The current trend of the wind energy industry aims for large scale turbines installed\nin wind farms. This brings a renewed interest in vertical axis wind turbines (VAWTs) since\nthey have several advantages over the traditional Horizontal Axis Wind Tubines (HAWTs)\nfor mitigating the new challenges. However, operating VAWTs are characterized by complex\naerodynamics phenomena, presenting considerable challenges for modeling tools. An accurate\nand reliable simulation tool for predicting the interaction between the obtained wake of an\noperating VAWT and the flow in atmospheric open sites is fundamental for optimizing the design\nand location of wind energy facility projects. The present work studies the wake produced by\na VAWT and how it is affected by the surface roughness of the terrain, without considering\nthe effects of the ambient turbulence intensity. This study was carried out using an actuator\nline model (ALM), and it was implemented using the open-source CFD library OpenFOAM to\nsolve the governing equations and to compute the resulting flow fields. An operational H-shaped\nVAWT model was tested, for which experimental activity has been performed at an open site\nnorth of Uppsala-Sweden. Different terrains with similar inflow velocities have been evaluated.\nSimulated velocity and vorticity of representative sections have been analyzed. Numerical results\nwere validated using normal forces measurements, showing reasonable agreement.
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