The Effect of Distributed Roughness on the Power Performance of Wind Turbines

The effects of distributed roughness on wind turbines are extensively investigated in this paper. The sources of roughness are identified and analyzed and their effects on airfoil are estimated from simulations and measured with wind tunnel measurements. In addition to the environmental and manufacturing induced roughness, several forms of roughness-related shape deviations are investigated and their effects on the aerodynamic performance of airfoils is qualitatively predicted through numerical simulations. The actual effects of roughness on wind turbine performance are also presented through power production measurements of wind turbines installed in sandy environments. These measurements are correlated with simulated power predictions, utilizing a steady state BEM code.