TY - JOUR
T1 - A Numerical Model for the Analysis of Leading-Edge Protection Tapes for Wind Turbine Blades
AU - Major, D.
AU - Palacios, J.
AU - Maughmer, M.
AU - Schmitz, S.
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was gratefully sponsored by the 3M Electrical Markets Division under agreement #198567 with The Pennsylvania State University. Special thanks are given to Dr. Benton Free at 3M, who served as the technical monitor. The authors would also like to thank EverPower Holdings Inc. for providing the wind turbine tip sections for testing and Rick Auhl in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at Penn State for assisting with experimental preparations.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 IOP Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved.
PY - 2020/3/3
Y1 - 2020/3/3
N2 - This paper presents results of a numerical study on the effect of a standard leading-edge protection (LEP) tape on the aerodynamics of a NACA 64-618 airfoil. Two numerical models are used in STAR-CCM+ to estimate the impact of LEP tapes on airfoil cl and cd. The objective is to determine which numerical model resolves the physical mechanisms responsible for the aerodynamic degradation observed with standard LEP tapes. Experimental cd data are collected for LEP tapes applied to the tip section of an utility-scale wind turbine blade for numerical validation. For a standard LEP tape, experiments indicate laminar-to-turbulent boundary-layer transition occurs at the LEP tape edge, resulting in a 62% increase in cd. To capture the boundary-layer transition at the LEP step, transition modeling is required in STAR-CCM+. This is an important finding as the mesh techniques developed in this work can be used for future LEP tape design to prevent early transition, thereby reducing the associated adverse impact on wind-turbine tip-section airfoil aerodynamics and annual energy production.
AB - This paper presents results of a numerical study on the effect of a standard leading-edge protection (LEP) tape on the aerodynamics of a NACA 64-618 airfoil. Two numerical models are used in STAR-CCM+ to estimate the impact of LEP tapes on airfoil cl and cd. The objective is to determine which numerical model resolves the physical mechanisms responsible for the aerodynamic degradation observed with standard LEP tapes. Experimental cd data are collected for LEP tapes applied to the tip section of an utility-scale wind turbine blade for numerical validation. For a standard LEP tape, experiments indicate laminar-to-turbulent boundary-layer transition occurs at the LEP tape edge, resulting in a 62% increase in cd. To capture the boundary-layer transition at the LEP step, transition modeling is required in STAR-CCM+. This is an important finding as the mesh techniques developed in this work can be used for future LEP tape design to prevent early transition, thereby reducing the associated adverse impact on wind-turbine tip-section airfoil aerodynamics and annual energy production.
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U2 - 10.1088/1742-6596/1452/1/012058
DO - 10.1088/1742-6596/1452/1/012058
M3 - Conference article
AN - SCOPUS:85081563436
SN - 1742-6588
VL - 1452
JO - Journal of Physics: Conference Series
JF - Journal of Physics: Conference Series
IS - 1
M1 - 012058
T2 - North American Wind Energy Academy, NAWEA 2019 and the International Conference on Future Technologies in Wind Energy 2019, WindTech 2019
Y2 - 14 October 2019 through 16 October 2019
ER -