CFD analysis of three and four blades movable vanes type vertical axis wind turbine having movable vanes

Abstract

A thorough understanding of the principles of aerodynamics and structural dynamics of the rotor system is required for designing a wind turbine system that can generate power with high efficiency. The power generated by a Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT) depends on the drag force generated by the individual blades and interactions between them in a rotating configuration. The present analysis is an attempt to predict numerically the coefficient of drag and other aerodynamic parameters for a three and four blades Vane type Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (VVAWT) with different blades and vanes position. Commercial Computational Fluid Dynamics CFD softwares GAMBIT and FLUENT are used in the numerical analysis where the Shear Stress Transport (SST) k-ω turbulence closure model is used. The results are found to be similar in nature to those reported for VAWT having different blade designs.

Design of Rotor Blades for Vertical Axis Wind Turbine with Wind Flow Modifier for Low Wind Profile Areas

“…However, this article proposes an involute-type rotor blade in the VAWT model, because it supports the lift force as well as lift supporting drag force through an available conical-shaped space. Furthermore, the proposed involute-type blades with a wind accelerator, termed the wind flow modifier (WFM), are also adapted for simulation using 3D CFD ANSYS Fluent software [25][26][27] for the effective and reliable outcomes. The core objectives of this article are as follows:…”