Short Summary of the Mechanics

of Wind Turbine

Korn Saran-Yasoontorn

Department of Civil Engineering

University of Texas at Austin
8/7/02

1
Summarized from
 Wind energy explained: theory, design and
application./ Manwell, J. F. / Chichester / 2002
 Wind turbine technology: fundamental concepts
of wind turbine engineering. / New York / 1994
 Wind energy conversion systems/ Freris, L.L./
Prentice Hall/ 1990
 Wind turbine engineering design/ Eggleston,
D.M. and Stoddard, F.S./ New York/ 1987
 Introduction to wind turbine engineering/
Wortman, A.J./ Butterworth Publishers/ 1983
2
 Simple model of
Rotor
Micon 65/13

Drive train
Hub
Yaw system

Column

1D steady
wind flow
(12m/s)

3
Fundamental Concepts
Mass flow rate = Av
Energy per unit volume = 1/2 v2
Power = rate of change of energy
= force * velocity
= (Av) 1/2 v2 = 1/2 Av3
Dynamic pressure = force/area
= power/vA
=1/2 v2
4
Actuator Disk Model with no
wake rotation
Assumptions:
i. Homogeneous, incompressible, steady wind
ii. Uniform flow velocity at disk (uniform thrust)
iii. Homogenous disk
iv. Non-rotating disk
stream tube boundary

U1 U2 U3 U4

rotor disk
upstream

downstream 5
Conservation of Linear Momentum
dp
 F  dt

T   m(u4  u1 )

T  m(u1  u4 )

where T is the thrust acting uniformly on the disk

(rotor) which can be written as a function of the
change of pressure as follow

T  A( p2  p3 )

6
Bernoulli’s Equation (energy conserved)
1 2 1 2
p1  u1  p2  u2
2 2
1 2 1 2
p3  u3  p4  u4
2 2
Relate above equations and define the axial induction factor, a
as
(u1  u2 )
a
u1
we obtain
1
T  Au 12 [4a (1  a )]
2
7
Power output of the turbine is defined as the
thrust times the velocity at the disk. Hence

1
P  Au13 [4a (1  a ) 2 ]
2

1
T  Au 12 [4a (1  a)]
2

Wind turbine rotor performance is usually

characterized by its power and thrust coefficients

C p  P /(1 / 2 Au 3 )  4a(1  a ) 2

CT  T //(1 / 2 Au 3 )  4a (1  a)
8
Notice that
 Wind velocity at the rotor plane is
always less than the free-stream
velocity when power is being absorbed.
 This model assumes no wake rotation,
i.e. no energy wasted in kinetic energy
of a twirling wake.
 The geometry of the blades does not
involve the calculations.

9
 If the axial induction factor of the
rotor is founded, one can simply
calculate for the thrust and power
output.
 An ideal turbine generates maximum
power. After some manipulations, one
can find that the axial induction
factor, a, for the ideal turbine is 1/3.
 Even with the best rotor design, it is
not possible to extract more than
about 60 percent of the kinetic energy
in the wind

10
 upstream disk downstream

u1
u2
Wind Velocity u4

Total Pressure

1/2u2
Dynamic Pressure

p3

Static Pressure p0 p0

p2
11
Actuator Disk Model with wake
rotation
U1 U2 U3 U4

rotor disk

U(1-2a)
U(1-a)

U dr

The thrust distribution is circumferentially uniform.

