Benchmarking aerodynamic codes for 2D aerofoils with leading edge erosion

Forsting, A Meyer and Dicholkar, A and Sørensen, NN and Olsen, AS and Bak, C and Theron, JN and Aihara, A and Caboni, M and Ravishankara, A Koodly and Vimalakanthan, K and Bretos, D and Mendez, B and Campaña-Alonso, G and Jimenez, O Pires and Grasso, F and Campobasso, MS and Maniaci, D (2026) Benchmarking aerodynamic codes for 2D aerofoils with leading edge erosion. Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 3224 (4): 042037. ISSN 1742-6588

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Abstract

Increasing tip speeds and harsh environmental conditions have made leading edge erosion and roughness (LEE/LER) a major concern for the wind industry, as even mild surface damage can significantly lower aerodynamic performance and annual energy production. This paper presents an aerodynamic benchmark conducted within the framework of IEA Task 46 to assess the predictive capabilities of various CFD-RANS and viscous-inviscid interaction codes using simulations and wind tunnel measurements from the LERCat project. The benchmark focusses on the 21% thick FFA-W3-211 aerofoil across seven test cases: clean (transitional and tripped), rough (P40 and P400 sandpaper), and three 2D erosion profiles of varying severity, extracted from 3D aerofoil surfaces with realistic, high-resolution damage topographies. The study finds that while codes generally agree within the attached-flow regime in clean conditions, significant spreads occur around stall and when modelling large-scale sand roughness, where pressure drag becomes dominant. The resolved erosion cases highlight that performance is primarily driven by erosion triggering bypass transition and that it is grid dependant. Overall, the agreement between codes for predicting the performance with LEE within the aerofoil operating range is substantially better than for the clean transitional case.