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Hurricane eyewall winds and structural response of wind turbines

Journal Article · · Wind Energy Science (Online)
 [1];  [1];  [1];  [2];  [1];  [3];  [4];  [5]
  1. Univ. of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA (United States)
  2. National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
  3. Northeastern Univ., Boston, MA (United States)
  4. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Boulder, CO (United States); Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States)
  5. National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO (United States)
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This paper describes the analysis of a wind turbine and support structure subject to simulated hurricane wind fields. The hurricane wind fields, which result from a large eddy simulation of a hurricane, exhibit features such as very high gust factors (>1.7), rapid direction changes (30° in 30 s), and substantial veer. Wind fields including these features have not previously been used in an analysis of a wind turbine, and their effect on structural loads may be an important driver of enhanced design considerations. With a focus on blade root loads and tower base loads, the simulations show that these features of hurricane wind fields can lead to loads that are substantially in excess of those that would be predicted if wind fields with equally high mean wind speeds but without the associated direction change and veer were used in the analysis. This result, if further verified for a range of hurricane and tropical storm simulations, should provide an impetus for revisiting design standards.

Research Organization:
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Wind and Water Technologies Office (EE-4W)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC36-08GO28308
OSTI ID:
1600900
Report Number(s):
NREL/JA--5000-76101
Journal Information:
Wind Energy Science (Online), Journal Name: Wind Energy Science (Online) Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 5; ISSN 2366-7451
Publisher:
European Wind Energy Association - CopernicusCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Related Subjects

17 WIND ENERGY
hurricane
large-eddy simulation
response
wind energy
wind turbine