Simulation and analysis of wind turbine ice accretion under yaw condition via an Improved Multi-Shot Icing Computational Model

Abstract

Abstract Wind turbine icing under yaw condition is a special phenomenon affecting the operation of wind turbine in cold climate. Under yaw condition, the periodical change of flow field significantly enhances the blade unsteady icing characteristics, which poses a great challenge for icing research. In order to simulate the yaw icing process, an Improved Multi-Shot Icing Computational Model (IMSICM) is proposed, in which an efficient computational strategy is designed according to different time scales. An icing experiment of NACA0012 airfoil is carried out in the Icing Wind Tunnel of CARDC to validate IMSICM. Then, the yaw icing process of NREL Phase VI wind turbine is simulated. The results show that, influenced by yaw condition, the ice horns rotate to the upper side of airfoil due to the reduction of AoA. At the same time, the height of the lower ice horn is enhanced while the angle between the upper and lower ice horns is decreased. The yaw icing features result in different aerodynamic performance of ice accreted airfoils along the blade, which has a close relationship with the flow separation. The IMSICM can be used as an efficient tool to shed light on the complex icing problems of wind turbine.