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Aerodynamics and Fluid Mechanics

Dissertations and Theses

Theses/Dissertations

Fluid mechanics

Publication Year

Articles 1 - 3 of 3

Full-Text Articles in Mechanical Engineering

Fixed Bottom Wind Turbine Wave-Wake Interaction, Ondrej Fercak Jul 2021

Fixed Bottom Wind Turbine Wave-Wake Interaction, Ondrej Fercak

Dissertations and Theses

The interest and benefits of offshore wind energy has also brought along legitimate design challenges for engineers. Most notably, the complex interaction between wind and turbine is further complicated by the addition of dynamic ocean waves. This dynamic coupling between wind, wave, and turbine is not fully understood. Even small improvements in wind turbine performance are welcome, so characterizing a fundamental dynamic in offshore energy is necessary to optimize design. Experimentation and simulation have been used to characterize inflow and turbine wakes and separately, wind-wave interactions. But only simulations have just begun to look at the wind, wave, and turbine …


Dynamic Effects Of Inertial Particles On The Wake Recovery Of A Model Wind Turbine, Sarah E. Smith Jul 2020

Dynamic Effects Of Inertial Particles On The Wake Recovery Of A Model Wind Turbine, Sarah E. Smith

Dissertations and Theses

Impacting particles such as rain, dust, and other debris can have devastating structural effects on wind turbines, but little is known about the interaction of such debris within turbine wakes. This study aims to characterize behavior of inertial particles within the turbulent wake of a wind turbine and relative effects on wake recovery. Here a model wind turbine is subjected to varied two-phase inflow conditions, with wind as the carrier fluid (Reλ = 49 - 88) and polydisperse water droplets (26 to 45µm in diameter) at varied concentrations (Φv=0.24 x 10-5 - 1.3 …


Characterization Of Inertial Particles In The Turbulent Wake Of A Porous Disk, Kristin Nichole Travis Jan 2020

Characterization Of Inertial Particles In The Turbulent Wake Of A Porous Disk, Kristin Nichole Travis

Dissertations and Theses

This study presents the findings of a wind tunnel experiment investigating the behaviour of micrometric inertial particles in the turbulent wake of a stationary porous disk. Various concentrations [Φv ∈ (2.95 x 10-6 - 1.22 x 10-5)] of polydisperse water droplets (diameter 13-41 µm) are compared to sub-inertial tracer particles. Hot-wire anemometry, phase Doppler interferometry and particle image velocimetry were implemented in the near and far wake regions to study the complex dynamics of the particles. Turbulence statistics and particle size distributions are presented and used to explore the particle wake interaction.