Immersed boundary methods and their applicability in wind energy

Journal Article (2020)
Author(s)

N Rajan (TU Delft - Wind Energy)

A Vire (TU Delft - Wind Energy)

R. Schmehl (TU Delft - Wind Energy)

Gerard J.W. Van Bussel (TU Delft - Wind Energy)

Research Group
Wind Energy
Copyright
© 2020 Navaneetha Krishnan, A.C. Viré, R. Schmehl, G.J.W. van Bussel
DOI related publication
https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/1618/3/032013
More Info
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Publication Year
2020
Language
English
Copyright
© 2020 Navaneetha Krishnan, A.C. Viré, R. Schmehl, G.J.W. van Bussel
Research Group
Wind Energy
Issue number
3
Volume number
1618
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Abstract

Airborne wind energy systems often use kites made of thin membranes to save material costs and increase mobility. However, this design choice increases the complexity of the aeroelastic behaviour of the system and demands high-fidelity tools. On the aerodynamic side of the multi-physics problem, it is quite challenging to create a high quality body conforming grid due to the complexity of the geometry and the degree of deformation it undergoes. Immersed boundary methods (IBMs) are quite popular in fluid-structure interaction (FSI) problems that involve arbitrarily deforming bodies with complex geometries and are more tolerant to deformations compared to mesh deforming methods like ALE. This paper will look at some of the popular IBMs, outline criteria to evaluate their applicability, and discuss the limitations they have in fulfilling those in problems involving thin membranes.