CFD Simulations on the Rotor Dynamics of a Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine Activated from Stationary

Abstract

The adaptive dynamic mesh, user-defined functions, and six degrees of freedom (6DOF) solver provided in ANSYS FLUENT 14 are engaged to simulate the activating processes of the rotor of the Grumman WS33 wind system. The rotor is activated from stationary to steady operation driven by a steady or periodic wind flow and its kinematic properties and power generation during the activating processes. The angular velocity and angular acceleration are calculated directly by the post-processed real-time 6DOF solver without presuming a known rotating speed to the computational grid frame. The maximum angular velocity of the rotor is approximately proportional to the driving wind speed, and its maximal angular acceleration is also closely proportional to the square of the driving wind speed. The evolution curves of the normalized rotor angular velocities and accelerations are almost identical due to the self-similarity properties of the rotor angular velocities and accelerations. The angular velocity of the rotor will reach its steady value. One can use these steady angular velocities to predict the mechanical power generations of the rotor. The momentum analysis theory and the blade element momentum method are applied to predicted power generations and reveal good agreements with experimental data in the low wind speed range.