Effects of wind turbine rotor positioning on tornado induced loads

This study investigates the loads induced by a large-scale tornado simulation on a horizontal axis wind turbine (HAWT) to assess the influence of three-dimensional flows with respect to the HAWT position. The loads were analyzed under two rotor operational conditions, idling and parked, at five radial distances. Subsequently, experimental validation of the numerical code HIW-TUR was conducted by evaluating the induced moments for various yaw and pitch angles. The experimental results demonstrated that the bending moment was the most important in terms of magnitude and variation with respect to the HAWT position. Furthermore, The HIW-TUR code accurately identified the magnitude and HAWT configuration that leads to the maximum mean moments induced by the tornado. It was proved that by varying the yaw angle of the rotor plane and blade orientation to parallel to the tornado tangential component, the overall loads could be reduced to the minimum values.

Name thesis:degree_name

M Eng Sci

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Grantor dc:publisher

The University of Western Ontario

Year dc:date.issued

2023

Author dc:creator

• Lopez Ortiz, Juan P

Advisors dc:contributor.advisor

• El Damatty, Ashraf A.
• Hangan, Horia.

• Tornado
• Wind Turbine
• Experimental Test
• WindEEE
• Wind Loads

Language dc:language.iso

en_ca

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14721/32763

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:uwo.scholaris.ca:20.500.14721/32763