Influence of the installation of a trailing edge flap on the vortex induced vibrations of a wind turbine blade

Abstract

This work explores the use of a trailing edge flap for the mitigation of the Vortex Induced Vibrations (VIV) of a wind turbine blade in standstill. Fluid structure interaction simulations are performed, coupling a computational fluid dynamics code with a multi-body structural solver. A publicly available 96 m long wind turbine blade is selected for the study, and labeled as IEA 10MW. The effects of a flap actuation in the range [−90°, 90°] are analyzed, for a given set of inflow conditions, and compared to the aeroelastic response of the original IEA 10MW geometry. While the consideration of the flap does lead to reductions on the amplitude of the edgewise vibrations, these are only noticeable when operating outside of the design limits of the aerodynamic device. A simple non-dimensional analysis seems to indicate that the potential of the flap installation with regards to VIV mitigation is very limited, as the instability is only shifted towards different inflow conditions and the expected effects on the maximum amplitude of vibrations are minor.