Aerodynamic Performance of Wind Turbine Airfoil DU 91-W2-250 under Dynamic Stall

Airfoils are subjected to the 'dynamic stall' phenomenon in significant pitch oscillations during the actual operation process of wind turbines. Dynamic stall will result in aerodynamic fatigue loads and further cause a discrepancy in the aerodynamic performance between design and operation. In this paper, a typical wind turbine airfoil, DU 91-W2-250, is examined numerically using the transition shear stress transport (SST) model under a Reynolds number of 3 x 10(5). The influence of a reduced frequency on the unsteady dynamic performance of the airfoil model is examined by analyzing aerodynamic coefficients, pressure contours and separation point positions. It is concluded that an increasingly-reduced frequency leads to lower aerodynamic efficiency during the upstroke process of pitching motions. The results show the movement of the separation point and the variation of flow structures in a hysteresis loop. Additionally, the spectrum of pressure signals on the suction surface is analyzed, exploring the level of dependence of pressure fluctuation on the shedding vortex and oscillation process. It provides a theoretical basis for the understanding of the dynamic stall of the wind turbine airfoil.