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Large-eddy simulations for hill terrains: validation with wind-tunnel and field measurements

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Abstract

Development and validation of large-eddy simulation (LES) framework to study atmospheric boundary layer flows over complex terrains is reported here. The LES model uses the fourth-order time-accurate Runge–Kutta scheme and a fractional step method. The inflow boundary conditions are generated by using the so-called recycling (or mapping) technique. Evaluation of potential in-land wind park locations is the main application of the validated model. In this work, LES are carried out for turbulent boundary-layer flows over both simple and complex hill geometries. The prediction of the flow separation and reattachment length for a steeper wind-tunnel hill was closer to the measurements than previous numerical studies reported by other authors for the same hill geometry. For the complex hill case, the LES model showed good agreement with full-scale measurements.

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Acknowledgements

During this work, the high-performance computing resources were provided by CSC-IT Center for Science Ltd, in Espoo, Finland. The work presented here was carried out in the RENEWTECH project with objectives to develop wind power technology and business in Southern Finland, and it was funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). The European Research Council is also acknowledged for providing funding for the project “Atmospheric planetary boundary layers: Physics, modeling and role in the earth system” (PBL-PMES) (Grant Agreement Number 227915).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CEID, School of Engineering Science, Lappeenranta University of Technology (LUT), P.O. Box 20, 53851, Lappeenranta, Finland

    Ashvinkumar Chaudhari

  2. Department of Energy Technology, Aalto University, P.O. Box 14300, 00076, Aalto, Finland

    Ville Vuorinen

  3. Lappeenranta University of Technology (LUT), P.O. Box 20, 53851, Lappeenranta, Finland

    Jari Hämäläinen

  4. Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI), P.O. Box 503, 00101, Helsinki, Finland

    Antti Hellsten

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  1. Ashvinkumar Chaudhari
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  2. Ville Vuorinen
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  3. Jari Hämäläinen
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  4. Antti Hellsten
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Correspondence to Ashvinkumar Chaudhari.

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Communicated by Paul Cizmas.

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Chaudhari, A., Vuorinen, V., Hämäläinen, J. et al. Large-eddy simulations for hill terrains: validation with wind-tunnel and field measurements. Comp. Appl. Math. 37, 2017–2038 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40314-017-0435-z

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