Dynamic Loads and Wake Prediction for Large Wind Turbines Based on Free Wake Method

With large scale wind turbines,the issue of aerodynamic elastic response is even more significant on dynamic behaviour of the system.Unsteady free vortex wake method is proposed to calculate the shape of wake and aerodynamic load.Considering the effect of aerodynamic load,inertial load and gravity load,the decoupling dynamic equations are established by using finite element method in conjunction of the modal method and equations are solved numerically by Newmark approach.Finally,the numerical simulation of a large scale wind turbine is performed through coupling the free vortex wake modelling with structural modelling.The results show that this coupling model can predict the flexible wind turbine dynamic characteristics effectively and efficiently.Under the influence of the gravitational force,the dynamic response of flapwise direction contributes to the dynamic behavior of edgewise direction under the operational condition of steady wind speed.The difference in dynamic response between the flexible and rigid wind turbines manifests when the aerodynamics/structure coupling effect is of significance in both wind turbine design and performance calculation.

ANALYTICAL APPROACH TO AERODYNAMIC CHARACTERISTICS OF THE HELICOPTER ROTOR WITH ANHEDRAL TIP SHAPE

A new analytical approach, based on a lifting surface model and a full span free wake analysis using the curved vortex element on the circular arc, is established for evaluating the aerodynamic characteristics of the helicopter rotor with an anhedral blade tip and is emphasized to be applicable to various blade tip configurations, such as the tapered, swept, anhedral and combined shapes. Sample calculations on the rotor aerodynamic characteristics for different anhedral tips in both hover and forward flight are performed. The results on the induced velocity, blade section lift distribution, tip vortex path and rotor performance are presented so that the effect of the anhedral tip on the rotor aerodynamic characteristics is fully analyzed.

Panel/full-span free-wake coupled method for unsteady aerodynamics of helicopter rotor blade

A full-span free-wake method is coupled with an unsteady panel method to accurately predict the unsteady aerodynamics of helicopter rotor blades in hover and forward flight. The unsteady potential-based panel method is used to consider aerodynamics of finite thickness multi-bladed rotors, and the full-span free-wake method is applied to simulating dynamics of rotor wake. These methods are tightly coupled through trailing-edge Kutta condition and by converting doublet-wake panels to full-span vortex filaments. A velocity-field integration technique is also adopted to overcome singularity problem during the interaction between the rotor wake and blades. Helicopter rotors including Caradonna–Tung, UH-60A, and AH-1G rotors, are simulated in hover and forward flight to validate the accuracy of this approach. The predicted aerodynamic loads of rotor blades agree well with available measured data and computational fluid dynamics （CFD） results, and the unsteady dynamics of rotor wake is also well simulated. Compared to CFD, the present method obtains accurate results more efficiently and is suitable to rotorcraft aeroelastic analysis.

Aerodynamic and structural characteristics of helicopter rotor in circling flight

To investigate the distinct properties of the helicopter rotors during circling flight,the aerodynamic and dynamic models for the main rotor are established considering the trim conditions and the flight parameters of helicopters.The free wake method is introduced to compute the unsteady aerodynamic loads of the rotor characterized by distortions of rotor wakes,and the modal superposition method is used to predict the overall structural loads of the rotor.The effectiveness of the aerodynamic and the structural methods is verified by comparison with the experimental results,whereby the influences of circling direction,radius,and velocity are evaluated in both aerodynamic and dynamic aspects.The results demonstrate that the circling condition makes a great difference to the performance of rotor vortex,as well as the unsteady aerodynamic loads.With the decrease of the circling radius or the increment of the circling velocity,the thrust of the main rotor increases apparently to balance the inertial force.Meanwhile,the harmonics of aerodynamic loads in rotor disc change severely and an evident aerodynamic load shock appears at high-order components,which further causes a shift-of-peak-phase bending moment in the flap dimension.Moreover,the advancing side of blade experiences second blade/vortex interaction,whose intensity has a distinct enhancement as the circling radius decreases with the motion of vortexes.

Numerical investigation of full scale coaxial main rotor aerodynamics in hover and vertical descent

The original free vortex wake model was used for numerical investigation.Calculation of the aerodynamic characteristics in hover and vertical descent modes in the range of vertical descent speed of 0–30 m/s including the Vortex Ring State(VRS)area was performed.The calculations were carried out under the condition of variable blade pitch angle values providing a fixed timeaverage thrust value.Visualization data of free vortex wake shapes,flow structures,and velocity fields were obtained and analyzed.The time-dependences of the rotor’s thrust and torque coefficients were obtained and analyzed.The obtained data allows determining the boundaries of the VRS area by various criteria such as rotor thrust and torque pulsations,growth of rotor power consumption relative to the hover,growth of rotor induced velocities relative to the hover,and growth of the required rotor blade pitch angles values.The results of the study are compared with experimental and calculated data of other authors and can significantly supplement the available results of experimental and computational studies in this area.