Author : Mir Asif Rasool and Mir Mohammad Zahid

With the rise in population, the demand for electricity has been escalating rapidly day by day. The importance of energy as a crucial input for the socio-economic progress of any nation cannot be overstated. Unfortunately, most of our energy demands are met by non-renewable resources that are not only limited but also cause detrimental effects on the environment. To tackle the negative effects and increasing demand for electricity, a significant shift has been observed in the past two decades towards renewable energy resources. Wind energy is one of the major resources of renewable energy, which has been making remarkable inroads into the electricity markets across the globe. Wind turbines are used to convert kinetic energy into electrical energy. However, wind energy is an intermittent power source. To obtain the optimum energy from wind, wind turbines should be designed with good aerodynamic loading. This means that they should have a high lift to drag ratio, and the mean loading and fatigue loading should be well quantified for better efficiency and durability. Although extensive research experiments have been carried out to measure the aerodynamic loads acting on horizontal axis wind turbines, there is still ample space for employing recently developed simulations to correctly predict the dynamic loads that affect wind turbines in a variety of situations. One issue with the construction of these numerical models is the absence of quantitative experimental and field measurement data to validate the outcomes of the numerical simulation. In our research, we have used a tornado-like vortex simulator present in Tongji University to characterize the aerodynamic loads acting on wind turbines under different locations, with different phase angles at respective vane angles. We found that the axial force is maximum when the tornadoes hit the rotor of a wind turbine at a phase angle of 0°. For the tangential forces, the maximum value is at 90°. However, for the vertical forces, the maximum value changes with the change of vane angle, and the maximum value is for vane 50° at a phase angle of 90°. This is a novel approach as per the authors’ knowledge, and no research has been published before. In conclusion, our research provides insightful information on the aerodynamic loads acting on wind turbines under tornado-like vortex simulators, which can help in the design and development of more efficient and durable wind turbines.

Keywords: Tornado like vortices, wind turbines, tornado induced loads, tornado vortex simula