The Operation of a Three-Bladed Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine under Hailstorm Conditions—A Computational Study Focused on Aerodynamic Performance

Abstract

The aim of this study is the aerodynamic degradation of a three-bladed Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine (HAWT) under the influence of a hailstorm. The importance and originality of this study are that it explores the aerodynamic performance of an optimum wind turbine blade during a hailstorm, when hailstones and raindrops are present. The commercial Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) code ANSYS Fluent 16.0 was utilized for the simulation. The first step was the calculation of the optimum blade geometry characteristics for a three-bladed rotor, i.e., twist and chord length along the blade, by a user-friendly application. Afterwards, the three-dimensional blade and the flow field domain were designed and meshed appropriately. The rotary motion of the blades was accomplished by the application of the Moving Reference Frame Model and the simulation of hailstorm conditions by the Discrete Phase Model. The SST k–ω turbulence model was also added. The produced power of the wind turbine, operating in various environmental conditions, was estimated and discussed. Contours of pressure, hailstone and raindrop concentration and erosion rate, on both sides of the blade, are presented. Moreover, contours of velocity at various cross sections parallel to the rotor are demonstrated, to understand the effect of hailstorms on the wake behavior. The results suggest that the aerodynamic performance of a HAWT degrades due to impact and breakup of the particles on the blade.