Our CFD tools are leading the way in the wind energy sector, predicting wind flow and the power produced, especially for wind farms on mountainous terrain.

At the planning stage, a wind resource analysis is conducted to determine the available wind energy for a particular site.  For complex terrains, this is complicated by the local wind flow patterns and the effect of trees, buildings and even other wind farms.  Our wind energy specialists have been applying highly accurate models and analysis techniques for over 10 years, alongside industry leading wind farm developers.

Wind Farm Layout (Wakes and Blockage Effects)

The industrial adoption of high fidelity methods for large-scale wind farm design has highlighted the importance of interaction effects between turbines.   We apply a range of resolution methods to understand and quantify these effects, which have been shown to be accurate in blind testing against real wind farm performance [SSE, 2015].

Blade Design Analysis (FSI)

For individual turbines, increased blade lengths (as turbines get larger) bring the challenge of aero-elastic vibrations – which cause performance loss and ultimate blade damage and failure. We work with industry leading composite structural design engineers to provide an integrated aero-structural design analysis capability.  We participate in international benchmark studies and provide specialist consulting to new platform developers.