Multi-fidelity simulation tools for modern wind turbines

The fidelity of numerical tools used for the design and simulation of modern wind turbines needs to be quickly expanded to meet the incoming challenges, although engineering methods will still provide the backbone of the majority of preliminary design analyses. In this chapter, some perspectives of multi-fidelity approaches in wind turbine problems are presented, ranging from those connected to airfoil and blade aerodynamics up to structural dynamics. Some of the most credited methods of all fidelity levels are presented for each area, discussing their accuracy, cost, and complexity level. Then, by means of specific research examples, the prospects of a new holistic simulation paradigm based on the combination of methods with different fidelities are discussed with the aim of providing the reader with the flavour of what could be at hand in the near future in wind turbine analysis.