in farm configuration for improved global efficiency

This work presents an investigation of the aeroelastic effects occurring on the IEA 15-MW reference wind turbine in a turbulent atmospheric boundary layer. Large Eddy simulation is carried out using an actuator line method coupled to the finite element beam solver BeamDyn. The results show that the blades experience significant displacements, leading to an important variation of the loads along the blade span. The turbulence also interacts with the blades natural frequencies, resulting in a variation of the spectra of the various loads. The impact of the flexibility is also evaluated on the wake by comparing the undeformed configuration with a statically and dynamically deformed rotor. It appears that the mean deformation plays an important role in the wake development due to changes in the load distribution, but that the dynamic effects have minimal impact on the wake behavior.

/pdf/impact-of-the-rotor-blades-elasticity-on-the-loads-and-wake-23zl2sqp.pdf

Francois Trigaux

Papers

Handling Individual Pitch Control within an Actuator Disk framework: verification against the Actuator Line method and application to wake interaction problems

A flexible actuator curve model for aeroelastic simulations of wind turbines in atmospheric boundary layers

Tilted wind turbines in farm configuration for improved global efficiency

Large-Eddy Simulation of airborne wind energy systems wakes

Impact of the rotor blades elasticity on the loads and wake of the large IEA 15-MW wind turbine