Wake modeling – single turbine

The turbine operating conditions are given by the thrust and power coefficients, 𝐶𝑇 and 𝐶𝑃,
respectively, which are a function of the wind speed that the turbine experiences. From the
operating conditions, it is possible to calculate the axial induction factor, 𝑎:

𝐶𝑇 = 4𝑎(1 − 𝑎)
1 − √1 −
𝐶𝑇
𝑎=
2

According to the 1D momentum theory, wind speeds at the rotor plane, 𝑉𝑅, and in the near wake,
𝑉𝑁𝑊, are given by:

𝑉𝑅 = (1 − 𝑎)𝑉∞
𝑉𝑁𝑊 = (1 − 2𝑎)𝑉∞

The radius of the wake just downstream the turbine, 𝑅𝑁𝑊, can be obtained from the continuity
equation applied to the control volume, 𝐶𝑉1:
 𝜋𝑅𝑁𝑊
2
𝑉𝑁𝑊 = 𝜋𝑅2𝑉𝑅
𝑅2𝑁𝑊
(1 − 2𝑎)𝑉∞ = 𝑅2(1 − 𝑎)𝑉∞

𝑅𝑁𝑊 = 𝑅√ 1 − 𝑎
1 − 2𝑎

The continuity equation can now be applied to the control volume, 𝐶𝑉2, to obtain an expression for
the far wake wind speed at a distance 𝑥 downstream the turbine:

𝜋𝑅 2 𝑉𝑁𝑊 + 𝜋(𝑅 2 − 𝑅 2 )𝑉∞ = 𝜋𝑅 2 𝑉𝐹𝑊,𝑥

𝑁𝑊 𝐹𝑊 𝑁𝑊 𝐹𝑊,𝑥
𝑅 2 (1 − 2𝑎)𝑉∞ + (𝑅 2 − 𝑅 2 )𝑉∞ = 𝑅 2 𝑉𝐹𝑊,𝑥
𝑁𝑊 𝐹𝑊 𝑁𝑊 𝐹𝑊,𝑥
𝑅 2 𝑉∞ − 2𝑎𝑅 2 𝑉∞ + 𝑅 2 𝑉∞ − 𝑅 2 𝑉∞ = 𝑅 2 𝑉𝐹𝑊,𝑥
𝑁𝑊 𝑁𝑊 𝐹𝑊 𝑁𝑊 𝐹𝑊,𝑥
−2𝑎𝑅2 𝑉∞ + 𝑅2 𝑉∞ = 𝑅2 𝑉𝐹𝑊
𝑁𝑊 𝐹𝑊 𝐹𝑊,𝑥

2
𝑉 = 𝑉 [1 − 2𝑎 𝑅 𝑁𝑊
( )]
𝐹𝑊,𝑥 ∞
𝑅𝐹𝑊,𝑥

From empirical observations, the radius of the wake region can be assumed to have a linear
increase along the centerline coordinate, 𝑥:

𝑅𝐹𝑊,𝑥 = 𝑅𝑁𝑊 + 𝛼𝑥

where 𝛼 is the wake decay coefficient.

A more useful expression for the far wake wind speed can now be obtained:

2𝑎 ]
𝑉𝐹𝑊,𝑥 = 𝑉∞ [1 − 𝑥2
(1 + 𝛼 )
𝑅𝑁𝑊
2𝑎 ]
𝑉𝐹𝑊,𝑥 = 𝑉∞ [1 − 𝑥2
(1 + 2𝛼 )
𝐷𝑁𝑊
The far wake wind speed can also be expressed as a function of the thrust coefficient:

𝑉𝐹𝑊,𝑥 = 𝑉∞ [1 − 1 − √1 − 𝐶𝑇
]
𝑥2
(1 + 2𝛼 )
𝐷𝑁𝑊

The wind speed deficit is defined as:

𝑉𝐹𝑊,𝑥 1 − √1 − 𝐶𝑇
1− 𝑥2
=𝑉
∞
(1 + 2𝛼 )
𝐷𝑁𝑊

The wind speed along the centerline axis is plotted in the following figure.

Park Wake Model

The previous formulation is used for the Park Wake Model, which is implemented is the
microscale model WAsP for wake effect estimations and wind farm energy calculations. It was
first developed by Jensen (1983) and subsequently improved by Katic et al. (1986). However, to
simplify the formulation, two assumptions were introduced:
 - The origin of the x-coordinate is coincident with the rotor position; therefore, the distance
between the rotor plane and the section identified as near wake, NW, is neglected.
- The radius of the near wake region, 𝑅𝑁𝑊, is equal to the rotor radius, 𝑅; therefore, the
expansion of the wake just behind the rotor is neglected.
These two assumptions are ultimately motivated by the fact that the region where the energy
extraction occurs is much smaller that the lengths that exist between different wind turbines in a
wind farm.
The general expression used in the WAsP model for the wind speed deficit induced by the turbine
𝑖 on the turbine/location 𝑗 (with 𝑗 in the wake of 𝑖) is the following:

𝑉𝑖,𝑗 1 − √1 − 𝐶𝑇,𝑖
1− 𝑥 2
=𝑉
𝑖 ,𝑗
∞
(1 + 2𝛼 )
𝐷

Wake decay coefficient

The results of the wake estimations are very dependent on the wake decay coefficient, 𝛼. An
increased value of 𝛼 implies that the wind speed recuperates faster and the wake becomes wider.
Values in the range of 0.05-0.10 have been shown to provide quite good agreement with
experimental data (the lower end is recommended for offshore wind turbines, the upper end for
onshore).
More sophisticated approaches have tried to relate the wake decay coefficient to the atmospheric
turbulence flow characteristics. For example:

𝑢∗
𝛼=
𝑉𝐻

where 𝑢∗ is the friction velocity and 𝑉𝐻 is the hub-height wind speed.

