Effect of inflow conditions on tip vortex breakdown in a high Reynolds number wind turbine wake

Fuente: arXiv
Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Grunwald, Mano, Brunner, Claudia E.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866910850886926336
author Grunwald, Mano
Brunner, Claudia E.
author_facet Grunwald, Mano
Brunner, Claudia E.
contents Understanding the re-energization of wind turbine wakes is crucial for the design and control of wind farms. Close to the rotor, this process is determined by the dynamics of the tip vortices. Here, we experimentally investigate the downstream evolution of the tip vortices for different inflow conditions. The experiments were performed in the Variable Density Turbulence Tunnel at the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization, which uses pressurized $\mathrm{SF}_6$ as the working fluid to achieve a turbine diameter-based Reynolds number of $\mathrm{Re}_D=2.9\times10^6$. An active turbulence grid was used to generate atmospheric inflow conditions with varying levels of mean shear and turbulence intensity. Hot wire measurements of the streamwise velocity component were conducted in the inflow and the wake of a model wind turbine MoWiTO 0.6 for various tip speed ratios and are used to investigate the scaling of tip vortex breakdown in the near wake. While the scaling is only weakly affected by variations in mean velocity shear, both turbulence intensity and tip speed ratio have a strong effect on vortex breakdown.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2502_21182
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Effect of inflow conditions on tip vortex breakdown in a high Reynolds number wind turbine wake
Grunwald, Mano
Brunner, Claudia E.
Fluid Dynamics
Understanding the re-energization of wind turbine wakes is crucial for the design and control of wind farms. Close to the rotor, this process is determined by the dynamics of the tip vortices. Here, we experimentally investigate the downstream evolution of the tip vortices for different inflow conditions. The experiments were performed in the Variable Density Turbulence Tunnel at the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization, which uses pressurized $\mathrm{SF}_6$ as the working fluid to achieve a turbine diameter-based Reynolds number of $\mathrm{Re}_D=2.9\times10^6$. An active turbulence grid was used to generate atmospheric inflow conditions with varying levels of mean shear and turbulence intensity. Hot wire measurements of the streamwise velocity component were conducted in the inflow and the wake of a model wind turbine MoWiTO 0.6 for various tip speed ratios and are used to investigate the scaling of tip vortex breakdown in the near wake. While the scaling is only weakly affected by variations in mean velocity shear, both turbulence intensity and tip speed ratio have a strong effect on vortex breakdown.
title Effect of inflow conditions on tip vortex breakdown in a high Reynolds number wind turbine wake
topic Fluid Dynamics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2502.21182