Review of Turbine Parameterization Models for Large-Eddy Simulation of Wind Turbine Wakes

Abstract

Wind turbine parameterization models, which are often employed to avoid the computational cost of resolving the blade aerodynamics, are critical for the capability of large-eddy simulation in predicting wind turbine wakes. In this paper, we review the existing wind turbine parameterization models, i.e., the actuator disk model, the actuator line model, and the actuator surface model, by presenting the fundamental concepts, some advanced issues (i.e., the force distribution approaches, the method for velocity sampling, and the tip loss correction), and their applications to utility-scale wind farms. Emphasis is placed on the predictive capability of different parameterizations for different wake characteristics, such as the blade load, the tip vortices and hub vortex in the near wake, and the meandering of the far wake. The literature demonstrated the importance of taking into account the effects of nacelle and tower in wind turbine wake predictions. The predictive capability of the actuator disk model with different model complexities, which is preferred in wind farm simulations, is systematically reviewed for different inflows and different wind turbine designs. Applications to wind farms show good agreements between simulation results and measurements.

Keywords

• wind turbine wake
• large-eddy simulation
• turbine parameterization
• actuator disk
• actuator line
• actuator surface