The wind speed profile can be described by the logarithmic law and can include the effect of
atmospheric stability. Therefore, the hub-height wind speed can be calculated as follows:

𝑢∗ 𝐻 𝐻
𝑉𝐻 = [ln (
𝜅 𝑧0 ) − Ψ𝑚 ( 𝐿 )]
where 𝜅 is the von Kármán constant, 𝑧0 is the surface roughness, 𝐿 is the Monin–Obukhov
length, and Ψ𝑚 is the correction function that accounts for the atmospheric stability. The Monin–
Obukhov length is used to describe the effects of buoyancy on turbulent flows; it characterizes
the relative importance of heat convection and mechanical turbulence. Three classes of
atmospheric stability can be defined: unstable, neutral, and stable conditions. For neutral
conditions, Ψ𝑚 becomes zero. The wake decay coefficient can therefore be expressed as:

𝜅
𝛼= 𝐻 𝐻
ln ( ) − Ψ𝑚 ( )
𝑧0 𝐿

Alternatively, it is possible to express 𝛼 as function of turbulence intensity, 𝑇𝐼 = 𝜎𝑉𝐻 ⁄𝑉𝐻, where

𝜎𝑉𝐻 is the wind speed standard deviation. Experimental observations of the turbulence of
atmospheric boundary layers show that 𝜎𝑉𝐻 ≅ 2.5 𝑢∗. The wake decay coefficient can therefore be
expressed as:

𝛼 = 0.4 𝑇𝐼

Wake modeling – multiple turbines

The problem of interacting wakes is solved by assuming that the kinetic energy deficit of a
mixed wake is equal to the sum of the kinetic energy deficits for each wake at the calculated
downstream position.
The kinetic energy deficit at location 𝑗 generated by the all the upstream turbines 𝑖 is:

2 𝑁
2
𝑉 𝑉
(1 − 𝑗 = ∑ (1 𝑖,𝑗
𝑉∞) − 𝑉∞)
𝑖=1,𝑖≠𝑗

The resulting wins speed at location 𝑗 is therefore:

 𝑁 2
𝑉
𝑉𝑗 = 𝑉∞ [1 − √ ∑ (1 − 𝑖,𝑗
𝑉∞) ]
𝑖=1,𝑖≠𝑗

2
𝑁
𝑉𝑗 = 𝑉∞ 1 − √ ∑ ( 1 − √1 − 𝐶𝑇,𝑖
𝑥𝑖,𝑗 2 )
(1 + 2𝛼 )
𝐷 ]
𝑖=1,𝑖≠��
[

Remember that the operating conditions of the upstream turbines might also be affected in turn
by other upstream turbines. Turbine 𝑖 might in fact experience a wind speed different than the
undisturbed and 𝐶𝑇,𝑖 is in turn affected.

Example 1

For this case, turbines 1 and 2 experience the undisturbed wind conditions, whereas turbine 3 is in
the combined wakes of the other two.
The wind speeds at the different locations are therefore:

𝑉1 = 𝑉∞
 𝑉2 = 𝑉∞

2 2

1 − √1 − 𝐶𝑇,1 1 − √1 − 𝐶𝑇,2
√
𝑉3 = 𝑉∞ 1 −
( 𝑥 2) +(
𝑥 2)
(1 + 2𝛼 1𝐷,3 ) (1 + 2𝛼 2𝐷,3 )
[ ]

Example 2

For this case, turbine 1 experiences the undisturbed wind conditions, turbine 2 is in the wake of
turbine 1, and turbine 3 is in the combined wakes of the other two.
The wind speeds at the different locations are in this case the following:

𝑉1 = 𝑉∞

1 − √1 − 𝐶𝑇,1
𝑉2 = 𝑉∞ [1 − ( )]
𝑥 2
(1 + 2𝛼 1,2 )
𝐷
 2 2

1 − √1 − 𝐶𝑇,1 1 − √1 − 𝐶𝑇,2
√
𝑉3 = 𝑉∞ 1 −
( 𝑥 2) +(
𝑥 2)
(1 + 2𝛼 1𝐷,3 ) (1 + 2𝛼 2𝐷,3 )
[ ]

To note is that 𝐶𝑇,2 should be calculated according to the wind speed 𝑉2 that is experienced by
turbine 2. It is however possible to assume a constant value for the thrust coefficient over a wide
range of wind speeds.