Aerodynamic research progress in wind energy Ⅱ: Inflow and wake characteristics

Aerodynamics is the primary and key issue faced by wind energy engineering, which determines its economy, stability and safety. Based on the development requirement and trend of large-scale, clustering, oceanic, intelligence and digital for wind engineering, the present review is mainly focused on the aerodynamics issues faced by wind energy, such as the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL), wind turbine wake flow, onshore/offshore/complex-terrain wind farm flow and its interactions. As the second review of a successive work, special interests here are put on the atmospheric inflow and wake characteristics of wind turbines. For these two aspects, this paper summarizes recent research efforts in field measurement, wind tunnel experiment, theoretical analysis, numerical simulation, engineering modelling and artificial intelligence predictions, and also provides some views on the corresponding flow distribution characteristics, evolution laws and key mechanisms. Some discussions and suggestions are made on the aerodynamic challenges faced by wind power development under our country’s specific atmospheric/geographical conditions. Finally, a non-exhaustive perspective on the future of wind energy engineering research is presented. It is expected to provide an important reference for wind power industry planning, technological development and project implementation.