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1. Power output fluctuations and unsteady aerodynamic loads of a scaled wind turbine subjected to periodically oscillating wind environments

   https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0219853  

   Aju, Emmanuvel Joseph; Gong, Pengyao; Kumar, Devesh; Rotea, Mario A; Jin, Yaqing (September 2024, Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy)

   Wind tunnel experiments were performed to quantify the coupling mechanisms between incoming wind flows, power output fluctuations, and unsteady tower aerodynamic loads of a model wind turbine under periodically oscillating wind environments across various yaw misalignment angles. A high-resolution load cell and a data logger at high temporal resolution were applied to quantify the aerodynamic loads and power output, and time-resolved particle image velocimetry system was used to characterize incoming and wake flow statistics. Results showed that due to the inertia of the turbine rotor, the time series of power output exhibits a distinctive phase lag compared to the incoming periodically oscillating wind flow, whereas the phase lag between unsteady aerodynamic loads and incoming winds was negligible. Reduced-order models based on the coupling between turbine properties and incoming periodic flow characteristics were derived to predict the fluctuation intensity of turbine power output and the associated phase lag, which exhibited reasonable agreement with experiments. Flow statistics demonstrated that under periodically oscillating wind environments, the growth of yaw misalignment could effectively mitigate the overall flow fluctuation in the wake region and significantly enhance the stream-wise wake velocity cross correlation intensities downstream of the turbine hub location. 

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2. An Experimental Study to Characterize the Effects of Ice Accretion on the Aerodynamic Performance of an Offshore Wind Turbine Blade Model

   https://doi.org/10.2514/6.2023-3524  

   Sista, Harsha; Wang, Jincheng; Hu, Haiyang; Hu, Hui (June 2023, AIAA AVIATION 2023 Forum)

   The accretion of ice on the surface of a wind turbine blade causes a drastic reduction in the aerodynamic performance and as a result, the power output, in addition to posing a safety hazard. To quantify this phenomenon, an experimental study was conducted in the Iowa State University Icing Research Tunnel (ISU-IRT) to understand the dynamic ice accretion process and resultant aerodynamic performance degradation specifically experienced by offshore wind turbines at higher Liquid Water Content (LWC) levels. Four different LWC values were tested for both glaze and rime ice conditions each, to cover the possible spectrum of typical icing conditions. A high-speed imaging camera was used to capture the dynamic ice accretion process, while a Digital Image Projection (DIP) technique was used to perform the 3D qualification of the ice accretion characteristics. Two highly sensitive multi-axis force and moment transducers were used to measure the lift and drag forces acting upon the airfoil. The lift force was found to decrease, and the drag force was found to increase with the formation of ice. The amount of change in the unsteady aerodynamic forces was found to depend on the ambient temperature, the LWC, as well as the accreted ice structure. 

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3. Experimental Investigation of the Unsteady Aerodynamics of Oscillating Airfoils in the Energy Harvesting Regime

   Siala, F.F (July 2019, Dissertation)

