An Assessment of Computational Fluid Dynamics and Semi-empirical approaches for Vertical Axis Wind Turbine Analysis
- DOI
- 10.2991/iea-15.2015.29How to use a DOI?
- Keywords
- CFD; vertical axis wind turbines (VAWT); dynamic stall models
- Abstract
Vertical axis turbines have many attractive features and are well suited for extraction of wind and hydrokinetic energy. At low angular velocities, the rotor blades momentarily experience high angles of attack and move in and out of stall. This gives rise to unsteady aerodynamic loads that may cause vibration and structural fatigue. The high pressure drag and loss of lift during dynamic stall also leads to a lower efficiency compared to horizontal axis systems. In this work, a three-pronged approach with increasing complexity is used to understand and model this complex phenomenon, for a representative system. Empirical curve fits are first used to map the efficiency of the turbine as a function of tip speed ratio. An existing double multiple streamtube methodology (DMST) is next used, with a variety of empirical methods for modeling dynamic stall. Finally, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) results are presented and compared with test data and the DMST approach. It is concluded that DMST approaches are well suited for screening and designing vertical axis wind turbine configurations, followed by detailed modeling of the physical phenomena using well validated CFD tools.
- Copyright
- © 2015, the Authors. Published by Atlantis Press.
- Open Access
- This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).
Cite this article
TY - CONF AU - Bah Elhadji Alpha AU - Sankar Lakshmi N. AU - Jagoda Jechiel I. PY - 2015/09 DA - 2015/09 TI - An Assessment of Computational Fluid Dynamics and Semi-empirical approaches for Vertical Axis Wind Turbine Analysis BT - Proceedings of the AASRI International Conference on Industrial Electronics and Applications (2015) PB - Atlantis Press SP - 111 EP - 114 SN - 2352-5401 UR - https://doi.org/10.2991/iea-15.2015.29 DO - 10.2991/iea-15.2015.29 ID - ElhadjiAlpha2015/09 ER -