Research on Aerodynamic Characteristics of Three Offshore Wind Turbines Based on Large Eddy Simulation and Actuator Line Model

Abstract

Investigating the aerodynamic performance and wake characteristics of wind farms under different levels of wake effects is crucial for optimizing wind farm layouts and improving power generation efficiency. The Large Eddy Simulation (LES)–actuator line model (ALM) method is widely used to predict the power generation efficiency of wind farms composed of multiple turbines. This study employs the LES-ALM method to numerically investigate the aerodynamic performance and wake characteristics of a single NREL 5 MW horizontal-axis wind turbine and three such turbines under different wake interaction conditions. For the single turbine case, the results obtained using the LES-ALM method were compared with the existing literature, showing good agreement and confirming its reliability for single turbine scenarios. For the three-turbine wake field problem, considering the aerodynamic performance differences under three cases, the results indicate that spacing has a minor impact on the power coefficient and thrust coefficient of the middle turbine but a significant impact on the downstream turbine. For staggered three-turbine arrangements, unilateral turbulent inflow to the downstream turbine causes significant fluctuations in thrust and torque, while bilateral turbulent inflow leads to more stable thrust and torque. The presence of two upstream turbines causes an acceleration effect at the inflow region of the downstream single turbine, significantly increasing its power coefficient. The findings of this study can provide methodological references for reducing wake effects and optimizing the layout of wind farms.

Keywords

• method of large eddy simulation–actuator line model
• OpenFOAM
• offshore wind power
• wake field
• aerodynamic performance