Comparison of different numerical approaches to computation of wind turbine blade aerodynamic performances with special attention to vortex methods

Abstract

Although much employed, wind energy systems still present an open, contemporary topic of many research studies. Special attention is given to precise aerodynamic modeling performed in the beginning since overall wind turbine performances directly depend on blade aerodynamic performances. Several models different in complexity and computational requirements are still widely used. Most common numerical approaches include: i) momentum balance models, ii) potential flow methods and iii) full computational fluid dynamics solutions. Short explanation, review and comparison of the first two simpler computational categories are given in the paper. Since potential flow methods generally produce better and more comprehensive results (with more physical details taken into account) than momentum-based models, they are studied with more attention. Algorithms of all considered numerical approaches are implemented and presented. Results including global parameters such as thrust and power coefficients as well as local distributions along the blade obtained by different models are compared to available experimental data. Knowledge and experience gained while coding the models are summed in the final section (Conclusions).