Wing Deformation of an Airborne Wind Energy System in Crosswind Flight Using High-Fidelity Fluid–Structure Interaction
Airborne wind energy (AWE) is an emerging technology for the conversion of wind energy into electricity. There are many types of AWE systems, and one of them flies crosswind patterns with a tethered aircraft connected to a generator. The objective is to gain a proper understanding of the unsteady in...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-01-01
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| Series: | Energies |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/16/2/602 |
| _version_ | 1797443395574038528 |
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| author | Niels Pynaert Thomas Haas Jolan Wauters Guillaume Crevecoeur Joris Degroote |
| author_facet | Niels Pynaert Thomas Haas Jolan Wauters Guillaume Crevecoeur Joris Degroote |
| author_sort | Niels Pynaert |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Airborne wind energy (AWE) is an emerging technology for the conversion of wind energy into electricity. There are many types of AWE systems, and one of them flies crosswind patterns with a tethered aircraft connected to a generator. The objective is to gain a proper understanding of the unsteady interaction of air and this flexible and dynamic system during operation, which is key to developing viable, large AWE systems. In this work, the effect of wing deformation on an AWE system performing a crosswind flight maneuver was assessed using high-fidelity time-varying fluid–structure interaction simulations. This was performed using a partitioned and explicit approach. A computational structural mechanics (CSM) model of the wing structure was coupled with a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model of the wing aerodynamics. The Chimera/overset technique combined with an arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian (ALE) formulation for mesh deformation has been proven to be a robust approach to simulating the motion and deformation of an airborne wind energy system in CFD simulations. The main finding is that wing deformation in crosswind flights increases the symmetry of the spanwise loading. This property could be used in future designs to increase the efficiency of airborne wind energy systems. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T12:55:25Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-eccb514c5f1145179ddefbbde1d2d3b0 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1996-1073 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T12:55:25Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Energies |
| spelling | doaj.art-eccb514c5f1145179ddefbbde1d2d3b02023-11-30T22:01:24ZengMDPI AGEnergies1996-10732023-01-0116260210.3390/en16020602Wing Deformation of an Airborne Wind Energy System in Crosswind Flight Using High-Fidelity Fluid–Structure InteractionNiels Pynaert0Thomas Haas1Jolan Wauters2Guillaume Crevecoeur3Joris Degroote4Department of Electromechanical, Systems and Metal Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Ghent University, Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat 41, 9000 Gent, BelgiumDepartment of Electromechanical, Systems and Metal Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Ghent University, Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat 41, 9000 Gent, BelgiumDepartment of Electromechanical, Systems and Metal Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Ghent University, Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat 41, 9000 Gent, BelgiumDepartment of Electromechanical, Systems and Metal Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Ghent University, Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat 41, 9000 Gent, BelgiumDepartment of Electromechanical, Systems and Metal Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Ghent University, Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat 41, 9000 Gent, BelgiumAirborne wind energy (AWE) is an emerging technology for the conversion of wind energy into electricity. There are many types of AWE systems, and one of them flies crosswind patterns with a tethered aircraft connected to a generator. The objective is to gain a proper understanding of the unsteady interaction of air and this flexible and dynamic system during operation, which is key to developing viable, large AWE systems. In this work, the effect of wing deformation on an AWE system performing a crosswind flight maneuver was assessed using high-fidelity time-varying fluid–structure interaction simulations. This was performed using a partitioned and explicit approach. A computational structural mechanics (CSM) model of the wing structure was coupled with a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model of the wing aerodynamics. The Chimera/overset technique combined with an arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian (ALE) formulation for mesh deformation has been proven to be a robust approach to simulating the motion and deformation of an airborne wind energy system in CFD simulations. The main finding is that wing deformation in crosswind flights increases the symmetry of the spanwise loading. This property could be used in future designs to increase the efficiency of airborne wind energy systems.https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/16/2/602airborne wind energyfluid–structure interactioncomputational fluid dynamicsChimera |
| spellingShingle | Niels Pynaert Thomas Haas Jolan Wauters Guillaume Crevecoeur Joris Degroote Wing Deformation of an Airborne Wind Energy System in Crosswind Flight Using High-Fidelity Fluid–Structure Interaction Energies airborne wind energy fluid–structure interaction computational fluid dynamics Chimera |
| title | Wing Deformation of an Airborne Wind Energy System in Crosswind Flight Using High-Fidelity Fluid–Structure Interaction |
| title_full | Wing Deformation of an Airborne Wind Energy System in Crosswind Flight Using High-Fidelity Fluid–Structure Interaction |
| title_fullStr | Wing Deformation of an Airborne Wind Energy System in Crosswind Flight Using High-Fidelity Fluid–Structure Interaction |
| title_full_unstemmed | Wing Deformation of an Airborne Wind Energy System in Crosswind Flight Using High-Fidelity Fluid–Structure Interaction |
| title_short | Wing Deformation of an Airborne Wind Energy System in Crosswind Flight Using High-Fidelity Fluid–Structure Interaction |
| title_sort | wing deformation of an airborne wind energy system in crosswind flight using high fidelity fluid structure interaction |
| topic | airborne wind energy fluid–structure interaction computational fluid dynamics Chimera |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/16/2/602 |
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