Large‐eddy simulations of the evolution of imposed turbulence in forced boundary layers in a very long domain

The technique of using imposed turbulence in combination with a forced boundary layer in order to model the atmospheric boundary layer is analyzed for a very long domain using large‐eddy simulations with different combinations of prescribed velocity profiles and pregenerated turbulence fields based on the Mann model. The ambient flow is first studied in the absence of wind turbines. The velocity profiles undergo a transition throughout the domain with a velocity increase of 10% to 15% close to the ground far downstream in the domain. The turbulence characteristics close to the turbulence plane are, as expected, similar to those of the added Mann turbulence. The turbulence will then undergo a transition throughout the domain to finally reach a balance with the shear profile at a certain downstream distance. This distance is found to depend on the turbulence level of the added Mann turbulence planes. A lower Mann turbulence level generally results in a shorter “balancing” distance. Secondly, a row of 10 turbines is imposed in the simulations at different distances from the plane of turbulence in order to determine how the distance affects wake conditions and power production levels. Our results show that a “balancing” distance is needed between the turbulence plane and the first turbine in the row in order to ensure nonchanging ambient conditions throughout the turbine row. This introduces an increase in the computational costs. The computational cost for the forced boundary technique is normally lower compared with using precursor simulations, for longer domains; however, this needs to be verified further.