Numerical simulation of the Mexico wind turbine using the actuator disk model along with the 3D correction of aerodynamic coefficients in OpenFOAM

Abstract

A foremost element in aerodynamic behavior analysis of wind turbines is numerical simulation. Actuator disk model is a method which enables us to simulate and analyze the flow fields and wakes behind the rotor by reducing the fluid computation around the rotor and solving the Navier-Stokes equations without considering the blade boundary layer. In addition of the need for constructing a realistic geometrical model, one also must run a simulation with very small grid spacing and time steps to resolve the blade boundary layer dynamics leading to the aerodynamic forces, which is also extremely expensive. In this paper actuator disk model along with a 3D corrected aerodynamic coefficients was implemented in the OpenFOAM software to simulate the MEXICO wind turbine rotor. The simulations were performed under three conditions: turbulent, design and stall conditions. The results of simulation including an estimation of the blade forces and the wakes velocity field were compared with the experimental results. It was found that the 3D corrected aerodynamic coefficients of airfoils led to an improved agreement between the simulation and experimental results, compared to a model implementing original aerodynamic coefficients.