Numerical Study on Vortex Analysis of the Blade Airfoil for Wind Turbines During Icing Process

The icing on wind turbines results in significant liability concerns in regions affected by cold and humid climate conditions. Accordingly, vortex analysis of icing blade airfoils is crucial for the safety operation of wind turbines. In this paper, transient ice distribution on NACA0012 airfoil is obtained in the icing wind tunnel experiment, and a series of numerical simulations are performed to obtain flow filed, which generates the input data for vortex analysis of icing airfoils using Liutex method. The results show that the vortex appears on the surface of blade airfoil with an increase in icing time. Afterwards, as the amount of icing continues to grow, the vortex on the surface of the airfoil sheds from the trailing edge, which intensifies the change in trailing edge vortex, spreading to the far flow field. Owing to the pressure side of the airfoil surface being more affected by icing, the number of vortex on the pressure side of the airfoil is much greater than that on the suction side. This paper provides an effective reference for anti-deicing design of wind turbine blades.