A numerical simulation of flow around a wind turbine airfoil based on transition model

The laminar-to-turbulent transition is one of the most complex but important flows. In order to deeply apprehend the wind turbine airfoil flow characteristics and the transition phenomenon, a two-equation transition model is applied in this article to simulate the flow over a wind turbine S814 airfoil. Typical angle of attack and both steady and unsteady transition models are tried. The predictions are compared with the experimental data of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and the simulation results of fully turbulent SST model. The analysis has been shown that, transition model can capture the phenomena of transition and flow separation more effectively. Under certain working conditions, the transition model predicts the lift coefficient and drag coefficient more accurately than a full turbulence model. The weak point is that the transition model requires a much longer computing time.