Local topography-induced pressure gradient effects on the wake and power output of a model wind turbine

Wind-tunnel experiments were performed to study the effect of favorable and adverse constant pressure gradients(PG)from local changes in the topography right downwind of a model wind turbine.Particle image velocimetry was used to characterize the near and intermediate wake regions.We explored five scenarios,two favorable,two adverse PG,and a case with negligible PG.Results show that the PGs induce a wake deflection and modulate the wake.They imposed a relatively small impact on the turbulence kinetic energy and kinematic shear stress but a comparatively dominant effect on the bulk flow on the flow recovery.Based on this,a simple formulation is used to describe the impact of PG on the wake.We modeled the base flow through a linearized perturbation method;the wake is obtained by solving a simplified,integrated streamwise momentum equation.This approach reasonably estimated the flow profile and PG-induced power output variations.