An effective flow separation control method is urgently needed to improve the aerodynamic performance of the thick wind turbine airfoil. The purpose of the present study is to explore the effect of leading-edge protuberances (LEPs) on the aerodynamic performances for thick wind turbine airfoil during stall region. A direct force measurement technique employing three-component force balance was used to analyze the aerodynamic characteristics of airfoils with LEPs at a Reynolds number of Re = 2 × 10⁵ through the wind tunnel experiment. Particle Image Velocimetry measurement was also performed to understand the effects of LEPs on flow separation and to correlate these effects with the aerodynamic performances of airfoil. The mean velocity and vorticity results indicate that the LEPs can effectively suppress flow separation for the thick airfoil in the stall region, moreover the airfoil with smaller amplitudes and wavelengths tends to perform significantly better in flow separation control. The LEPs method promotes the wavy airfoil with a better flow separation characteristics, which can effectively improve the aerodynamic performance and reduce the intensity of aerodynamic fluctuations for the thick airfoil. In addition, the stall process of the wavy airfoil is much gentler without sharp deterioration. Therefore, the LEPs method can help maintain high aerodynamic performance and prevent structural problems for the inboard region of wind turbine blades.

急需一种有效的流动分离控制方法来提高厚风轮机翼型的气动性能。本研究的目的是探索前缘突起 (LEP) 对失速区域内厚风力涡轮机翼型空气动力学性能的影响。采用三分量力平衡的直接力测量技术分析了雷诺数 Re = 2 × 10 ^{5 下}具有 LEP 的翼型的空气动力学特性通过风洞实验。还进行了粒子图像测速测量，以了解 LEP 对流动分离的影响，并将这些影响与翼型的空气动力学性能相关联。平均速度和涡度结果表明，LEPs可以有效抑制失速区厚翼型的流动分离，而且幅度和波长较小的翼型在流动分离控制方面往往表现得更好。LEPs方法促进了具有更好流动分离特性的波浪形翼型，对于厚翼型，可以有效提高气动性能，降低气动波动强度。此外，波浪形翼型的失速过程更加平缓，没有急剧恶化。所以，