Three-dimensional wind simulation

Technical Report · Tue Mar 01 04:00:00 EST 1988

OSTI ID:7102613

Veers, P S

A method for numerically simulating a three-dimensional field of turbulent windspeed (the ''Sandia method'') for use in the aerodynamic and structural analyses of wind turbines is presented. The required inputs are single point power spectral densities (PSDs) and the coherence function. Suggestions for appropriate inputs and an example calculation are included. The simulation method is used to obtain ''rotationally sampled'' PSDs, which are compared with measurements obtained by Pacific Northwest Laboratories. The results show that the Sandia method is capable of producing simulations that agree with the measurements, especially when the coherence function is augmented from the usual form to include the ratio of spatial separation over height raised to the 0.25 power. The method is specialized for horizontal axis wind turbine analysis by phase lagging the simulations at each point in space so that wind speeds are simulated only when the turbine blade passes the point, reducing storage requirements and computation time by about an order of magnitude. For vertical axis applications, where interpolation will be required, the error induced by the interpolation is estimated and eliminated by the addition of white noise. 16 refs., 10 figs., 1 tab.

• Research Organization: Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC04-76DP00789
• OSTI ID: 7102613
• Report Number(s): SAND-88-0152; ON: DE88009793
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

17 WIND ENERGY
170602* -- Wind Energy Engineering-- Turbine Design & Operation
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
DESIGN
HORIZONTAL AXIS TURBINES
MACHINERY
SIMULATION
THREE-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS
TURBINES
TURBOMACHINERY
TURBULENCE
VERTICAL AXIS TURBINES
WIND
WIND TURBINES