Near Wake Modeling of a Wind Turbine Particle Image Velocimetry Experiment

Abstract

A B S T R A C T In this study, different numerical models are computed and compared with particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurement for wake correlation of a 4.5 m of diameter wind turbine rotor. The collaborative European wind turbine MEXICO project is carried out in three commonly experimental defined test cases at wind speeds of 10, 15 and 24 m.s -1 . To discuss the rotor near wake, a laminar Navier-Stokes approach and a Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes turbulent model both coupled with an actuator disc (AD) technique are computed, then compared with a direct model from the literature called TAU/DM as a full rotor technique. The actuator disc momentums are calculated using user defined functions (UDF) in FLUENT introduced as UDF/AD technique in this paper. The results are discussed in detail and compared with PIV detailed measurements.