Characterizing Wake Behavior of Adaptive Aerodynamic Structures Using Reduced-Order Models

Morphing blades have shown an ability to improve performance in simulations. These simulations show increased performance in Region 2 operating conditions. To improve morphing structures for energy production, this study focuses on the effects of the wake for a flexible wind turbine with actively variable twist angle distribution (TAD). These wake effects influence wind farm performance for locally clustered turbines by extracting energy from the free stream. Hence, the development of better wake models is critical for better turbine design and controls. This paper provides an outline of some approaches available for wake modeling. FLORIS (FLow Redirection and Induction Steady-State) is a program used to predict steady-state wake characteristics. Alongside that section 4 shows different modeling environments and their possible integration into FLORIS. In section 6, we look at the 20 kW wind turbine analysis with previously acquired data from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s (NREL) AeroDyn software. The previous study used a genetic algorithm to obtain 9 TAD shapes that maximized aerodynamic efficiency in region 2. In section 6 the analysis compares these TAD shapes to the original blade design regarding the wake characteristics. The project aims to enhance the understanding of FLORIS for studying wake characteristics for morphing blades.