New Assessment Scales for Evaluating the Degree of Risk of Wind Turbine Blade Damage Caused by Terrain-Induced Turbulence

Takanori Uchida and Yasushi Kawashima
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Takanori Uchida: Research Institute for Applied Mechanics (RIAM), Kyushu University, 6-1 Kasuga-kouen, Kasuga, Fukuoka 816-8580, Japan
Yasushi Kawashima: West Japan Engineering Consultants, Inc., Denki Building Kyosokan 7F, 2-1-82 Watanabe-dori, Chuo-ku, Fukuoka 810-0004, Japan

Energies, 2019, vol. 12, issue 13, 1-27

Abstract: The present study scrutinized the impacts of terrain-induced turbulence on wind turbine blades, examining measurement data regarding wind conditions and the strains of wind turbine blades. Furthermore, we performed a high-resolution large-eddy simulation (LES) and identified the three-dimensional airflow structures of terrain-induced turbulence. Based on the LES results, we defined the Uchida-Kawashima Scale_1 (the U-K scale_1), which is a turbulence evaluation index, and clarified the existence of the terrain-induced turbulence quantitatively. The threshold value of the U-K scale_1 was determined as 0.2, and this index was confirmed to not be dependent on the inflow profile, the influence of the horizontal grid resolution, and the influence of the computed azimuth. In addition, we defined the Uchida-Kawashima Scale_2 (the U-K scale_2), which is a fatigue damage evaluation index based on the measurement data and the design value obtained by DNV GL’s Bladed. DNV GL (Det Norske Veritas Germanischer Lloyed) is a third party certification body in Norway, and Bladed has been the industry standard aero-elastic wind turbine modeling software. Using the U-K scale_2, the following results were revealed: the U-K scale_2 was 0.86 < 1.0 (within the designed value) in the case of northerly wind, and the U-K scale_2 was 1.60 > 1.0 (exceeding the designed value) in the case of easterly wind. As a result, it was revealed that the blades of the target wind turbine were directly and strongly affected by terrain-induced turbulence when easterly winds occurred.

Keywords: wind turbine blade; complex terrain; terrain-induced turbulence; large-eddy simulation; turbulence evaluation index; fatigue damage evaluation index (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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