Vasilis A. Riziotis

Design modifications of the blade inner structure, targeted at reducing design-driving extreme loads due to storm conditions, are assessed in the present paper. Under survival wind speeds, the lack of sufficient aerodynamic damping in the edgewise direction is responsible for excessive stall-induced vibrations that usually drive wind turbine blade design loads. The modifications considered in the work are (i) a non-symmetric increase in the thickness of the uniaxial and tri-axial material on the suction and pressure side of the blade sections, (ii) a shift in the spar caps in opposite directions and (iii) the ply-angle re-orientation of the laminates on the spar caps. The first two design interventions aim at increasing the damping of the low-damped edgewise modes in the idling rotor, while the third aims at reducing the fatigue and ultimate loads in normal operation. The design parameters in the problem are determined on the basis of a multidisciplinary optimization (MDAO) process, which minimizes the levelized cost of energy (LCoE). The in-house integrated optimization tool employed in the present study combines: (i) a servo-aero-elastic analysis tool for calculating ultimate loads and power yield, (ii) a cross-sectional analysis tool for obtaining structural properties and stress distributions in the modified blades and (iii) a cost model of the overall wind turbine to evaluate the LCoE.

In this paper, the accuracy of an in-house Actuator Line (AL) model is tested on aeroelastic simulations of a Wind Turbine (WT) rotor and a helicopter Main Rotor (MR) under uniform free-stream flow. For the scope of aeroelastic analyses, the AL model is coupled with an in-house multibody dynamics code in which the blades are modeled as beams. The advantage from the introduction of CFD analysis in rotorcraft aeroelasticity is related to its capability to account in detail for the interaction of the rotor wake with the boundary layer developed on the surrounding bodies. This has proven to be of great importance in order to accurately estimate the aerodynamic forces and thus the corresponding structural loads and deflections of the blades. In wind turbine applications, a good example of the above is the rotor/ground interaction. In helicopter configurations, the interaction of MR with the ground or the fuselage and the interaction of tail rotor with the duct in fenestron configurations are typical examples. Furthermore, CFD aerodynamic analysis is an obvious modeling option in which the above mentioned asset can be combined with the consideration of the mutual interaction of the rotor with the ambient turbulence. A WT rotor operating inside the atmospheric boundary layer under turbulent free-stream flow is such a case. In the paper, AL results are compared against Blade Element Momentum (BEM) and Lifting Line (LL) model results in the case of the WT, whereas LL and measured data are considered in the helicopter cases. Blade loads and deflections are mainly compared as azimuthal variations. In the helicopter MR cases, where comparison is made against experimental data, harmonic analysis of structural loads is shown as well. Overall, AL proves to be as reliable as LL in the canonical cases addressed in this paper in terms of loads and deflections predictions. Therefore, it can be trusted in more complex flow conditions where viscous effects are pronounced.

The interaction of a helicopter rotor with the ground in hover flight is addressed numerically using a hybrid Eulerian–Lagrangian CFD model. When a helicopter takes off or lands, its wake interferes with the ground. This interaction, depending on the height-to-rotor diameter ratio, causes the altering of the rotor loading and performance as compared to the unconstrained case and gives rise to the development of a complex outwash flow field in the surrounding of the helicopter. The present study aims to characterize the interactional phenomena occurring in the early stages of the rotor wake development and in particular the interference of the starting vortex with the ground boundary layer and the effect of this interaction in the motion of the vortex in the rotor outwash flow. The hybrid CFD method employed combines a standard URANS compressible finite volume solver, the use of which is restricted to confined grids around solid bodies, and a Lagrangian approximation of the entire flow field in which conservation equations are solved in their material form, disctretized using particle representation of the flow quantities. The two methods are strongly coupled to each other through an appropriate iterative scheme. The main advantage of the proposed methodology is that it can conveniently handle complex configurations with several bodies that move independently from one another, with affordable computational cost. In this paper, thrust coefficient predictions of the hybrid model are compared to predictions of a free wake code and to experimental data indicating that consistent prediction of the rotor load requires the inclusion of the ground boundary layer in the analysis. Moreover, detailed comparisons of the rotor wake evolution predicted by the hybrid model are presented.

Active trailing edge flaps are a promising technology that can potentially enable further increases in wind turbine sizes without the disproportionate increase in loads, thus reducing the cost of wind energy even further. Extreme loads and critical deflections of the blade are design driving issues that can effectively be reduced by flaps. In this paper, we consider the flap hinge moment as a local input sensor for a simple flap controller that reduces extreme loads and critical deflections of the DTU 10 MW Reference Wind Turbine blade. We present a model to calculate the unsteady flap hinge moment that can be used in aeroelastic simulations in the time domain. This model is used to develop an observer that estimates the local angle of attack and relative wind velocity of a blade section based on local sensor information including the flap hinge moment of the blade section. For steady wind conditions that include yawed inflow and wind shear, the observer is able to estimate the local inflow conditions with errors in the mean angle of attack below 0.2° and mean relative wind speed errors below 0.4 %. For fully turbulent wind conditions, the observer is able to estimate the low frequency content of the local angle of attack and relative velocity even when it is lacking information on the incoming turbulent wind. We include this observer as part of a simple flap controller to reduce extreme loads and critical deflections of the blade. The flap controller’s performance is tested in load simulations of the reference turbine with active flaps according to the IEC 61400-1 power production with extreme turbulence group. We used the lifting line free vortex wake method to calculate the aerodynamic loads. Results show a reduction of the maximum out-of-plane and resulting blade root bending moment of 8 % and 7.6 % respectively when compared to a baseline case without flaps. The critical blade tip deflection is reduced by 7.1 %. Furthermore, a sector load analysis considering extreme loading in all load directions shows a reduction of the extreme resulting bending moment in an angular region covering 30° around the positive out-of-plane blade root bending moment. Further analysis reveals that a fast reaction time of the flap system proves to be critical for its performance. This is achieved with the use of local sensors as input for the flap controller. A larger reduction potential of the system is identified but not reached mainly because of a combination of challenging controller objectives and the simple controller architecture.

