Aerodynamic Force and Comprehensive Mechanical Performance of a Large Wind Turbine during a Typhoon Based on WRF/CFD Nesting

• Main Authors: Shitang Ke, Wenlin Yu, Jiufa Cao, Tongguang Wang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2018-10-01
• Series: Applied Sciences
• Subjects: typhoon; wind turbine; meso/microscale; aerodynamic force; mechanical performance
• Online Access: http://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/8/10/1982

Compared with normal wind, typhoons may change the flow field surrounding wind turbines, thus influencing their wind-induced responses and stability. The existing typhoon theoretical model in the civil engineering field is too simplified. To address this problem, the WRF (Weather Research Forecasting) model was introduced for high-resolution simulation of the Typhoon “Nuri” firstly. Secondly, the typhoon field was analyzed, and the wind speed profile of the boundary layer was fitted. Meanwhile, the normal wind speed profile with the same wind speed of the typhoon speed profile at the gradient height of class B landform in the code was set. These two wind speed profiles were integrated into the UDF (User Defined Function). On this basis, a five-MW wind turbine in Shenzhen was chosen as the research object. The action mechanism of speed was streamlined and turbulence energy surrounding the wind turbine was disclosed by microscale CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) simulation. The influencing laws of a typhoon and normal wind on wind pressure distribution were compared. Finally, key attention was paid to analyzing the structural response, buckling stability, and ultimate bearing capacity of the wind turbine system. The research results demonstrated that typhoons increased the aerodynamic force and structural responses, and decreased the overall buckling stability and ultimate bearing capacity of the wind turbine.