Open AccessA new dynamic inflow model for vertical‐axis wind turbines
Author(s) -
De Tavernier Delphine,
Ferreira Carlos S.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
wind energy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.743
H-Index - 92
eISSN - 1099-1824
pISSN - 1095-4244
DOI - 10.1002/we.2480
Subject(s) - inflow , thrust , computational fluid dynamics , wake turbulence , vortex , mechanics , wake , control theory (sociology) , wind power , actuator , wind speed , marine engineering , engineering , aerospace engineering , physics , meteorology , computer science , control (management) , electrical engineering , artificial intelligence
Abstract This paper presents a new dynamic inflow model for vertical‐axis wind turbines (VAWTs). The model uses the principle of Duhamel's integral. The indicial function of the inflow‐ and crossflow‐induction required to apply Duhamel's integral is represented by an exponential function depending on the thrust coefficient and the azimuthal position. The parameters of this approximation are calibrated using a free wake vortex model. The model is compared with the results of a vortex model and higher fidelity computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulations for the response of an actuator cylinder to a step input of the thrust and to a cyclic thrust. It is found that the discrepancies of the dynamic inflow model increase with increasing reduced frequency and baseline thrust. However, the deviations remain small. Analysing the application of a finite‐bladed floating VAWT with non‐uniform loading and validating it against actuator line CFD results that intrinsically include dynamic inflow shows that the new dynamic inflow model significantly outperforms the Larsen and Madsen model (which is the current standard in fully coupled VAWT models) and enhances the modelling of VAWTs.