Numerical simulations of wake characteristics of a wind turbine in uniform inflow

The wake of a wind turbine operating in a uniform inflow at various tip speed ratios is simulated using a numerical method, which combines large eddy simulations with an actuator line technique. The computations are carried Out in a numerical mesh with about 8.4-10(6) grid points distributed to facilitate detailed studies of basic features of both the near and far wake, including distributions of interference factors, vortex structures and formation of instabilities. Copyright (C) 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.