Aerodynamic behavior of an airfoil with morphing trailing edge for wind turbine applications

Abstract

The length of wind turbine rotor blades has been increased during the last decades. Higher stresses arise especially at the blade root because of the longer lever arm. One way to reduce unsteady blade-root stresses caused by turbulence, gusts, or wind shear is to actively control the lift in the blade tip region. One promising method involves airfoils with morphing trailing edges to control the lift and consequently the loads acting on the blade. In the present study, the steady and unsteady behavior of an airfoil with a morphing trailing edge is investigated. Two-dimensional Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) simulations are performed for a typical thin wind turbine airfoil with a morphing trailing edge. Steady-state simulations are used to design optimal geometry, size, and deflection angles of the morphing trailing edge. The resulting steady aerodynamic coefficients are then analyzed at different angles of attack in order to determine the effectiveness of the morphing trailing edge. In order to investigate the unsteady aerodynamic behavior of the optimal morphing trailing edge, time-resolved RANS-simulations are performed using a deformable grid. In order to analyze the phase shift between the variable trailing edge deflection and the dynamic lift coefficient, the trailing edge is deflected at four different reduced frequencies for each different angle of attack. As expected, a phase shift between the deflection and the lift occurs. While deflecting the trailing edge at angles of attack near stall, additionally an overshoot above and beyond the steady lift coefficient is observed and evaluated.