A new Gaussian-based analytical wake model for wind turbines considering ambient turbulence intensities and thrust coefficient effects

A new wake model for wind turbines considering ambient turbulence intensity and thrust coefficient effects is proposed by numerical and analytical studies. Firstly, two kinds of operating condition with different thrust coefficients under two types of inflow with different ambient turbulence intensity are simulated for a model and a utility-scale wind turbine by using large eddy simulation (LES). The predicted mean velocity and turbulence intensity in the wakes of two wind turbines are compared with those obtained from the wind tunnel tests to validate numerical models. Subsequently, a new wake model is proposed to predict the mean velocity and turbulence intensity distribution in the wake regions of wind turbines. The model is derived based on the axial symmetry and self-similarity assumption for wake deficit and added turbulence intensity. All parameters of the proposed model are determined as the function of ambient turbulence intensity and thrust coefficient identified based on the various large eddy simulations. The velocity deficit and added turbulence intensity in the wake predicted by the new wake model show good agreement with the LES simulations and experimental results in the near and far wake regions.