BEM theory adaptation taking into account the wind speed vertical gradient for wind

turbines of high class part 1 a theoretical formulation

Julian Asenov Genov, and Ivan Mladenov Kralov

Citation: AIP Conference Proceedings 2048, 020015 (2018); doi: 10.1063/1.5082033

View online: https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5082033
View Table of Contents: http://aip.scitation.org/toc/apc/2048/1
Published by the American Institute of Physics

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BEM theory adaptation taking into account the wind speed vertical gradient for wind turbines of high class part 2
numerical analysis of the aerodynamic interaction
AIP Conference Proceedings 2048, 020016 (2018); 10.1063/1.5082034
 BEM Theory Adaptation Taking into Account the Wind
Speed Vertical Gradient for Wind Turbines of High Class
Part 1 A Theoretical Formulation
Julian Asenov Genov 1, a) and Ivan Mladenov Kralov1, b)
1
Department of Mechanics, Technical University of Sofia, Sofia 1000, Republic of Bulgaria

a) Corresponding author: j_genov@mail.bg

b) kralov@tu-sofia.bg

Abstract. The powerful wind generators, producing electric power on the order of megawatts are with significant sizes.
The studies on the interaction between the air flow and the wind turbine usually assume that the airflow is homogeneous
in vertical direction, which admission is made also in the classical Blade element momentum (BEM) theory. While for
the smaller wind turbines this assumption does not lead to significant inaccuracies, for powerful generators the vertical
gradient of the wind velocity causes a dependence of the aerodynamic interaction from the angle of rotation of the turbine
and leads to a significant cyclic variability of the forces and moments acting on the blades, even for a constant flow
velocity without a longitudinal turbulence. The study of this problem is important for the blades loads and fatigue
calculations as well as for the synthesis of an individual pitch control of the turbine blades. In this publication adaptation
of the BEM theory is proposed in order to account of the influence of the vertical gradient of the wind velocity.

I. VERTICAL DISTRIBUTION OF THE WIND SPEED

FIGURE 1. Vertical distribution of the wind speed

The change of the wind speed in the vertical direction depends on a number of factors such as: the degree of
stability that depends on the vertical convection processes, the turbulence of the flow, the extent of its thrust,
atmospheric pressure, the nature of the terrain and the presence of bulkheads with their characteristics, etc. From the
common used two representations for this distribution, which are based on power and logarithmic functional
dependences [1], in the present study the logarithmic model is preferred, derived from Prandtl's mixing length theory
and which is based on physical and meteorological studies and takes into an account the factors noted above more
detailed. The formula is as follows:

Proceedings of the 44th International Conference on Applications of Mathematics in Engineering and Economics
AIP Conf. Proc. 2048, 020015-1–020015-8; https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5082033
Published by AIP Publishing. 978-0-7354-1774-8/$30.00

020015-1
 Vf  z  k 1V* > ln  (z  d) / z 0   \  z, z 0 , L @ , m / s (1)

where: V Ws / U , m/s – shear (friction) velocity of the air flow;

*

Ws , Pa – shear stress of flow; U p(z)M g /  RT(z)  , kg/m3 – mass density;

gM g
p(z) p 0  T(z) / T0  Rh t , Pa - atmospheric pressure at level z, p0 – atmospheric pressure at the zero level,
T(z) T0  h t z , K - temperature at height z, T0, K – temperature at the zero level,
ht – dry air adiabatic lapse rate (average value 0,0065K/m), g - gravitational acceleration,
R= 8,31447 J/(mol K) – universal gas constant, Mg – molar mass (0,02896 kg/mol for dry air),
k – von Kármán constant for the logarithmic distribution k  > 0, 35 y 0, 42@ (the best estimate for turbulent
flow is 0,4 [2]);
d – zero-plan displacement, define the height at which the mean velocity is zero due to large obstacles;
z0 – aerodynamic roughness length is a corrective measure to account the effect of the surface roughness on
wind flow;
TABLE 1. Values of parameters for the influence of unevenness on the ground

