CFD Simulation of the NREL Phase VI Rotor

TL;DR

This paper presents CFD simulations of the NREL Phase VI wind turbine, analyzing flow around a rotating blade and comparing results with experimental data to assess accuracy and flow characteristics.

Contribution

It demonstrates the application of CFD to simulate complex flow around a wind turbine blade, highlighting mesh resolution importance and flow three-dimensionality.

Findings

CFD accurately predicts shaft torque at various wind speeds.

Flow exhibits significant three-dimensional boundary layer effects.

Mesh resolution impacts simulation accuracy.

Abstract

The simulation of the turbulent and potentially separating flow around a rotating, twisted, and tapered airfoil is a challenging task for CFD simulations. This paper describes CFD simulations of the NREL Phase VI turbine that was experimentally characterized in the 24.4m x 36.6m NREL/NASA Ames wind tunnel (Hand et al., 2001). All computations in this article are performed on the experimental base configuration of 0o yaw angle, 3o tip pitch angle, and a rotation rate of 72 rpm. The significance of specific mesh resolution regions to the accuracy of the CFD prediction is discussed. The ability of CFD to capture bulk quantities, such as the shaft torque, and the detailed flow characteristics, such as the surface pressure distributions, are explored for different inlet wind speeds. Finally, the significant three-dimensionality of the boundary layer flow is demonstrated.