Wind turbine wake computation with the ST-VMS method, isogeometric discretization and multidomain method: I. Computational framework

Abstract

In this first part of a two-part article, we present a framework for wind turbine wake computation. The framework is made of the Space–Time Variational Multiscale (ST-VMS) method, ST isogeometric discretization, and the Multidomain Method (MDM). The ST context provides higher-order accuracy in general, and the VMS feature of the ST-VMS addresses the computational challenges associated with the multiscale nature of the flow. The ST isogeometric discretization enables increased accuracy in the flow solution. With the MDM, a long wake can be computed over a sequence of subdomains, instead of a single, long domain, thus somewhat reducing the computational cost. Furthermore, with the MDM, the computation over a downstream subdomain can start several turbine rotations after the computation over the upstream subdomain starts, thus reducing the computational cost even more. All these good features of the framework, in combination, enable accurate representation of the turbine long-wake vortex patterns in a computationally efficient way. In the computations we present, the velocity data on the inflow plane comes from a previous wind turbine computation, extracted by projection from a plane located 10 m downstream of the turbine, which has a diameter of 126 m. The results show the effectiveness of the framework in wind turbine long-wake computation.