Influence of wind shear and veer on power, thrust, and induction of an actuator disk

Wind shear and wind veer (gradients of wind speed and direction, respectively) are ubiquitous in the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL), and wind turbines therefore routinely operate in sheared and veered conditions.

Previous field campaigns have observed statistically significant variations in power production efficiency (quantified by a power coefficient) upwards of 15% due to shear and veer.

However, it is not yet clear how non-uniform inflow conditions alter rotor aerodynamics and drive these efficiency variations.

In this study, we perform concurrent-precursor large-eddy simulations (LES) of an actuator disk-modeled wind turbine across stratified ABL conditions to demonstrate that shear and veer can reduce wind power efficiency by more than 20%.

To support these ABL simulations, we perform simplified inflow LES where shear and veer are controlled independently.

Using these controlled simulations, we demonstrate that shear and veer effects can be decomposed into: (1) geometric effects, due to changes in rotor-equivalent wind speed, and (2) inductive effects, which change the rotor aerodynamics and induced velocities.

Inductive effects of wind shear modulate the power coefficient through changes to the local induction, while inductive effects of wind veer reduce the power coefficient by generating an adverse pressure gradient at the rotor scale.

The geometric and inductive effects of shear and veer approximately linearly superimpose, with increasing losses as shear and veer magnitudes increase.

Inductive effects account for a significant fraction of the observed losses, and the induction of a turbine is affected by shear, veer, and wall proximity through processes that are neglected in existing engineering models.

Revealing the mechanisms through which shear and veer affect rotor performance establishes a framework that can enable improved power prediction in realistic ABL conditions.