Evaluating Terrain as a Turbulence Generation Method
When driving microscale large-eddy simulations with mesoscale model solutions, turbulence will take space to develop, known as <i>fetch</i>, on the microscale domain. To reduce fetch, it is common to add perturbations near the boundaries to speed up turbulence development. However, when...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-10-01
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| Series: | Energies |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/21/6858 |
| _version_ | 1827678243957768192 |
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| author | Patrick Hawbecker Matthew Churchfield |
| author_facet | Patrick Hawbecker Matthew Churchfield |
| author_sort | Patrick Hawbecker |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | When driving microscale large-eddy simulations with mesoscale model solutions, turbulence will take space to develop, known as <i>fetch</i>, on the microscale domain. To reduce fetch, it is common to add perturbations near the boundaries to speed up turbulence development. However, when simulating domains over complex terrain, it is possible that the terrain itself can quickly generate turbulence within the boundary layer. It is shown here that rugged terrain is able to generate turbulence without the assistance of a perturbation strategy; however, the levels of turbulence generated are improved when adding perturbations at the inlet. Flow over smoothed, but not flat, terrain fails to generate adequate turbulence throughout the boundary layer in all tests conducted herein. Sensitivities to the strength of the mean wind speed and boundary layer height are investigated and show that higher wind speeds produce turbulence over terrain features that slower wind speeds do not. Further, by increasing the height of the capping inversion, the effectiveness of topography alone to generate turbulence throughout the depth of the boundary is diminished. In all cases, the inclusion of a perturbation strategy improved simulation performance with respect to turbulence development. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T06:04:40Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-792122c919e345b9bda86e038d614c0d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1996-1073 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T06:04:40Z |
| publishDate | 2021-10-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Energies |
| spelling | doaj.art-792122c919e345b9bda86e038d614c0d2023-11-22T20:40:05ZengMDPI AGEnergies1996-10732021-10-011421685810.3390/en14216858Evaluating Terrain as a Turbulence Generation MethodPatrick Hawbecker0Matthew Churchfield1National Center for Atmospheric Research, 3450 Mitchell Ln., Boulder, CO 80301, USANational Renewable Energy Laboratory, 15013 Denver West Parkway, Golden, CO 80501, USAWhen driving microscale large-eddy simulations with mesoscale model solutions, turbulence will take space to develop, known as <i>fetch</i>, on the microscale domain. To reduce fetch, it is common to add perturbations near the boundaries to speed up turbulence development. However, when simulating domains over complex terrain, it is possible that the terrain itself can quickly generate turbulence within the boundary layer. It is shown here that rugged terrain is able to generate turbulence without the assistance of a perturbation strategy; however, the levels of turbulence generated are improved when adding perturbations at the inlet. Flow over smoothed, but not flat, terrain fails to generate adequate turbulence throughout the boundary layer in all tests conducted herein. Sensitivities to the strength of the mean wind speed and boundary layer height are investigated and show that higher wind speeds produce turbulence over terrain features that slower wind speeds do not. Further, by increasing the height of the capping inversion, the effectiveness of topography alone to generate turbulence throughout the depth of the boundary is diminished. In all cases, the inclusion of a perturbation strategy improved simulation performance with respect to turbulence development.https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/21/6858turbulenceterrainlarge-eddy simulation |
| spellingShingle | Patrick Hawbecker Matthew Churchfield Evaluating Terrain as a Turbulence Generation Method Energies turbulence terrain large-eddy simulation |
| title | Evaluating Terrain as a Turbulence Generation Method |
| title_full | Evaluating Terrain as a Turbulence Generation Method |
| title_fullStr | Evaluating Terrain as a Turbulence Generation Method |
| title_full_unstemmed | Evaluating Terrain as a Turbulence Generation Method |
| title_short | Evaluating Terrain as a Turbulence Generation Method |
| title_sort | evaluating terrain as a turbulence generation method |
| topic | turbulence terrain large-eddy simulation |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/21/6858 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT patrickhawbecker evaluatingterrainasaturbulencegenerationmethod AT matthewchurchfield evaluatingterrainasaturbulencegenerationmethod |