Fluid–Structure Interaction Modeling of Vertical Axis Wind Turbines

Abstract

Fullscale, 3D, timedependent aerodynamics and fluid–structure interaction (FSI) simulations of a Darrieustype verticalaxis wind turbine (VAWT) are presented. A structural model of the Windspire VAWT (Windspire energy, http://www.windspireenergy.com/) is developed, which makes use of the recently proposed rotationfree Kirchhoff–Love shell and beam/cable formulations. A movingdomain finiteelementbased ALEVMS (arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerianvariationalmultiscale) formulation is employed for the aerodynamics in combination with the slidinginterface formulation to handle the VAWT mechanical components in relative motion. The slidinginterface formulation is augmented to handle nonstationary cylindrical sliding interfaces, which are needed for the FSI modeling of VAWTs. The computational results presented show good agreement with the fieldtest data. Additionally, several scenarios are considered to investigate the transient VAWT response and the issues related to selfstarting.