• Energy Research

Abstract. Within the framework of the fourth phase of the International Energy Agency (IEA) Wind Task 29, a large comparison exercise between measurements and aeroelastic simulations has been carried out featuring three simulation cases in axial, sheared and yawed inflow conditions. Results were obtained from more than 19 simulation tools originating from 12 institutes, ranging in fidelity from blade element momentum (BEM) to computational fluid dynamics (CFDs) and compared to state-of-the-art field measurements from the 2 MW DanAero turbine. More than 15 different variable types ranging from lifting-line variables to blade surface pressures, loads and velocities have been compared for the different conditions, resulting in over 250 comparison plots. The result is a unique insight into the current status and accuracy of rotor aerodynamic modeling. For axial flow conditions, a good agreement was found between the various code types, where a dedicated grid sensitivity study was necessary for the CFD simulations. However, compared to wind tunnel experiments on rotors featuring controlled conditions, it remains a challenge to achieve good agreement of absolute levels between simulations and measurements in the field. For sheared inflow conditions, uncertainties due to rotational and unsteady effects on airfoil data result in the CFD predictions standing out above the codes that need input of sectional airfoil data. However, it was demonstrated that using CFD-synthesized airfoil data is an effective means to bypass this shortcoming. For yawed flow conditions, it was observed that modeling of the skewed wake effect is still problematic for BEM codes where CFD and free vortex wake codes inherently model the underlying physics correctly. The next step is a comparison in turbulent inflow conditions, which is featured in IEA Wind Task 47. Doing this analysis in cooperation under the auspices of the IEA Wind Technology Collaboration Program (TCP) has led to many mutual benefits for the participants. The large size of the consortium brought ample manpower for the analysis where the learning process by combining several complementary experiences and modeling techniques gave valuable insights that could not be found when the analysis is carried out individually.

AbstractA novel validation methodology allows verifying a CFD model over the entire wind turbine induction zone using measurements from three synchronized lidars. The validation procedure relies on spatially discretizing the probability density function of the measured free‐stream wind speed. The resulting distributions are reproduced numerically by weighting steady‐state Reynolds averaged Navier‐Stokes simulations accordingly. The only input varying between these computations is the velocity at the inlet boundary. The rotor is modelled using an actuator disc. So as to compare lidar and simulations, the spatial and temporal uncertainty of the measurements is quantified and propagated through the data processing. For all velocity components the maximal difference between measurements and model are below 4.5% relative to the average wind speed for most of the validation space. This applies to both mean and standard deviation. One rotor radius upstream the difference reaches maximally 1.3% for the axial component. © 2017 The Authors. Wind Energy Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.