   The rising global trend to reduce dependence on fossil fuels has provided significant motivation toward the development of alternative energy conversion methods and new technologies to improve their efficiency. Recently, oscillating energy harvesters have shown promise as highly efficient and scalable turbines, which can be implemented in areas where traditional energy extraction and conversion are either unfeasible or cost prohibitive. Although such devices are quickly gaining popularity, there remain a number of hurdles in the understanding of their underlying fluid dynamics phenomena. The ability to achieve high efficiency power output from oscillating airfoil energy harvesters requires exploitation of the complexities of the event of dynamic stall. During dynamic stall, the oncoming flow separates at the leading edge of the airfoil to form leading ledge vortex (LEV) structures. While it is well known that LEVs play a significant role in aerodynamic force generation in unsteady animal flight (e.g. insects and birds), there is still a need to further understand their spatiotemporal evolution in order to design more effective energy harvesting enhancement mechanisms. In this work, we conduct extensive experimental investigations to shed-light on the flow physics of a heaving and pitching airfoil energy harvester operating at reduced frequencies of k = fc=U1 = 0.06-0.18, pitching amplitude of 0 = 75 and heaving amplitude of h0 = 0:6c. The experimental work involves the use of two-component particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurements conducted in a wind tunnel facility at Oregon State University. Velocity fields obtained from the PIV measurements are analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively to provide a description of the dynamics of LEVs and other flow structures that may be present during dynamic stall. Due to the difficulties of accurately measuring aerodynamic forces in highly unsteady flows in wind tunnels, a reduced-order model based on the vortex-impulse theory is proposed for estimating the aerodynamic loadings and power output using flow field data. The reduced-order model is shown to be dominated by two terms that have a clear physical interpretation: (i) the time rate of change of the impulse of vortical structures and (ii) the Kutta-Joukowski force which indirectly represents the history effect of vortex shedding in the far wake. Furthermore, the effects of a bio-inspired flow control mechanism based on deforming airfoil surfaces on the flow dynamics and energy harvesting performance are investigated. The results show that the aerodynamic loadings, and hence power output, are highly dependent on the formation, growth rate, trajectory and detachment of the LEV. It is shown that the energy harvesting efficiency increases with increasing reduced frequency, peaking at 25% when k = 0.14, agreeing very well with published numerical results. At this optimal reduced frequency, the time scales of the LEV evolution and airfoil kinematics are matched, resulting in highly correlated aerodynamic load generation and airfoil motion. When operating at k > 0:14, it is shown that the aerodynamic moment and airfoil pitching motion become negatively correlated and as a result, the energy harvesting performance is deteriorated. Furthermore, by using a deforming airfoil surface at the leading and trailing edges, the peak energy harvesting efficiency is shown to increase by approximately 17% and 25% relative to the rigid airfoil, respectively. The performance enhancement is associated with enhanced aerodynamic forces for both the deforming leading and trailing edges. In addition, The deforming trailing edge airfoil is shown to enhance the correlation between the aerodynamic moment and pitching motion at higher reduced frequencies, resulting in a peak efficiency at k = 0:18 as opposed to k = 0:14 for the rigid airfoil. 

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4. Aerodynamic Effect of Winglet on NREL Phase VI Wind Turbine Blade

   https://doi.org/10.3390/en17246480  

   Huque, Ziaul; Chowdhury, Mahmood Sabria; Lu, Haidong; Kommalapati, Raghava Rao (December 2024, Energies)

   The primary goal in designing wind turbine blades is to maximize aerodynamic efficiency. One promising approach to achieve this is by modifying the blade geometry, with winglets to the tip. Winglets are intended to reduce the strength of the tip vortices, thereby reducing induced drag, increasing torque, and, ultimately, improving the power output of the wind turbines. In this study, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations were utilized to assess the aerodynamic performance of wind turbine blades with and without winglets at various wind speeds (5, 7, 10, 13, 15, 20, and 25 m/s). The results indicate that winglets have a limited effect at low (5 and 7 m/s) and high (20 and 25 m/s) wind speeds due to fully attached and separated flows over the blade surface. However, within the 10–15 m/s range, winglets significantly enhance torque and power output. While this increased power generation is beneficial, it is essential to consider the potential impact of the associated increase in thrust force on turbine stability. 

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5. Fluid–Structure Interaction Simulations of Wind Turbine Blades with Pointed Tips

   https://doi.org/10.3390/en17051090  

   Huque, Ziaul; Zemmouri, Fadoua; Lu, Haidong; Kommalapati, Raghava Rao (March 2024, Energies)

   The aerodynamic shapes of the blades are of great importance in wind turbine design to achieve better overall turbine performance. Fluid–structure interaction (FSI) analyses are normally carried out to take into consideration the effects due to the loads between the air flow and the turbine structures. A structural integrity check can then be performed, and the structural/material design can be optimized accordingly. In this study, three different tip shapes are investigated based on the original blade of the test wind turbine (Phase VI) from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). A one-way coupled simulation of FSI is conducted, and results with a focus on stresses and deformations along the span of the blade are investigated. The results show that tip modifications of the blade have the potential to effectively increase the power generation of wind turbines while ensuring adequate structural strength. Furthermore, instead of using more complicated but computationally expensive techniques, this study demonstrates an effective approach to making quality observations of this highly nonlinear phenomenon for wind turbine blade design. 

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