12
(infinite number of blades)
Conservation of Linear momentum
dp
 F  dt

dT (r )   m(u 4  u1 )
1 2
dT  4a(1  a) u 2rdr
2

Conservation of Angular Momentum


dQ  (d m)(r )(r )  u2 2rdr (r 2 )
1
dQ  4a(1  a )  ur 2 2rdr
2

13
Bernoulli’s Equation (energy conserved)
1
( p2  p3 )   (   )r 2
2
1
dT  ( p2  p3 )dA  [  (   )r 2 ]2rdr
2

Define the angular induction factor a’ as a 
2
Hence,
1 2
dT  4a(1  a) u 2rdr
2

14
Equating the thrust on an annular element derived
from the conservation of linear momentum and the
Bernoulli’s equation gives

a (1  a)
 2r
a(1  a)

where r  r / R,   R u

For an ideal turbine that produces maximum power

output,

1  3a
a 
4a  1

15
In summary
1 2
 
dT  4a (1  a ) u 2rdr
2
1
dQ  4a(1  a ) ur 2 2rdr
2
a (1  a )
 2r
a(1  a )

Notice that
 the geometry of the blades still does not involve the
calculations.
 if the turbine is assumed to be ideal generating
maximum power, one can find a and a’ in each section.
 once a and a’ are founded, the total thrust and rotor
torque can be determined by integration along the
blade spanwise.
16
Blade Element Theory

R
dr

r blade element

rotor blade
Blade geometry is considered in this part and
we may use this to calculate the induction
factors that relates the thrust and rotor
torque.
17
Lift and Drag Forces
FL
FD
Ωr

urel u 1 2
FL  C L ( Aurel )
2
(top view) 1 2
FD  C D ( Aurel )
2
Note that CL and CD vary with cross section
18
Typical Variation of Aerofoil
Coefficients
flow separation

1.0 Cl
Values of Coefficients

0.5
Cd

0.0

-10 0 90
angle of attack (degrees) 19
Relative Velocity
Wind velocity at the rotor blade is u(1-a) in
horizontal direction. Also, the wind rotates
with the angular velocity of ω/2 (=Ωa’) while
the angular velocity of the rotor is Ω in the
opposite direction.

FL
FD
Ωr(1+a’)

urel
u(1-a)
20
Blade Geometry
dFN
dFL
dFD
Ωr(1+a’)

θp dFT
φ  u(1-a)
urel

21
From blade geometry, one simply obtains the
following relations.
 p 
1 a
tan  
(1  a)r
u (1  a )
u rel 
sin 
1 2
dFL  C L u rel cdr
2
1 2
dFD  C D urel cdr
2
dFN  dFL cos   dFD sin 
dFT  dFL sin   dFD cos 
22
Finally, the total normal force on the
section and torque due to the tangential
force operating at a distance, r, from the
center are

1 2
dFN  B urel (C L cos   C D sin  )cdr
2
1 2
dQ  B urel (C L sin   C D cos  )crdr
2

23
 Since the forces and moments derived
from momentum theory (actuator model)
and blade element theory must be equal,

1 2
dT  u 4a(1  a )rdr  B urel (C L cos   C D sin  )cdr
2

2
1 2
dQ  4a(1  a ) ur dr  B urel (C L sin   C D cos  )crdr
3

from momentum theory blade element theory

24
 2r (cos   r sin  )
C L  4 sin 
Bc(sin   r cos  )

One can solve for C and α at each section by

using this equation and the empirical C vs α
curves. Once both parameters are known, a
and a’ at the section can be determined
from

a (1  a )  BcCL cos  /(8r sin 2  )

a (1  a )  BcCL /(8rr sin  )

25
Iterative solution for a and a’
1. Guess values of a and a’
2. Calculate φ
3. Calculate angle of attack, α
4. Calculate Cl and Cd
5. Update a and a’
6. Check if a > 0.5

(In the case of turbulent

wake this analysis may lead
to a lack of convergence to
a solution) 26
Note that to keep the lift and drag coefficients,
and thus the angle of attack, constant over the
spanwise of the blade, it is necessary to twist the
blade along the length. This however may
increase the complexity of their manufacture.

27
Tip loss factor
The tip loss factor allows for the
velocities and forces not being
circumferentially uniform due to the
rotor having a finite number of blades.
The Prandtl tip loss factor can be
express as
  r 2
F  (2 /  ) arccos(exp0.51   B 1   )
  R 

28