Comparisons of Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine Wake Interaction Models

Abstract

In this study, Reynoldsaveraged Navier–Stokes (RANS) simulations are performed using the kخµ and kد‰ shear stress transport (SST) turbulence closure schemes to investigate the interactions of horizontalaxis wind turbine (HAWT) models in the neutrally stratified atmospheric boundary layer (ABL). A comparative study of actuator disk, actuator line, and full rotor models of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) 5 MW reference turbine is presented. The opensource computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code openfoam 2.1.0 and the commercial software ansysfluent 13.0 are used for simulations. Single turbine models are analyzed for turbulent structures and wake resolution in the downstream region. To investigate the influence of the incident wind field on very large turbine blades, a highresolution full rotor simulation is carried out for a single turbine to determine blade pressure distributions. Finally, simulations are performed for two inline turbines spaced 5 diameters (5D) apart. The research presented in this study provides an intercomparison of three dominant HAWT models operating at rated conditions in a neutral ABL using an RANS framework. Furthermore, the pressure distributions of the highly resolved full rotor model (FRM) will be useful for future aeroelastic structural analysis of anisotropic composite blade materials.