Simulation and modeling of flow field around a horizontal axis wind turbine (HAWT) using RANS method

• Other Authors: Sargsyan, Armen.
• Format: Others
• Language: English
• Published: Florida Atlantic University
• Subjects: Wind turbines > Aerodynamics > Computer simulation; Fluid dynamics > Computational methods; Vibration (Aerodynamics)
• Online Access: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/2979383

The principal objective of the proposed CFD analysis is to investigate the flow field around a horizontal axis wind turbine rotor and calculate the turbine's power. A full three dimensional computational fluid dynamics method based on Reynolds Averaged Navier Stokes approach was used in this study. The wind turbine has three blades and a rotor diameter of six meters. One third of the wind turbine rotor was modeled by means of 120o periodicity in a moving reference frame system. The power coefficient curve obtained from the CFD results is compared with experimental data obtained by NREL Phase VI rotor experiment. The numerical result for the power coefficient curve shows close agreement with the experimental data. The simulation results include the velocity distribution, pressure distribution along the flow direction, turbulent wake behind the wind turbine, and the turbine's power. The discussion will also include the effect of wind speed on turbine's power. === by Armen Sargsyan. === Thesis (M.S.C.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2010. === Includes bibliography. === Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2010. Mode of access: World Wide Web.