Ground Surface Condition d, m z0, m

Water Surface 0.009 0.002
Marshy or Snowy Surface without Plants and Obstacles 0.023 0.005
Flat Grassy Surface With Small Obstacles 0.138 0.03
Low Crops, Occasional Obstacles with a Width to Height Ratio x/H >20 0.466 0.10
Low Crops, Scattered Obstacles with a Width to Height Ratio 15 < x/H < 20 1.175 0.25
Parkland, Bushes, Numerous Obstacles, x/H  2.235 0.5
Large Forests, Barriers, Suburbs of Settlements 4.467 1.0
City Centers with High- and Low-rise Buildings  

­ln  0,125(1  x 2 )(1  x) 2   2 arctan(x)  0, 5S, x 1  15[ 0,25 , [ z / L

°
\  z, z 0 , L  ® for -2< 
 Y -
°  6[, for 0 d [ - for stable flow
¯
integrated form of the Monin-Obukhov’s universal function [3];
V*3  k g ) H / Tv  , m – Monin–Obukhov length, height where turbulence is generated more by
1
L
buoyancy than by wind shear - a criteria for fluid flow stability and turbulent kinetic energy,
Tv=(1+0.61w)T – virtual temperature, w – water mixing ratio (most often w=3,5.10 3 ), g – gravity,
) H  h / (U c p ) , Km/s - kinematic surface heat flux,
h 10, 45  Vf  10 Vf , W / (m 2 K) - heat transfer coefficient;
c p - specific heat capacity !"#.
In the study, for the nominal mode of wind turbine, prototype of NREL 5MW generator [4], logarithmic wind
distribution is used with the speed of Vf (z hub ) =11,4 m/s at the height of the hub axis z hub 90 m at 298 K (250 C)
and grassy terrain. The values of the parameters and the calculated values according to the above dependencies are
given in Table 2

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 TABLE 2. Values of the parameters for the calculation of logarithmic wind speed distribution

L H  T0 cp Tv k h V* s d z0
3 2
m K m/s kg/m K J/(kgK) K W/(m K) m/s Pa m m
59,91 -0,0275 1,225 298 1005 290 0,4 33,09 0,282 0,0975 0,138 0,03

For those parameters, the distribution obtains the presentation:

Vf  z  0, 6704 > ln  z / 0, 03  4, 6   0,1z @ . (2)

FIGURE 2. Vertical distribution of the wind speed for NREL 5MW generator in working range:
Vf (z hub )  [3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9,10,10.5,11,11.4] m/s

From Fig. 4 it is seen that the difference between the blade tip speeds in the lower position (z = 27 m) and the
upper position (z = 153 m) (for a radius of the turbine disk R = 63 m) for the nominal of this prototype wind velocity
is about 10 m/s: [6,74 ÷ 16, 85] m/sand the variation is from -41% to +48% of the nominal velocity. This means that
the aerodynamic interaction during the rotation of the blade change in a very considerable degree.

II A MODIFICATION OF THE BEM MODEL FOR THE AERODYNAMIC ANALYSIS,

WHEN THE VERTICAL GRADIENT OF THE WIND VELOCITY IS TAKEN INTO
ACCOUNT

A. Basic relations of the classical theory considering aerodynamic interaction of the

turbine with stationary homogeneous airstream

Used notations:
x Vf - free stream velocity; Vd - stream velocity at the position of the turbine disk; Vw - stream velocity in
the wake far away after the turbine;
x p f - free wind pressure; p d , p d pressures in upwind and downwind sides of the turbine disk;
x Zd , Zw - induced angular velocities of the stream at the turbine disk plane and in the wake;
x Mwt - angle of the turbine rotation, Zwt M wt - angular velocity of the turbine;
x z (M wt , r ) zhub  r cos(M wt ) - height of the discussed section with respect to the ground surface.

