CFD Study of a 10 MW Offshore Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine Blade
Abstract
This Master thesis is a study of wind turbine aerodynamics on a 10 MW offshore wind turbine blade with a Computational Fluid Dynamics, CFD, approach.The objectives for the thesis were, (i) make a Computer Aided Design, CAD, model out of a set of coordinates given by PhD candidate Lars Frøyd to fit a blade of approximately 70 m length and designed for a 10 MW Offshore Wind Turbine, (ii) develop a mesh (a set of grid points) surrounding the blade so that CFD calculations can be performed on the blade, (iii) validate performance of the rotor in question by previously performed wind turbine CFD calculations and Blade Element Method results for the rotor in question, (iv) develop a guideline for drawing a CAD model of the blade, describing the procedure for meshing and how to run CFD calculations.The first task was successfully completed while the second and third task proved to be more demanding than anticipated. Many meshes were made in ANSYS 12.1 and several validation methods were attempted. For each mesh and validation attempt, new insight was gained in the complexity of fluid flow analysis software. In order to secure that the results obtained are physically correct and viable for the 10 MW wind turbine blade three validation methods were attempted. Because none of the validation methods were successful, the CFD results for the 10 MW offshore wind turbine blade was not possible to validate. In the appendix the guidelines on how to draw a CAD model of a wind turbine blade is described.The results of the thesis present makes a ground pillar for further CFD simulations on the blade of a wind turbine. Suggestions for further strategies of CFD calculations on the wind turbine blade are suggested.