Numerical investigation of unsteady aerodynamic effects caused by tower blockage

The greater challenge that the wind turbine industry faces today is to decrease the loads caused by the unsteady aerodynamic e ects that reduce economic the e ciency of wind turbines, leading to their incapability to be competitive with respect to other energy sources. With the objective of examining one of this phenomenon, this thesis presents a deepening in the analysis of the tower wake interference with the blades, known as tower shadow, in an upwind turbine by means of a CFD study implemented with the DLR FLOWer code and its potent over-set grid tool Chimera, which enables the simpli cation of complex grids. A 2D set composed by a background, a tower and a variable number of aerofoil is subjected to essential variations in the individual and auxiliary 'holes' geometry and in simulation parameters that a ect the outcome of the simulation, represented primarily by the velocity, the drag and lift non-dimensional coe cients and the angle of attack. Finally, conclusions are drawn.