020015-3
 FIGURE 3. An illustration of the One-dimensional propeller disc theory

In the one-dimensional propeller disc Fig.3 theory developed by Rankin, Fruit, Betz, Zhukovsky and others the
fluid flow is considered to be homogeneous, non-shrinking and stationary, in the absence of friction forces [5].
In this theory, the axial force FThrust as a result of the comparison of the dependencies is obtained:

the impulse theorem : FThrust =Qm  Vf  Vw  =U Ad Vd  Vf  Vw  =Ad pd  pd ½  

° UA V 2
' pd a 1  a  d f ,(3)
¾ Ÿ FThrust = 4
 


and the Bernoulli’s equation : FThrust =0 , 5 U Ad Vf 2  Vw 2   °

¿ CThrust
i
2
FThrust

where: a  Vf  Vd  / Vf is the axial induction factor,

Q m is mass flow rate, A d SR 2 is the area and R the radius of the turbine disk.
The obtained rotation of the flow when is crossing the turbine disk is introduced through the energy balance
applied for the upwind and downwind sides of the turbine disk:

pd  0, 5U  RZwt  pd  0, 5U > R  Zwt  Zd @ Ÿ 'pd UR 2  Zwt  0, 5Zd  Zd ,

2 2

and for the thrust force an another presentation is obtained, respectively:

FThrust 'pd Ad UR 2  Zwt  0, 5Zd  Zd SR 2 

SUR 4 Zwt 2 a ' 1  a ' ,  (4)

where a ' 0, 5Zd / Zwt is tangential induction factor.

In the Blade Element Momentum (BEM) approach, the spatial task of aerodynamic interaction between the wind
and the turbine is transformed into multiple two-dimensional tasks, referring to discrete elements of the blades with
a finite length – Fig. 4.
The axial force and torque, corresponding to the elementary area are:

'FThrust ( r ) 2a ( r ) 1  a ( r )  UVf 2 'Ad =4SUVf 2 a ( r ) 1  a ( r )  r 'r or

'FThrust ( r ) 'pd 'Ad Ur 2  Zwt  0, 5Zd ( r )  Zd 2Sr 'r  
4SUZwt 2 a ' ( r ) 1  a ' ( r ) r 3 'r (5)

d d 'I ( r )
'M wt ( r ) 'L ( r ) Zd ( r ) 4USZwt Vf a ' ( r ) 1- a ( r )  r 3 'r
dt dt

020015-4
 FIGURE 4. Illustration of the BEM approach

With the limit transition and integrating along the blade for total values of the thrust force and the torque is
obtain:

O(R)
8
FThrust i
CThrust FThrust , CThrust ³ a  r  1  a  r   O ( r ) Fc ( r ) d O ( r )
O( R)2 0
R O(R)
8
Pwt ³ Zwt dM wt = C p 0, 5UAd Vf , C p
3
³ a ' ( r ) 1  a ( r ) O ( r )3 Fc ( r ) d O ( r )
0
 

O( R) 2
0
, (6)
Pwt i

M wt Pwt / Zwt

a ' (r ) 0, 25  a ( r ) 1  a ( r )  / O ( r ) 2  0, 5

where: O ( r ) r Zwt / Vf is local tip-speed coefficient,

CThrust, Cp are the thrust force and power coefficients, respectively.

In the expression (6) the occurrence of vortices at the tip of the propellers are taking into account and at their
base around the hub by the correction:
Fc  r  FTL  r  FRoot  r  (7)

where: FTL  r 
S
2
e
arccos 
N §R ·
¨ 1¸
2sin  I r   © r ¹  is Tip-Loss Prandtl-Glauert correction [6];

FRoot  r  arccos  e
2
S

N § RHub ·
¨1
2sin  I r   © r ¹
¸
 - is a correction that consider the vortices at the blade’s base

around the turbine hub;

N is the number of the turbine blades, RHub is the hub radius.

At high values of the axial induction factor (a>0,5), turbulent processes are developed in the wake. In these
cases, the considered dependencies do not reflect the real flowing process. Glauert suggests correction of the
induction factor by empirical dependence. Buhl combines this correction with Prandtl's correction [6]:

CThrust ( r ) ª¬8   36 Fc ( r )  40  a (r )   50  36 Fc (r )  a (r ) 2 ¼º / 9 (8)

a(r ) ª18 Fc ( r )  20  3 CThrust ( r )  50  36 Fc ( r )   12 Fc ( r )(2 Fc ( r )  4) º / >36 Fc ( r )  50@

¬ ¼

020015-5
 B. Aerodynamic interaction taking into account the vertical wind gradient
Based on the above description standard approach and expressions it becomes possible to obtain of the
dependencies for the cases when the change of wind speed in vertical direction is taken into account. The
aerodynamic dependencies from the BEM theory, now are functions of both of the position ‘r’ of the current
discrete element along the propeller length and of the angle of turbine rotation ‘$wt’ measured from the upper
vertical position.

