A flexible actuator curve model for aeroelastic simulations of wind turbines in atmospheric boundary layers

Abstract The current trend of wind turbine upscaling has led to the use of long and slender blades prone to large structural deformations. In the present study, the impact of the aeroelastic effects is assessed for the NREL-5MW wind turbine in a turbulent wind. To this end, an actuator curve method coupled to a one-dimensional finite-element structural solver is implemented in a fourth-order finite difference code that can perform large eddy simulation (LES) of realistic winds. The approach is computationally affordable compared to blade-resolved simulations and hence long time series can be computed. This, combined to the ability of the LES to capture the relevant scales of the unsteadiness wind, leads to a better estimation of the fluctuating loads and power of the turbine. The results are here shown for one and two wind turbines operating in a neutrally stable atmospheric boundary layer. It appears that the blade mostly deforms according to its first bending mode. The rotation of the blade in the sheared atmospheric flow is responsible for large amplitude deformations, but the turbulence also plays a role in causing deformations at higher frequencies with a smaller amplitude. The azimuthal distributions of loads and of power are significantly affected when the aeroelasticity is considered.