Wind load and wind-induced effect of the large wind turbine tower-blade system considering blade yaw and interference

Abstract

The yaw and interference effects of blades affect aerodynamic performance of large wind turbine system significantly, thus influencing wind-induced response and stability performance of the tower-blade system. In this study, the 5MW wind turbine which was developed by Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (NUAA) was chosen as the research object. Large eddy simulation on flow field and aerodynamics of its wind turbine system with different yaw angles (0, 5, 10,20, 30 and 45) under the most unfavorable blade position was carried out. Results were compared with codes and measurement results at home and abroad, which verified validity of large eddy simulation. On this basis, effects of yaw angle on average wind pressure, fluctuating wind pressure, lift coefficient, resistance coefficient, streaming and wake characteristics on different interference zone of tower of wind turbine were analyzed. Next, the blade-cabin-tower-foundation integrated coupling model of the large wind turbine was constructed based on finite element method. Dynamic characteristics, wind-induced response and stability performance of the wind turbine structural system under different yaw angle were analyzed systematically. Research results demonstrate that with the increase of yaw angle, the maximum negative pressure and extreme negative pressure of the significant interference zone of the tower present a V-shaped variation trend, whereas the layer resistance coefficient increases gradually. By contrast, the maximum negative pressure, extreme negative pressure and layer resistance coefficient of the non-interference zone remain basically same. Effects of streaming and wake weaken gradually. When the yaw angle increases to 45, aerodynamic force of the tower is close with that when there\' s no blade yaw and interference. As the height of significant interference zone increases, layer resistance coefficient decreases firstly and then increases under different yaw angles. Maximum means and mean square error (MSE) of radial displacement under different yaw angles all occur at circumferential 0 and 180 of the tower. The maximum bending moment at tower bottom is at circumferential 20. When the yaw angle is 0, the maximum downwind displacement responses of different blades are higher than 2.7 m. With the increase of yaw angle, MSEs of radial displacement at tower top, downwind displacement of blades, internal force at blade roots all decrease gradually, while the critical wind speed decreases firstly and then increases and finally decreases. The comprehensive analysis shows that the worst aerodynamic performance and wind-induced response of the wind turbine system are achieved when the yaw angle is 0, whereas the worst stability performance and ultimate bearing capacity are achieved when the yaw angle is 45.