An actuator disk method with tip‐loss correction based on local effective upstream velocities

This work aims at assessing the performance of a tip‐loss correction for advanced actuator disk (AD) methods coupled to large eddy simulation and making this correction possible in a wind farm configuration. The classical Glauert tip‐loss factor, commonly used in the blade element momentum method, is added here to correct the tip and the root induced velocities at the rotor. However, it requires a reference upstream velocity, which is problematic to define in complex flows, such as in wind farms. A methodology is proposed here to infer an effective upstream velocity local to each disk element, based on the one‐dimensional momentum theory and using only the local data at the rotor. This estimation is verified through a set of simulations, leading to good results in spite of the crude assumptions of the one‐dimensional momentum theory. This AD supplemented with the tip‐loss correction is compared with a high fidelity vortex particle‐mesh method, through the simulations in uniform wind of a constant circulation wind turbine and of a more realistic machine, the NREL‐5MW rotor. The results show that the AD behavior is clearly improved by the addition of a tip‐loss factor and the potential errors on the effective upstream velocity estimation have a moderate impact on the tip‐loss correction.