Morphing offers an attractive alternative compared to conventional hinged, multi-element high lift devices. In the present work, morphed shapes of a NACA 64A010 airfoil are optimized for maximum lift characteristics. Deformed shapes of the leading and trailing edge are represented through Bezier curves derived from locally defined control points. The optimization process employs the fast Foil2w in-house viscous-inviscid interaction solver for the calculation of aerodynamic characteristics. Transitional flow results indicate that combined leading and trailing edge morphing may increase maximum lift in the order of 100%. A 60–80% increase is achieved when morphing is applied to leading edge only—the so-called droop nose—while a 45% increase is obtained with trailing edge morphing. Out of the stochastic optimization algorithms tested, the Genetic Algorithm, the Evolution Strategies, and the Particle Swarm Optimizer, the latter performs best. It produces the designs of maximum lift increase with the lowest computational cost. For the optimum morphed designs, verification simulations using the high fidelity MaPFlow CFD solver ensure that the high lift requirements set by the optimization process are met. Although the deformed droop nose increases drag, the aerodynamic performance is improved ensuring the overall effectiveness of the airfoil design during take-off and landing.

A fully coupled hydro-servo-aero-elastic simulator for the analysis of floating offshore wind turbines (FOWTs) is presented. All physical aspects are addressed, and the corresponding equations are concurrently solved within the same computational framework, taking into account the wind and wave excitations, the aerodynamic response of the rotor, the hydrodynamic response of the floater, the structural dynamics of the turbine-floater-mooring lines assembly and finally the control system of the wind turbine. The components of the complex multi-physics system of a FOWT interact with each other in an implicitly coupled manner leading to a holistic type of modeling. Different modeling options, of varying fidelity and computational cost, are made available with respect to rotor aerodynamics, hydrodynamic loading of the floater and mooring system dynamics that allow for timely routine certification simulations, but also for computationally intense simulations of less conventional operating states. Structural dynamics is based on nonlinear multibody analysis that allows reproducing the large rigid body motions undergone by the FOWT, as well as large deflections and rotations of the highly flexible blades. The paper includes the description of the main physical models, of the interaction and solution strategy and representative results. Verification is carried out by comparing with other state-of-art tools that participated in the Offshore Code Comparison Collaboration Continuation (OC4) IEA Annex, while the advanced simulation capabilities are demonstrated in the case of half-wake interaction of floating wind turbines by employing the free-wake aerodynamic method.

Accurate and efficient numerical wave generation and absorption of two-dimensional nonlinear periodic waves traveling on a steady, uniform current were carried out in a potential, fully nonlinear numerical wave tank. The solver is based on the Βoundary Εlement Μethod (ΒΕΜ) with linear singularity distributions and plane elements and on the mixed Eulerian–Lagrangian formulation of the free surface equations. Wave generation is implemented along the inflow boundary by imposing the stream function wave solution, while wave absorption at both end-boundaries is effectively treated by introducing absorbing layers. On the absorbing beach side, the outflow boundary condition is modified to ensure that the solution accurately satisfies the dispersion relation of the generated waves. The modification involves a free-parameter that depends on the mass flux through the domain and is determined through a feedback error-correction loop. The developed method provides accurate time domain wave solutions for shallow, intermediate, and deep water depths of high wave steepness (wave heights up to 80% of the maximum value) that remain stable for 150 wave periods. This also holds in case a coplanar or opposing uniform current of velocity up to 20% of the wave celerity interacts with the wave.

Wind turbine rotors in idling operation mode can experience high angles of attack within the post-stall region that are capable of triggering stall-induced vibrations. The aim of the present paper is to extend the existing knowledge on the dynamics and aerodynamics of an idling wind turbine and characterize its stability. Rotor stability in slow idling operation is assessed on the basis of nonlinear time domain and linear eigenvalue analyses. The aim is to establish when linear analysis is reliable and identify cases for which nonlinear effects are significant. Analysis is performed for a 10 MW conceptual wind turbine designed by DTU. First, the flow conditions that are likely to favor stall-induced instabilities are identified through nonlinear time domain aeroelastic simulations. Next, for the above specified conditions, eigenvalue stability analysis is performed to identify the low damped modes of the turbine. The eigenvalue stability results are evaluated through computations of the work done by the aerodynamic forces under imposed harmonic motion following the shape and frequency of the various modes. Nonlinear work characteristics predicted by the ONERA and Beddoes–Leishman (BL) dynamic stall models are compared. Both the eigenvalue and work analyses indicate that the asymmetric and symmetric out-of-plane modes have the lowest damping. The results of the eigenvalue analysis agree well with those of the nonlinear work analysis and the time domain simulations.