RESPONSE OF WIND TURBINE AERODYNAMIC LOADS TO ATMOSPHERIC BOUNDARY LAYERS WITH DIFFERENT THERMAL STABILITIES

Wang Yan; Jiang Yao; Chai Yongfen

doi:10.19912/j.0254-0096.tynxb.2024-0131

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Acta Energiae Solaris Sinica ›› 2025, Vol. 46 ›› Issue (5) : 556-566. DOI: 10.19912/j.0254-0096.tynxb.2024-0131

RESPONSE OF WIND TURBINE AERODYNAMIC LOADS TO ATMOSPHERIC BOUNDARY LAYERS WITH DIFFERENT THERMAL STABILITIES

Wang Yan^1,2, Jiang Yao¹, Chai Yongfen¹

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Abstract

In order to investigate the impact of different atmospheric stabilities on the aerodynamic loads of wind turbines, large-eddy simulation （LES） is utilized to simulate the inflow conditions representative of various stability regimes. The atmospheric load response of the NREL 1.5 MW wind turbine to these stability conditions is then calculated using numerical simulation, followed by continuous wavelet analysis, spectral analysis, and statistical feature analysis of the aerodynamic loads. The results show there are significant influences of atmospheric stability on wind turbine aerodynamic loads. Both power and aerodynamic load fluctuations of the wind turbine demonstrate pronounced positive correlations with streamwise wind velocity under convective, neutral, and stable atmospheric conditions. However, the response frequency of the power and load to the inflow under different atmospheric thermal stabilities are different, with response bands of 0.02-0.04 Hz, 0.03-0.06 Hz, and 0.00-0.02 Hz for convective, neutral, and steady boundary layers, respectively. The load fluctuations are most pronounced under convective conditions, and smallest under stable conditions. The transient power fluctuation of wind turbine can respective reach 1289.90 kW and 1132.40 kW under convection and neutral thermal stabilities, while that of blade root flapwise moment are 1229.90 kN·m and 1103.40 kN·m, respectively. The results show a more accuracy estimation of turbine power and load can be obtained when takes into consideration the influence of atmospheric stability, which is conducive to the safe operation of wind turbines.

Key words

wind turbines / atmospheric stability / aerodynamic loads / spectral analysis / wavelet analysis

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Wang Yan, Jiang Yao, Chai Yongfen. RESPONSE OF WIND TURBINE AERODYNAMIC LOADS TO ATMOSPHERIC BOUNDARY LAYERS WITH DIFFERENT THERMAL STABILITIES[J]. Acta Energiae Solaris Sinica. 2025, 46(5): 556-566 https://doi.org/10.19912/j.0254-0096.tynxb.2024-0131

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