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Potential of cyclic yaw control in twin-rotor wind turbine arrays: Preliminary numerical study

Author

Listed:
  • Zhang, Zhihao
  • Yang, Haoran
  • Zhang, Kai
  • Zhou, Dai
  • Zhu, Hongbo
  • Cao, Yong
  • Han, Zhaolong
  • Tu, Jiahuang

Abstract

Wake effects, which reduce the efficiency of power generation, are common in wind farms due to the proximity of turbines. The application of rotor yaw to twin-rotor wind turbines offers a potential solution to mitigate these effects. However, the impact of cyclic yaw control (CYC) on twin-rotor turbine arrays may remain largely unexplored. This study focuses on assessing how CYC influences both the total power output and wake behavior in arrays of single-rotor and twin-rotor turbines arranged in tandem. Through computational fluid dynamics simulations, the study evaluates the effects of varying cyclic yaw periods (Tyaw/T) and their phase difference (φ). When applying CYC with a controlled period of Tyaw/T = 8, the results show a total power gain of 8.6% for the single-rotor turbine array and up to 15.9% for the twin-rotor array. As the phase difference φ increases, the total power gain gradually diminishes, yet when φ reaches the inverse phase, wake mixing is significantly enhanced, leading to faster wake recovery in the far wake region. To better predict these wake effects, a modified double Gaussian wake superposition model is proposed for twin-rotor turbine arrays at Tyaw/T = 8. The findings also demonstrate that CYC achieves higher efficiency compared to static yaw configurations, highlighting its potential as an effective technique for optimizing wind turbine performance, particularly in large-scale wind farms.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhang, Zhihao & Yang, Haoran & Zhang, Kai & Zhou, Dai & Zhu, Hongbo & Cao, Yong & Han, Zhaolong & Tu, Jiahuang, 2026. "Potential of cyclic yaw control in twin-rotor wind turbine arrays: Preliminary numerical study," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 256(PA).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:256:y:2026:i:pa:s0960148125015368
    DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2025.123872
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