Implementation of a pressure based incompressible flow solver in su2 for wind turbine applications

Wind turbine aerodynamics can be broadly classified in the high Reynolds number and low Mach number regime. Flows in this regime are generally incompressible and have large regions where they can be considered as inviscid. Thus, a great number of tools have been developed with incompressible and inviscid flow assumptions. However, as wind turbines designs become more complicated and more efficient, higher fidelity and more accurate tools like CFD are necessary. In this paper, a new open source pressure based incompressible RANS solver for wind turbine applications is introduced. The new solver is implemented within the open source multiphysics CFD suite SU2. A second order finite volume method is used for the space discretization and Euler implicit and explicit schemes for the time integration. Two turbulence models-the k − ω mean shear stress model (SST) and the Spalart-Allamaras model, are available. A verification and validation study is carried out on the solver based on a number of standard problems and finally an investigation into the effect of a vortex generator on turbulent boundary layer is presented.