FIGURE 5. Presentation of an elementary area of the turbine disk

On Fig.5 the elementary area in the turbine disk is shown, presented using polar coordinates, is:

'A d  r, J  r'r'J .
The dependencies, corresponding to the expressions (5) and (6), are:

d
'FThrust ( r , J ) > 'Q  V (r , J )  V (r , J ) @
m f w
2Ua (r )(1  a (r ))rVf 2 (r , J )'J'r
dt
2S 2S

'FThrust ( r ) ³ 'FThrust ( r , J ) d J 2Ua (r )(1  a (r ))r ³ Vf 2  r , J d J'r (9)

J 0 J 0
R R 2S

FThrust ³ 'FThrust (r )dr 2U ³ a ( r )(1  a (r ))r ³ Vf 2  r , J d Jdr

r 0 r 0 J 0

'M wt ( r , J ) d  'I ( r , J )Zd (M, r )  / dt Ur 'r 'JVd ( r , J ) r 2 Zd ( r ) 2UZwt r 3 a ' ( r ) 1- a ( r )  Vf ( r , J ) 'J'r ,

2S 2S

'M wt ( r ) ³ 'M wt ( r , J ) d J 2UZwt a ' ( r ) 1- a ( r )  r 3 ³ V (r , J )d J'r ,

f
J 0 J 0
R R
ª ' 2S
º
³ 'M wt ( r ) dr 2UZwt ³ ««   ³ Vf (r , J )d J » dr
3
M wt a ( r ) 1- a ( r ) r
r 0 r 0¬ J 0 »¼ (10)

The wind streams and the induced forces acting on a single blade element are shown on Fig. 6.
Used notations:
x CTorque (M wt , r ), CThrust (M wt , r ), CL (M wt , r ), CD (Mwt , r ) torque, thrust, lift and drag coefficients;
x Vb  Mwt , r  - a tangential component of the relative flow velocity for the section;
x Vrel  M wt , r  - relative (effective) flow velocity for the section;

020015-6
 x I  Mwt , r  arctg  Vd (Mwt , r ) / Vb (Mwt , r )  - inflow angle for the section;
x E(Mwt , r ) E0 ( r )  Ec (Mwt ) – pitch angle for the section; E0 ( r ) - constructive pitch angle for the section;
Ec (Mwt ) - blade pitch angle set by the system for active pitch control (if there is such);
x D  Mwt , r  I  Mwt , r   E  Mwt , r  – angle of attack,

FIGURE 6. The wind stream and induced forces acting on a single blade element

The following dependencies are in effect

Vb  Mwt , r  r  Zwt  0, 5Zd (Mwt , r )  

r Zwt 1  a '  Mwt , r  , 
Vrel  Mwt , r  Vb 2 + Vd 2 1  a ' (M
2
wt
, r )  O (M
2
wt
, r )  1  a (Mwt , r )  Vf (Mwt , r ),
2
(11)

ª 1  a(Mwt , r )  º
I(Mwt , r ) arctg « », O (Mwt , r ) r Zwtr / Vf (Mwt , r )
¬ O (Mwt , r ) 1  a '(Mwt , r )  ¼
The forces acting on the blade element section are:

FThrust (Mwt , r ) CThrust (Mwt , r ) F (Mwt , r ), FTorque (Mwt , r ) CTorque (Mwt , r ) F (Mwt , r ), (12)

where: CThrust (M wt , r ) CL  D(Mwt , r )  cos  I(Mwt , r )   CD  D(Mwt , r )  sin  I(Mwt , r )  ,

CTorque (M wt , r ) C L  D (M wt , r )  sin  I(M wt , r )   C D  D (M wt , r )  cos  I(M wt , r ) 

