Response of single-array wind turbines to multi-scale turbulent motions in sand-laden environments

As global climate change becomes increasingly prominent, wind power installations in desert areas are undergoing rapid development. However, the impact of multi-scale turbulent motions on the aerodynamic performance of single-array wind turbines in sand-laden environments remains underexplored. To this end, measured sand-laden wind velocity data were utilized to reveal the response of single-array wind turbines to multi-scale turbulent motions. The results indicate that the velocity deficit in the flow field under very large-scale turbulent motions is considerably less than that of large-scale turbulent motions and small-scale turbulent motions. Very large-scale turbulent motions play a dominant role in wake meandering. The contribution of very large-scale turbulent motions to the output power of the wind turbines diminishes as the streamwise position increases, whereas the contribution of large-scale turbulent motions exhibits an opposite trend. In the single-array wind turbines layout, as the turbulence scale increases, the damage equivalent load of the blade root flapwise moment follows a pattern of very large-scale turbulent motions > large-scale turbulent motions > small-scale turbulent motions across all wind velocity ranges. This study offers a theoretical basis for the design optimization of wind turbine performance in desert regions.