Leading edge erosion is a considerable threat to wind turbine performance and blade maintenance, and it is very imperative to accurately predict the influence of various degrees of erosion on wind turbine performance. In the present study, an attempt to investigate the effects of leading edge erosion on the aerodynamics of wind turbine airfoil is undertaken by using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method. A new pitting erosion model is proposed and semicircle cavities were used to represent the erosion pits in the simulation. Two-dimensional incompressible Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes equation and shear stress transport (SST) k–ω turbulence model are adopted to compute the aerodynamics of a S809 airfoil with leading edge pitting erosions, where the influences of pits depth, densities, distribution area, and locations are considered. The results indicate that pitting erosion has remarkably undesirable influences on the aerodynamic performance of the airfoil, and the critical pits depth, density, and distribution area degrade the airfoil aerodynamic performance mostly were obtained. In addition, the dominant parameters are determined by the correlation coefficient path analysis method, results showed that all parameters have non-negligible effects on the aerodynamics of S809 airfoil, and the Reynolds number is of the most important, followed by pits density, pits depth, and pits distribution area. Meanwhile, the direct and indirect effects of these factors are analyzed, and it is found that the indirect effects are very small and the parameters can be considered to be independent with each other.
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December 2017
Research-Article
Aerodynamic Analysis of an Airfoil With Leading Edge Pitting Erosion
Yan Wang,
Yan Wang
Key Laboratory of Mechanics on
Environment and Disaster in Western China,
Ministry of Education,
Lanzhou University,
Lanzhou 730000, China;
Environment and Disaster in Western China,
Ministry of Education,
Lanzhou University,
Lanzhou 730000, China;
School of Energy and Power Engineering,
Lanzhou University of Technology,
Lanzhou 730050, China
Lanzhou University of Technology,
Lanzhou 730050, China
Search for other works by this author on:
Ruifeng Hu,
Ruifeng Hu
Research Center for Applied Mechanics,
School of Mechano-Electronic Engineering,
Xidian University,
Xi'an 710126, China
School of Mechano-Electronic Engineering,
Xidian University,
Xi'an 710126, China
Search for other works by this author on:
Xiaojing Zheng
Xiaojing Zheng
Key Laboratory of Mechanics on Environment
and Disaster in Western China,
Ministry of Education,
Lanzhou University,
Lanzhou 730000, China;
and Disaster in Western China,
Ministry of Education,
Lanzhou University,
Lanzhou 730000, China;
Research Center for Applied Mechanics,
School of Mechano-Electronic Engineering,
Xidian University,
Xi'an 710126, China
e-mail: xjzheng@lzu.edu.cn
School of Mechano-Electronic Engineering,
Xidian University,
Xi'an 710126, China
e-mail: xjzheng@lzu.edu.cn
Search for other works by this author on:
Yan Wang
Key Laboratory of Mechanics on
Environment and Disaster in Western China,
Ministry of Education,
Lanzhou University,
Lanzhou 730000, China;
Environment and Disaster in Western China,
Ministry of Education,
Lanzhou University,
Lanzhou 730000, China;
School of Energy and Power Engineering,
Lanzhou University of Technology,
Lanzhou 730050, China
Lanzhou University of Technology,
Lanzhou 730050, China
Ruifeng Hu
Research Center for Applied Mechanics,
School of Mechano-Electronic Engineering,
Xidian University,
Xi'an 710126, China
School of Mechano-Electronic Engineering,
Xidian University,
Xi'an 710126, China
Xiaojing Zheng
Key Laboratory of Mechanics on Environment
and Disaster in Western China,
Ministry of Education,
Lanzhou University,
Lanzhou 730000, China;
and Disaster in Western China,
Ministry of Education,
Lanzhou University,
Lanzhou 730000, China;
Research Center for Applied Mechanics,
School of Mechano-Electronic Engineering,
Xidian University,
Xi'an 710126, China
e-mail: xjzheng@lzu.edu.cn
School of Mechano-Electronic Engineering,
Xidian University,
Xi'an 710126, China
e-mail: xjzheng@lzu.edu.cn
Contributed by the Solar Energy Division of ASME for publication in the JOURNAL OF SOLAR ENERGY ENGINEERING: INCLUDING WIND ENERGY AND BUILDING ENERGY CONSERVATION. Manuscript received February 8, 2017; final manuscript received June 15, 2017; published online August 31, 2017. Assoc. Editor: Yves Gagnon.
J. Sol. Energy Eng. Dec 2017, 139(6): 061002 (11 pages)
Published Online: August 31, 2017
Article history
Received:
February 8, 2017
Revised:
June 15, 2017
Citation
Wang, Y., Hu, R., and Zheng, X. (August 31, 2017). "Aerodynamic Analysis of an Airfoil With Leading Edge Pitting Erosion." ASME. J. Sol. Energy Eng. December 2017; 139(6): 061002. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4037380
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