Aerodynamic analysis of wind turbine flows using open source software

Abstract

Chapter 2, briefly describes the basic aerodynamics theory of Horizontal Axis Wind Thrbines (HAWT). General aerodynamic concepts and the operation of airfoils are introduced. This chapter provides a glimpse of the classical aerodynamic methods review and the most useful definitions, appearing in the following entire thesis, are explained.

In Chapter 3, since the project is aiming to use open-source numerical tools, the BEM based 2-D calculation software QBlade is introduced. The current study mainly uses the existing famous NREL Phase II and Phase VI wind turbines, which are illustrated in details of the design configurations and machine data. Sensitivity analysis of QBlade had been performed and annual energy production calculations are provided in the end of this chapter.

In Chapter 4, the overall CFD techniques are explained. The majority of this chapter details the creation and meshing of NREL rotor blade and the computational flow field in the pre-processing part using Gmsh. Thrbulence model k - w - SST as well as the discussions of the errors and uncertainties in CFD are addressed.

In Chapter 5, the introduction of CFD package OpenFoam is accessible. This Chapter further illustrates boundary and initial conditions settings. Besides, SRFSimpleFoam solver and associated functionality of performing and controlling the CFD run are elaborated.

In Chapter 6, the results of present work are presented and discussed. The validation of both of the 2-D and 3-D calculations is performed by means of a performance assessment and comparison of NREL Phase II and Phase VI wind turbines and by investigating the general aerodynamic features of the NREL Phase VI rotor against the available NREL Unsteady Aerodynamics Experiment (UAE) data.

Finally, the concluding remarks are summarized in Chapter 7, as well as the future work suggestions.