Abstract
Abstract. The actuator line is a lifting line representation of aerodynamic surfaces in computational fluid dynamics applications but with non-singular forces, which reduces the self-induced velocities at the line. The vortex-based correction by Meyer Forsting et al. (2019a) recovers this missing induction and thus the intended lifting line behaviour of the actuator line. However, its computational cost exceeds that of existing tip corrections and quickly grows with blade discretization. Here we present different methods for reducing its computational cost to the level of existing corrections without jeopardizing the stability or accuracy of the original method. The cost is reduced by at least 98 %, whereas the power is maximally affected by 0.8 % with respect to the original formulation. This accelerated smearing correction remains a dynamic correction by modelling the variation in trailed vorticity over time. The correction is openly available (Meyer Forsting et al., 2019b).
Highlights
The actuator line (AL) Sørensen and Shen (2002) is a lifting line (LL) representation of aerodynamic surfaces in Eulerian computational fluid dynamics (CFD) applications
The actuator line is a lifting line representation of aerodynamic surfaces in computational fluid dynamics applications but with non-singular forces, which reduces the self-induced velocities at the line
Reducing the wake length significantly reduces the computational cost without negatively impacting the blade forces
Summary
The actuator line (AL) Sørensen and Shen (2002) is a lifting line (LL) representation of aerodynamic surfaces in Eulerian computational fluid dynamics (CFD) applications. Transferring a LL into the CFD domain requires dispersing the concentrated blade forces of the LL over a certain region – most commonly in the form of a Gaussian projection – to avoid causing numerical instabilities. This force smearing leads to the formation of a viscous core in the released vorticity, which subsequently reduces the induced velocity at the blade (Dag, 2017; Meyer Forsting et al, 2019a; MartínezTossas and Meneveau, 2019). In regions presenting large load changes, as around the root and tip of the blade, does the AL overestimate the forces
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