| 1. |
- Aihara, Aya, 1989-, et al.
(författare)
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A numerical study of strut and tower influence on the performance of vertical axis wind turbines using computational fluid dynamics simulation
- 2022
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Ingår i: Wind Energy. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 1095-4244 .- 1099-1824. ; 25:5, s. 897-913
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper presents the influence of the strut and the tower on the aerodynamic force of the blade for the vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT). It has been known that struts degrade the performance of VAWTs due to the inherent drag losses. In this study, three-dimensional Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes simulations have been conducted to investigate the effect of the strut and the tower on the flow pattern around the rotor region, the blade force distribution, and the rotor performance. A comparison has been made for three different cases where only the blade; both the blade and the strut; and all of the blade, the strut, and the tower are considered. A 12-kW three-bladed H-rotor VAWT has been studied for tip speed ratio of 4.16. This ratio is relatively high for this turbine, so the influence of the strut is expected to be crucial. The numerical model has been validated first for a single pitching blade and full VAWTs. The simulations show distinguished differences in the force distribution along the blade between two cases with and without struts. Since the wake from the struts interacts with the blades, the tangential force is reduced especially in the downwind side when the struts are considered. The calculated power coefficient is decreased by 43 %, which shows the importance of modeling the strut effect properly for accurate prediction of the turbine performance. The simulations also indicate that including the tower does not yield significant difference in the force distribution and the rotor power.
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| 2. |
- Aihara, Aya, 1989-, et al.
(författare)
-
Aeroacoustic noise prediction of a vertical axis wind turbine using large eddy simulation
- 2021
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Ingår i: International Journal of Aeroacoustics. - : SAGE Publications. - 1475-472X .- 2048-4003. ; 20:8, s. 959-978
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study investigates the numerical prediction for the aerodynamic noise of the vertical axis wind turbine using large eddy simulation and the acoustic analogy. Low noise designs are required especially in residential areas, and sound level generated by the wind turbine is therefore important to estimate. In this paper, the incompressible flow field around the 12 kW straight-bladed vertical axis wind turbine with the rotor diameter of 6.5 m is solved, and the sound propagation is calculated based on the Ffowcs Williams and Hawkings acoustic analogy. The sound pressure for the turbine operating at high tip speed ratio is predicted, and it is validated by comparing with measurement. The measured spectra of the sound pressure observed at several azimuth angles show the broadband characteristics, and the prediction is able to reproduce the shape of these spectra. While previous works studying small-scaled vertical axis wind turbines found that the thickness noise is the dominant sound source, the loading noise can be considered to be a main contribution to the total sound for this turbine. The simulation also indicates that the received noise level is higher when the blade moves in the downwind than in the upwind side.
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| 3. |
- Aihara, Aya, 1989-
(författare)
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Aeroacoustic Prediction for Vertical Axis Wind Turbines
- 2021
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis investigates the aerodynamic and aeroacoustic prediction of vertical axis wind turbines, using computational fluid dynamics simulations. Noise pollution from wind turbines is one of the disadvantages of wind energy, calling for strategies to reduce noise levels. Yet for vertical axis wind turbines in particular, there is insufficient knowledge of how to identify sound sources and mitigate the sound level. The aim of this study is to predict aerodynamic noise, using large eddy simulation and acoustic analogy, so as to better understand the mechanism of sound generation for vertical axis wind turbines. First, the prediction method is validated for a static single blade in stall. This model is able to capture the dominant frequency, but it does not well reproduce the broadband characteristics. Next, the aerodynamic behavior of the 12 kW H-rotor vertical axis wind turbine is studied, whereby the focus is on the importance of properly modeling the strut influence for an accurate prediction of the blade forces. To achieve this, the flow field is solved for three different tip speed ratios. The results show that the struts significantly affect on the force distribution along the blade. The reduction of the blade force is observed to occur not only at the attachment points of the struts, but also over a large area of the blade section in the downwind side where the blade interacts with the wake created in the upwind. Finally, the noise radiated from the vertical axis wind turbine operating at high tip speed ratio is predicted. Measurements are conducted to validate the prediction, with the experimental data representing the broadband noise characteristics dominant at around 800 Hz. The prediction reproduces the sound pressure level observed at a radial distance of 1.4 rotor diameter, with a few decibels difference. However, these discrepancies become more pronounced at double distance, which can be considered to arise due to the effect of the ground reflection being ignored. The simulation furthermore indicates, that the main sound sources are emitted when the blade rotates in the downwind. It is suggested that future work should properly consider the atmospheric turbulence for more accurate predictions.
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| 4. |
- Aihara, Aya, 1989-, et al.
(författare)
-
Comparison of Three-Dimensional Numerical Methods for Modeling of Strut Effect on the Performance of a Vertical Axis Wind Turbine
- 2022
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Ingår i: Energies. - : MDPI. - 1996-1073. ; 15:7
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper compares three different numerical models to evaluate their accuracy for predicting the performance of an H-rotor vertical-axis wind turbine (VAWT) considering the influence of struts. The strut of VAWTs is one factor that makes the flow feature around the turbine more complex and thus influences the rotor performance. The focus of this study is placed on analyzing how accurately three different numerical approaches are able to reproduce the force distribution and the resulting power, taking the strut effect into account. For the 12 kW straight-bladed VAWT, the blade force is simulated at three tip speed ratios by the full computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model based on the Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations, the actuator line model (ALM), and the vortex model. The results show that all the models do not indicate a significant influence of the struts in the total force over one revolution at low tip speed ratio. However, at middle and high tip speed ratio, the RANS model reproduces the significant decrease of the total tangential force that is caused due to the strut. Additionally, the RANS and vortex models present a clear influence of the struts in the force distribution along the blade at all three tip speed ratios investigated. The prediction by the ALM does not show such distinctive features of the strut impact. The RANS model is superior to the other two models for predicting the power coefficient considering the strut effect, especially at high tip speed ratio.
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| 5. |
- Aihara, Aya, 1989-, et al.
(författare)
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Numerical prediction of noise generated from airfoil in stall using LES and acoustic analogy
- 2021
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Ingår i: Noise & Vibration Worldwide. - : Sage Publications. - 0957-4565 .- 2048-4062. ; 52:10, s. 295-305
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Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This article presents the aerodynamic noise prediction of a NACA 0012 airfoil in stall region using Large Eddy Simulation and the acoustic analogy. While most numerical studies focus on noise for an airfoil at a low angle of attack, prediction of stalled noise has been made less sufficiently. In this study, the noise of a stalled airfoil is calculated using the spanwise correction where the total noise is estimated from the sound source of the simulated span section based on the coherence of turbulent flow structure. It is studied for the airfoil at the chord-based Reynolds number of 4.8 × 105 and the Mach number of 0.2 with the angle of attack of 15.6° where the airfoil is expected to be under stall condition. An incompressible flow is resolved to simulate the sound source region, and Curle’s acoustic analogy is used to solve the sound propagation. The predicted spectrum of the sound pressure level observed at 1.2 m from the trailing edge of the airfoil is validated by comparing measurement data, and the results show that the simulation is able to capture the dominant frequency of the tonal peak. However, while the measured spectrum is more broadband, the predicted spectrum has the tonal character around the primary frequency. This difference can be considered to arise due to insufficient mesh resolution.
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