ª 1  a (Mwt , r )  º
2

F (Mwt , r ) 0, 5UA T ( r )Vrel 2 (Mwt , r ) Fc (Mwt , r ) 0, 5UA T (Mwt , r )Vf 2 (Mwt , r ) « » Fc (Mwt , r ),
¬ sin  I(Mwt , r )  ¼
A T (Mwt , r ) A  r  cos  E(Mwt , r )  .
For all turbine blades:
N N
'FThrust (Mwt , r )=¦ 'FThrust (Mi , r )='r ¦ CThrust (Mi , r ) F (Mi , r )=0, 5UA T (Mwt , r ) 1  a (Mwt , r )  KThrust (Mwt , r ) 'r (13)
2

i 1 i 1
N N
'M wt (Mwt , r )=r ¦ 'FTorque (Mi , r )='r ¦ CTorque (Mi , r ) F (Mi , r )=0, 5UA T (Mwt , r ) r 1  a (Mwt , r )  KTorque (Mwt , r )'r
2

i 1 i 1

020015-7
 N
KThrust (Mwt , r ) ¦ ^>C  D(M , r )  cotg  I(M , r )   C  D(M , r ) @ < (M , r )`
L i i D i i
i 1
N
where: KTorque (Mwt , r ) ¦ ^>C  D(M , r )   cotg  I(M , r )  C  D(M , r ) @ < (M , r )`
L i i D i i
.
i 1
< ( Mi , r ) Vf 2 (Mi , r ) Fc (Mi , r ) / sin  I(Mi , r )  , Mi Mwt  (i-1)2S / N , i=1,..N

Respectively for the whole turbine:

³ A T (Mwt , r) 1  a(Mwt , r)  K Thrust (Mwt , r)dr

2
FThrust (Mwt ) 0, 5U
r R Hub
R . (14)
³ A T (Mwt , r) 1  a(Mwt , r)  rK Torque (Mwt , r)dr
2
M wt (Mwt ) 0, 5U
r R Hub

From the comparison of (14) with (10), new dependencies for the induction coefficients are obtained:

a (Mwt , r ) A T (Mwt , r )
= 2S
KThrust (Mwt , r )
1  a (Mwt , r ) K (Mwt , r )
³V ( r , J )d J
2
4r f a (Mwt , r )=
J 0 1  K (Mwt , r )
Ÿ (15)
a (Mwt , r )
'
A T (Mwt , r ) Zd (Mwt , r ) 1 KTorque (Mwt , r )
= KTorque (Mwt , r ) a (Mwt , r )=
'
= a (Mwt , r )
O ( r ) KThrust (Mwt , r )
2S
1  a (Mwt , r ) 2Zwt
4Zwt r ³ V (r , J )d J
2
f
J 0
2S 2S 2S
O ( r ) ³ V (r , J)d J / ³ V  r , J d J, K  M , r  ³ V  r , J d J
1
r Zwt f f
2
wt
0, 25r A T (Mwt , r ) KThrust (Mwt , r ) / f
2

J 0 J 0 J 0

CONCLUSION
In the current research an adaptation of the classical BEM theory is made for a non-homogenous wind field,
accounting the vertical wind speed gradient, which is applicable for the wind generators of high class. The obtained
results have been very useful for the determination of the turbine blade loads and fatigue calculations as well as for
the synthesis of an individual blade pitch control.

REFERENCES
1. L. Landberg, Meteorology for Wind Energy - An Introduction, John Wiley & Sons Ltd., pp.215, (2016)
2. Y. Zhang, J. Ma, and Z. Cao, The Von Karman constant retrieved from CASES-97 dataset using a variational
method, Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics 8, pp.7045–7053, (2008)
3. A.S. Monin, A.M. Obukhov, Main characteristics of the turbulent mixing in the atmospheric surface layer,
Trudy Geophys. Inst. AN SSSR, 24(151), pp.153–187, (1954)
4. J. Jonkman, S. Butterfield, W. Musial, G. Scott, Definition of a 5-MW Reference Wind Turbine for Offshore
System Development, Technical Report NREL/TP-500-38060, pp.75, (2009)
5. J. N. Sørensen, General Momentum Theory for Horizontal Axis Wind Turbines, Springer Int. Publ.
Switzerland, pp.183, (2016)
6. M. L. Buhl, A New Empirical Relationship between Thrust Coefficient and Induction Factor for the Turbulent
Windmill State, Technical Report NREL/TP-500-36834, pp.12, (2005)

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