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Turbulence velocity spectra and intensities in the inflow of a turbine rotor

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 May 2019

I. A. Milne Open the ORCID record for I. A. Milne [Opens in a new window]  and
J. M. R. Graham Open the ORCID record for J. M. R. Graham [Opens in a new window]
I. A. Milne*
Affiliation:
Oceans Graduate School, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, 6009, Australia
J. M. R. Graham
Affiliation:
Department of Aeronautics, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK
*
†Email address for correspondence: [email protected]
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Abstract

The changes in spectra and intensities of the streamwise component of turbulent velocity are calculated in the inflow of a turbine rotor. The flow is initially calculated in the limit when the turbulence is of small scale compared with the rotor diameter. Rapid distortion theory (RDT), Batchelor & Proudman (Q. J. Mech. Appl. Maths, vol. 7 (1), 1954, pp. 83–103) (BP), for small-scale turbulence is combined with the effect of the fluctuating potential flow field on the turbulence caused by the direct interaction of the incident turbulence with the rotor as a sheet of resistance. A second computation is then carried out for turbulence of larger length scale. The results of the calculations are compared with velocity measurements in the inflow of both a commercial wind turbine and a tidal turbine rotor.

JFM classification

Turbulent Flows: Turbulence theory
Type
JFM Rapids
Information
Journal of Fluid Mechanics , Volume 870 , 10 July 2019 , R3
Copyright
© 2019 Cambridge University Press 

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