Investigations into the Interaction of a Wind Turbine with Atmospheric Turbulence in Complex Terrain

Abstract

This paper deals with the Delayed-Detached-Eddy-Simulations (DES) of a generic 2.4 MW wind turbine in a complex terrain site facing a turbulent atmospheric boundary layer. The boundary layer is generated based on measurement data derived at the complex terrain site. Further, the process of data preparation as well as the numerical setup are described. In the results the impact of complex terrain on the flow field is shown and estimations on the influence on the turbine performance are made. Afterwards, simulations of the turbine facing atmospheric inflow in flat and complex terrain are presented. An increase of loads resulting from a speed-up caused by the terrain as well as a clear change in the power spectrum of the turbine become visible in complex terrain compared to flat terrain. This finding is in agreement with the estimations derived previously. Moreover, the impact of inclined inflow caused by the local terrain slope can be seen in the load distribution vs. the azimuth angle, amongst others.