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A Comparative Analysis of Actuator-Based Turbine Structure Parametrizations for High-Fidelity Modeling of Utility-Scale Wind Turbines under Neutral Atmospheric Conditions

Author

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  • Christian Santoni

    (Department of Civil Engineering, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA)

  • Fotis Sotiropoulos

    (Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA 23284, USA)

  • Ali Khosronejad

    (Department of Civil Engineering, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA)

Abstract

This study compared the efficacy of the actuator line and actuator surface models in carrying out large-eddy simulations of a utility-scale wind turbine. A large-eddy simulation with the actuator surface and line models was employed to study the wake flow and power production of the turbine. While both the actuator models were employed for the blade representation, the nacelle was modeled using the actuator surface approach. Both of the actuator models demonstrated agreement in the mean velocity field, power production, and turbulence kinetic energy of the wake flow. Comparing the wake flow, power production, and turbulence kinetic energy results, it was found that the mean discrepancy between the two models was 0.6 % , 0.3 % , and 2.3 % , respectively. Despite the minor discrepancies, both actuator models accurately captured the hub vortex in the wake of the nacelle, evidenced by an energy peak in wind speed spectra at f / f ω ≈ 0.34 .

Suggested Citation

  • Christian Santoni & Fotis Sotiropoulos & Ali Khosronejad, 2024. "A Comparative Analysis of Actuator-Based Turbine Structure Parametrizations for High-Fidelity Modeling of Utility-Scale Wind Turbines under Neutral Atmospheric Conditions," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(3), pages 1-16, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:17:y:2024:i:3:p:753-:d:1333787
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Della Posta, Giacomo & Leonardi, Stefano & Bernardini, Matteo, 2022. "A two-way coupling method for the study of aeroelastic effects in large wind turbines," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 190(C), pages 971-992.
    2. Bastankhah, Majid & Porté-Agel, Fernando, 2014. "A new analytical model for wind-turbine wakes," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 116-123.
    3. Meng, Hang & Lien, Fue-Sang & Li, Li, 2018. "Elastic actuator line modelling for wake-induced fatigue analysis of horizontal axis wind turbine blade," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 116(PA), pages 423-437.
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    Cited by:

    1. Dichang Zhang & Christian Santoni & Zexia Zhang & Dimitris Samaras & Ali Khosronejad, 2025. "Adaptive Multitask Neural Network for High-Fidelity Wake Flow Modeling of Wind Farms," Energies, MDPI, vol. 18(11), pages 1-20, May.
    2. Aksen, Mustafa Meriç & Seyedzadeh, Hossein & Anjiraki, Mehrshad Gholami & Craig, Jonathan & Flora, Kevin & Santoni, Christian & Sotiropoulos, Fotis & Khosronejad, Ali, 2025. "Large eddy simulation of a utility-scale horizontal axis turbine with woody debris accumulation under live bed conditions," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 239(C).

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