Effects of the particle Stokes number on wind turbine airfoil erosion

• Published in: Applied mathematics and mechanics Vol. 39; no. 5; pp. 639 - 652
• Main Authors: Li, Deshun, Zhao, Zhenxi, Li, Yinran, Wang, Qing, Li, Rennian, Li, Ye
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Shanghai Shanghai University 01.05.2018; Springer Nature B.V; College of Energy and Power Engineering, Lanzhou University of Technology,Lanzhou 730050, China; Gansu Provincial Technology Centre for Wind Turbines, Lanzhou 730050, China%State Key Laboratory of Ocean Engineering, School of Naval Architecture,Ocean and Civil, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China; Gansu Provincial Technology Centre for Wind Turbines, Lanzhou 730050, China; Gansu Provincial Key Laboratory of Fluid Machinery and Systems,Lanzhou 730050, China%College of Energy and Power Engineering, Lanzhou University of Technology,Lanzhou 730050, China
• Edition: English ed.
• Subjects: Angle of attack; Applications of Mathematics; Classical Mechanics; Curvature; Erosion mechanisms; Erosion rates; Fluid dynamics; Fluid- and Aerodynamics; Inflow; Mathematical Modeling and Industrial Mathematics; Mathematics; Mathematics and Statistics; Partial Differential Equations; Particle density (concentration); Sand; Stokes law (fluid mechanics); Stokes number; Turbine blades; Wind effects; Wind speed; Wind turbines; sand-wind environment; Stokes number; TK83; 74F10; wind turbine; erosion; airfoil; 76T15
• ISSN: 0253-4827; 1573-2754
• DOI: 10.1007/s10483-018-2267-6

Under natural conditions, wind turbines are inevitably eroded by the action of sand-wind flow. To further investigate the effects of dust drift on the erosion of the wind turbine blades in sand-wind environments, the effects of the wind velocity, particle diameter, and particle density on the erosion of wind turbine airfoils are studied, and the effects of the particle Stokes number on the airfoil erosion are discussed. The results show that, when the angle of attack (AOA) is 6.1 °, there will be no erosion on the airfoil surface if the particle Stokes number is lower than 0.0135, whereas erosion will occur if the particle Stokes number is higher than 0.015 1. Therefore, there exists a critical range for the particle Stokes number. When the particle Stokes number is higher than the maximum value in the critical range, airfoil erosion will occur. The result is further confirmed by changing the particle diameter, particle density, and inflow speed. It is shown that the erosion area on the airfoil and the maximum erosion rate are almost equal under the same particle Stokes number and AOA. The extent of airfoil erosion increases when the particle Stokes number increases, and the critical particle Stokes number increases when the AOA increases. Moreover, the geometric shape of the airfoil pressure surface greatly affects the airfoil erosion, especially at the curvature near the leading edge.