Abstract
A digital twin can be described as a digital replica of a physical asset. The use of such models is key to understanding complex loading phenomena experienced during testing of vertical axis wind turbines. Unsteady aerodynamic and structural effects such as dynamic stall and dynamically changing thrust and blade loading are difficult to predict with certainty. This leads to inefficient turbine designs or worse yet premature failures. Many of these phenomena can be better understood through scaled wind tunnel testing. The analysis of these test results is greatly improved by having a well calibrated digital twin model of the turbine. This paper discusses the methodologies used in the development of the model for a H style vertical axis wind turbine. This includes physical measurements of the as built system, updates to the models based upon experimental testing and a final correlation between test and model on a component by component as well as fully assembled system.
Highlights
One of the potential solutions for reducing the Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) of floating offshore wind turbines is by transitioning to a vertical axis orientation
Depending on Tip Speed Ratio (TSR), the azimuthally varying angle of attack on the blades can lead to large amounts of dynamic stall every rotation
It is of interest to study the loading dynamics of these phenomena in order to improve the design of Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT) and to better inform floating platform design
Summary
One of the potential solutions for reducing the Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) of floating offshore wind turbines is by transitioning to a vertical axis orientation. One of the findings of recent works studying these effects [1, 2, 3] is that in order to reduce thrust loading in high wind and wave conditions, individual pitch control may be required. A 1.5mx1.5m H-VAWT, referred to as PitchVAWT, with active pitch capability has been designed and operated at Delft University of Technology [4, 5] This model is used to validate turbine performance codes and to study the loading behaviors of actively pitched VAWTs in different TSRs and pitching configurations. A finite element model of the turbine was made to understand the effect of changes in aerodynamic loading on the thrust and blade reaction loads It is used as a check to properly design future tests in order to operate the turbine in stable conditions. To be confident what is predicted by the models correctly matches the test data, it is important to make sure the model is as representative of reality as much as possible
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