Wind Shear Flow Effects on Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine Performance, Based on Three-dimensional Actuator Disk Model

In the present work, wind shear flow (atmospheric boundary layer) effects on aerodynamic performance of the NREL 5MW baseline wind turbine were investigated. In this regard, the steady three-dimensional actuator disk method, based on computational fluid dynamics with low computational cost, was developed, utilizing user-defined function (UDF) in a finite volume-based commercial software package. The rotor was not modeled directly, such that its momentum effect was added to the Navier-Stokes equations as a body force (source term). The developed solver was adopted to compare the flow field behavior around the rotor under uniform and wind shear inflow conditions. Different cases for the rotor azimuth angle were considered to evaluate the radial distribution of rotor power and thrust. Numerical results show that wind shear inflow leads to skew rotor wake, as well as asymmetrical pressure, vorticity, and velocity fields. Moreover, rotor experiences cyclical loading during each rotation. Note, for the selected wind shear profile of this work, the maximum difference in thrust on the rotor plane is about 125KN for each period of rotation.