Complexity-Aware Design Analysis of the Efficiency in Darrieus Vertical Axis Wind Turbines

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors
Rodrigo S. Vieira 1
Ana Pavlovic 2
Cristiano Fragassa 2
Elizaldo D. dos Santos 3
Adriane P. Petry 1
1 Department of Mechanical Engineering, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Sarmento Leite St., 425, Porto Alegre 90040-001, Brazil
2 Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Bologna, Viale Risorgimento 2, 40136 Bologna, Italy
3 School of Engineering Universidade Federal do Rio Grande, Italia Av., km 8, 96203-900, Rio Grande-RS, Brazil
10.22055/jacm.2024.46304.4496
Abstract
This study proposes a numerical investigation for assessing the primary design parameters influencing the efficiency of a Darrieus type vertical axis wind turbine. The methodology consists in the numerical solution of the continuity and momentum equations utilizing the Unsteady Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes (URANS) approach. The turbulence closure model is the SST k-ω, and the Finite Volume Method is applied to solve the three-dimensional geometries. The findings confirm that variations in solidity and aspect ratio of twisted blade turbines, in comparison to straight blade configurations, exert a similar influence on the torque coefficient, surpassing the impact of blade torsion angle variations. Results corroborated previous findings of literature about the fluctuations in the torque coefficient (Cm) being smoothed in 55% when helical blades are used in comparison with straight configuration. However, the increase in blade torsion angle corresponded to a decrease in the torque coefficient, with maximum difference of 37% when solidity (σ) is σ = 0.75 and the ratio between height and radius of the turbine is H/R = 1.5. Results also demonstrated that the increase in the solidity from σ = 0.4 to 0.8 reduced the effect of the ratio H/R on the Cm. The increase of σ allowed a gain in Cm of nearly 60%. For constant σ and tip speed ratio (λ), the increase of H/R from 2.5 to 7.5 led to an increase of 79% in Cm. In general, results supplied a guideline on the influence of λ, twisted angle, σ, and H/R on the performance of helical Darrieus turbines.
Keywords
Vertical axis wind turbine
Twisted blade Darrieus
Design
Aerodynamics
Numerical simulation
Finite volume method
Subjects

Publisher’s Note Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

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Journal of Applied and Computational Mechanics
Volume 11, Issue 1
Winter 2025
Pages 264-273