Mechanism of bionic leading-edge protuberances on the aerodynamic performance of horizontal axis wind turbine

Leading-edge protuberances (LEPs) suppress flow separation and improve the aerodynamic performance of fluid machinery. In this paper, bionic protuberance was added to the leading edge of the wind turbine blade. Three parameters were designed to control the protuberance shape (amplitude, attenuation, and number), and a comparative study was conducted using computational fluid dynamics. Results indicate that the bionic LEPs can influence the flow pattern. Under the rated condition with the wind speed of 11.4 m/s, using the LEPs with a larger attenuation can increase the output power of the wind turbine by 1.36 %. Research on the parameters of the LEP shows that when using LEPs with faster attenuation rate and fewer number, the vortex on the suction surface can be reduced, which brings positive gains. Unsteady characteristics indicate that LEPs can reduce the blade fluctuations during operation and can improve the operational stability. Therefore, bionic LEPs can effectively enhance the performance of wind turbines.