Aerodynamic characteristics of wind turbines considering the inhomogeneity and periodic incentive of wake effects

Abstract

In wind farms, the wake can lead to a loss of output power, and the uneven characteristics of wake can also exacerbate the fatigue load of downstream wind turbine (WT), affecting their operating life. To explore the impact of wake effects on downstream WT, this article proposes a new method for calculating the load of WT wake wind conditions and verifies it. Establishing a 3DJG wake model coupled with improved BEM for wind turbine aerodynamic performance calculation method. The influence of downstream WT operation phase angle and positions of 3D wake on the time-varying aerodynamic characteristics of downstream WTs was discussed from three perspectives: Blade elements on the spanwise, single blade and wind rotor. Results shown that: (1) For the blade element, calculated the shear force in the flapwise direction and the edgewise direction on each blade segment. The overall shear force of blade element in the vertical upward direction of WT blades is significantly greater than that in other directions. The non-uniformity of the wake is not sufficient to change the position of the maximum shear force on the blade. The position of the maximum shear force at each wake position is in the rear segments of the blade; (2) For the single blade, the most severe load fluctuation occurs when it is in the partial wake condition. The period of this fluctuation is 360°. When in full wake condition, the load fluctuation is relatively small, and due to the symmetry of the wake, the load fluctuation period is only 180°. The load standard deviation (SD) of the partial wake condition increases by 51 % compared to the full wake condition. (3) For the wind rotor, different wake positions have a weighty impact on the power loss of the WT rotor. Compared to the incoming shear wind, the power loss at the wake center can reach up to 54.22 %. At the wake boundary, the power loss of the WT is only 5.6 %. The non-uniformity of wake also has a periodic impact on the power output of the entire WT rotor, with the fluctuation period is 120°, and the fluctuation amplitude of no more than 2 %. This article provides a more intuitive quantitative analysis of the impact of wake on the time-varying aerodynamic characteristics of downstream WTs. It has certain reference value for the design strength verification of WTs, as well as the yaw strategy and layout design of wind farms.