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Title: Hurricane eyewall winds and structural response of wind turbines

Abstract

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.

Authors:
 [1];  [1];  [1]; ORCiD logo [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)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Wind and Water Technologies Office (EE-4W)
OSTI Identifier:
1600900
Report Number(s):
NREL/JA-5000-76101
Journal ID: ISSN 2366-7451
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC36-08GO28308
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Wind Energy Science (Online)
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Name: Wind Energy Science (Online); Journal Volume: 5; Journal Issue: 1; Journal ID: ISSN 2366-7451
Publisher:
European Wind Energy Association - Copernicus
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
17 WIND ENERGY; wind energy; wind turbine; hurricane; response; large-eddy simulation

Citation Formats

Kapoor, Amber, Ouakka, Slimane, Arwade, Sanjay R., Lundquist, Julie, Lackner, Matthew A., Myers, Andrew T., Worsnop, Rochelle P., and Bryan, George H. Hurricane eyewall winds and structural response of wind turbines. United States: N. p., 2020. Web. doi:10.5194/wes-5-89-2020.
Kapoor, Amber, Ouakka, Slimane, Arwade, Sanjay R., Lundquist, Julie, Lackner, Matthew A., Myers, Andrew T., Worsnop, Rochelle P., & Bryan, George H. Hurricane eyewall winds and structural response of wind turbines. United States. https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-5-89-2020
Kapoor, Amber, Ouakka, Slimane, Arwade, Sanjay R., Lundquist, Julie, Lackner, Matthew A., Myers, Andrew T., Worsnop, Rochelle P., and Bryan, George H. Tue . "Hurricane eyewall winds and structural response of wind turbines". United States. https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-5-89-2020. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1600900.
@article{osti_1600900,
title = {Hurricane eyewall winds and structural response of wind turbines},
author = {Kapoor, Amber and Ouakka, Slimane and Arwade, Sanjay R. and Lundquist, Julie and Lackner, Matthew A. and Myers, Andrew T. and Worsnop, Rochelle P. and Bryan, George H.},
abstractNote = {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.},
doi = {10.5194/wes-5-89-2020},
journal = {Wind Energy Science (Online)},
number = 1,
volume = 5,
place = {United States},
year = {Tue Jan 14 00:00:00 EST 2020},
month = {Tue Jan 14 00:00:00 EST 2020}
}

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