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  • Letter
  • Open Access

Volumetric visualization of vanishing vortices in wind turbine wakes

Johannes N. Hillestad*, Srikar Yadala, Ingrid Neunaber, Leon Li, R. Jason Hearst†, and Nicholas A. Worth‡

  • *johannes.n.hillestad@ntnu.no
  • †jason.hearst@ntnu.no
  • ‡nicholas.a.worth@ntnu.no
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Phys. Rev. Fluids 9, L052701 – Published 31 May, 2024

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevFluids.9.L052701

Abstract

Volumetric velocimetry is used to investigate the evolution of tip vortices in the wake of a model wind turbine. The power spectral density of streamwise velocity fluctuations is estimated at several downstream locations, and changes in the magnitude of the frequency peaks corresponding to the blade-pass and turbine rotational frequency are observed. Full volumetric visualization of the coherent structures depicts the vortex merging process responsible for the change in detected frequency peaks, capturing the physical mechanism likely responsible for many similar previous observations.

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Information

Phys. Rev. Fluids 9, L052701– Published 31 May, 2024
  • Received 19 October 2023
  • Accepted 25 March 2024
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.

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