Modeling the effects of active wake mixing on wake behavior through large-scale coherent structures

<p>The use of active wake mixing (AWM) to mitigate downstream turbine wakes has created new opportunities for reducing power losses in wind farms. However, many current analytical or semi-empirical wake models do not capture the flow instabilities that are excited through the blade pitch actu...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: L. Cheung, G. Yalla, P. Mohan, A. Hsieh, K. Brown, N. deVelder, D. Houck, M. T. Henry de Frahan, M. Day, M. Sprague
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Copernicus Publications 2025-07-01
Series:Wind Energy Science
Online Access:https://wes.copernicus.org/articles/10/1403/2025/wes-10-1403-2025.pdf
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849430181481021440
author L. Cheung
G. Yalla
P. Mohan
A. Hsieh
K. Brown
N. deVelder
D. Houck
M. T. Henry de Frahan
M. Day
M. Sprague
author_facet L. Cheung
G. Yalla
P. Mohan
A. Hsieh
K. Brown
N. deVelder
D. Houck
M. T. Henry de Frahan
M. Day
M. Sprague
author_sort L. Cheung
collection DOAJ
description <p>The use of active wake mixing (AWM) to mitigate downstream turbine wakes has created new opportunities for reducing power losses in wind farms. However, many current analytical or semi-empirical wake models do not capture the flow instabilities that are excited through the blade pitch actuation. In this work, we develop a framework, which accounts for the impacts of the large-scale coherent structures and turbulence on the mean flow, for modeling AWM. The framework uses a triple-decomposition approach for the unsteady flow field and models the mean flow and fine-scale turbulence with a parabolized Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) system. The wave components are modeled using a simplified spatial linear stability formulation that captures the growth and evolution of the coherent structures. Comparisons with high-fidelity large eddy simulations (LESs) of the turbine wakes showed that this framework was able to capture the additional wake mixing and faster wake recovery in the far-wake regions for both the pulse and helix AWM strategies with minimal computational expense. In the near-wake region, some differences are observed in both the RANS velocity profiles and initial growth of the large-scale structures, which may be due to some simplifying assumptions used in the model.</p>
format Article
id doaj-art-6ffe9935d99f491f915eb7a226e08f26
institution Kabale University
issn 2366-7443
2366-7451
language English
publishDate 2025-07-01
publisher Copernicus Publications
record_format Article
series Wind Energy Science
spelling doaj-art-6ffe9935d99f491f915eb7a226e08f262025-08-20T03:28:06ZengCopernicus PublicationsWind Energy Science2366-74432366-74512025-07-01101403142010.5194/wes-10-1403-2025Modeling the effects of active wake mixing on wake behavior through large-scale coherent structuresL. Cheung0G. Yalla1P. Mohan2A. Hsieh3K. Brown4N. deVelder5D. Houck6M. T. Henry de Frahan7M. Day8M. Sprague9Sandia National Laboratories, Livermore, CA, USASandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM, USANational Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO, USASandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM, USASandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM, USASandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM, USASandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM, USANational Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO, USANational Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO, USANational Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO, USA<p>The use of active wake mixing (AWM) to mitigate downstream turbine wakes has created new opportunities for reducing power losses in wind farms. However, many current analytical or semi-empirical wake models do not capture the flow instabilities that are excited through the blade pitch actuation. In this work, we develop a framework, which accounts for the impacts of the large-scale coherent structures and turbulence on the mean flow, for modeling AWM. The framework uses a triple-decomposition approach for the unsteady flow field and models the mean flow and fine-scale turbulence with a parabolized Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) system. The wave components are modeled using a simplified spatial linear stability formulation that captures the growth and evolution of the coherent structures. Comparisons with high-fidelity large eddy simulations (LESs) of the turbine wakes showed that this framework was able to capture the additional wake mixing and faster wake recovery in the far-wake regions for both the pulse and helix AWM strategies with minimal computational expense. In the near-wake region, some differences are observed in both the RANS velocity profiles and initial growth of the large-scale structures, which may be due to some simplifying assumptions used in the model.</p>https://wes.copernicus.org/articles/10/1403/2025/wes-10-1403-2025.pdf
spellingShingle L. Cheung
G. Yalla
P. Mohan
A. Hsieh
K. Brown
N. deVelder
D. Houck
M. T. Henry de Frahan
M. Day
M. Sprague
Modeling the effects of active wake mixing on wake behavior through large-scale coherent structures
Wind Energy Science
title Modeling the effects of active wake mixing on wake behavior through large-scale coherent structures
title_full Modeling the effects of active wake mixing on wake behavior through large-scale coherent structures
title_fullStr Modeling the effects of active wake mixing on wake behavior through large-scale coherent structures
title_full_unstemmed Modeling the effects of active wake mixing on wake behavior through large-scale coherent structures
title_short Modeling the effects of active wake mixing on wake behavior through large-scale coherent structures
title_sort modeling the effects of active wake mixing on wake behavior through large scale coherent structures
url https://wes.copernicus.org/articles/10/1403/2025/wes-10-1403-2025.pdf
work_keys_str_mv AT lcheung modelingtheeffectsofactivewakemixingonwakebehaviorthroughlargescalecoherentstructures
AT gyalla modelingtheeffectsofactivewakemixingonwakebehaviorthroughlargescalecoherentstructures
AT pmohan modelingtheeffectsofactivewakemixingonwakebehaviorthroughlargescalecoherentstructures
AT ahsieh modelingtheeffectsofactivewakemixingonwakebehaviorthroughlargescalecoherentstructures
AT kbrown modelingtheeffectsofactivewakemixingonwakebehaviorthroughlargescalecoherentstructures
AT ndevelder modelingtheeffectsofactivewakemixingonwakebehaviorthroughlargescalecoherentstructures
AT dhouck modelingtheeffectsofactivewakemixingonwakebehaviorthroughlargescalecoherentstructures
AT mthenrydefrahan modelingtheeffectsofactivewakemixingonwakebehaviorthroughlargescalecoherentstructures
AT mday modelingtheeffectsofactivewakemixingonwakebehaviorthroughlargescalecoherentstructures
AT msprague modelingtheeffectsofactivewakemixingonwakebehaviorthroughlargescalecoherentstructures