Technical Report -- Comparison of Direct Finite Element Simulation with Actuator Line Models and Vortex Models for Simulation of Turbulent Flow Past a Vertical Axis wind Turbine

2019/08/30 by Van-Dang Nguyen, Nguyen, Van-Dang, Johan Jansson +5
Engineering · Environmental Science · #Computational Engineering #FOS: Computer and information sciences #Finance #Fluid Dynamics and Turbulent Flows #Fluid Dynamics and Vibration Analysis #Wind and Air Flow Studies #and Science (cs.CE)

paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1909.01776

openalex publication_date 2019/08/30 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28

Abstract

We compare three different methodologies for simulation of turbulent flow past a vertical axis wind turbine: (i) full resolution of the turbine blades in a Direct Finite Element Simulation (DFS), (ii) implicit representation of the turbine blades in a 3D Actuator Line Method (ALM), and (iii) implicit representation of the turbine blades as sources in a Vortex Model (VM). The integrated normal force on one blade is computed for a range of azimuthal angles, and is compared to experimental data for the different tip speed ratios, 2.55, 3.44 and 4.09.

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