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Helical Savonius rotor is considered to be superior to conventional Savonius rotor in terms of higher power coefficient (Cp) and better starting characteristic. However studies related to helical Savonius rotors is few. In view of this, in this paper, the performance of a helical Savonius rotor with shaft at 45° bucket twist angle for one complete cycle of rotation was analyzed using Computational Fluid Dynamics. A two-bucket helical Savonius rotor with shaft was designed using GAMBIT, having a height of 60 cm and diameter of 17 cm with 45° bucket twist angle. A three dimensional Computational Fluid Dynamics analysis using Fluent package was done to predict the performance of the rotor. Standard k-? turbulence model with second order upwind discretization scheme and standard wall condition was used. Grid independence test was also conducted to have the best meshing accuracy. Power coefficients (Cp) of the rotor at different tip speed ratios were evaluated for rotor angle variation from 0° to 180°. Cp at each rotor angle increased with increase of tip speed ratio up to an optimum tip speed ratio, but then decreased even if tip speed ratio was further increased. Moreover, the effect of rotor angle on Cp in a complete cycle of rotation was analyzed. Cp was found to be positive at all rotor angles, and higher values of Cp were obtained at rotor angles namely 45°, 90°, 225° and 270°, which would contribute maximum power production by the rotor. In addition to these, flow physics of the rotor was studied using tangential velocity plots w.r.t. rotor angle and path lines across the rotor. It was found that at 45°, 90° and 135° rotor angles, maximum concentration of the path lines near the tip of the blades in the upstream and downstream side of the rotor had occurred, which would be responsible for generation of maximum power coefficient in its clockwise rotation.

Wind power is a major source of sustainable energy and can be harvested using both horizontal and vertical axis wind turbines. Vertical axis wind turbines (VAWTs) accrue more popularity due to its self-starting characteristics and Omni directional in nature. Out of which Savonius rotor is the most popular drag-based VAWT which is having lower efficiencies but having good self-starting characteristics. In order to improve the performance, helix in the tip of the blade is targeted which reduces the negative torque coefficient of the rotor thereby could improve the performance of the rotor. Therefore, in this paper the power coefficients of a two-bucket helical Savonius rotor at different overlap ratios (from 0.0% to 19.76%) with helix twist angle of 20° are investigated experimentally. The investigations mainly concentrate to find out the optimum overlap ratio which is responsible for generation of maximum aerodynamic power. It is seen from the results that the power coefficient of the rotor increases with the increase in overlap ratio up to a certain limit, and further increase of the same decreases the power coefficients. The maximum power coefficient Cp of 0.289 is obtained at an optimum overlap ratio of 12.76 %.

Helical Savonius rotor exhibits better performance characteristics at all the rotor angles compared to conventional Savonius rotor. However studies related to the performance measurement and flow physics of such rotor are very scarce. Keeping this in view, in this paper, a three dimensional Computational Fluid Dynamics analysis using commercial Fluent 6.2 software was done to predict the performance of a two-bucket helical Savonius rotor without shaft and with end plates in a complete cycle of rotation. A two-bucket helical Savonius rotor having height of 60 cm and diameter of 17 cm with 45° bucket twist angle was designed using Gambit. The buckets were connected at the top and bottom circular end plates, which are 1.1 times the rotor diameter. The k-ε turbulence model with second order upwind discretization scheme was adopted with standard wall condition. Power coefficients (Cp) and torque coefficients (Ct) at different tip speed ratios were evaluated at different rotor angles. From the investigation, it was observed that power coefficient increased with increase of tip speed ratio up to an optimum limit, but then decreased even further tip speed ratio was increased. Further investigation was done on the variations of Cp & Ct in a complete cycle of rotation from 0° to 360° in a step of 45° rotor corresponding to the optimum tip speed ratio. The value of Cp at all the rotor angles is positive. Moreover, velocity magnitude contours were analyzed for each rotor angle and it could be concluded that high aerodynamic torque and power can be expected when the rotor is positioned at 45º & 90º with respect to incoming flow.

Helical Savonius rotor exhibits better performance characteristics at all the rotor angles compared to conventional Savonius rotor. However studies related to the performance measurement and flow physics of such rotor are very scarce. Keeping this in view, in this paper, a three dimensional Computational Fluid Dynamics analysis using commercial Fluent 6.2 software was done to predict the performance of a two-bucket helical Savonius rotor without shaft and with end plates in a complete cycle of rotation. A two-bucket helical Savonius rotor having height of 60 cm and diameter of 17 cm with 45° bucket twist angle was designed using Gambit. The buckets were connected at the top and bottom circular end plates, which are 1.1 times the rotor diameter. The k-ε turbulence model with second order upwind discretization scheme was adopted with standard wall condition. Power coefficients (Cp) and torque coefficients (Ct) at different tip speed ratios were evaluated at different rotor angles. From the investigation, it was observed that power coefficient increased with increase of tip speed ratio up to an optimum limit, but then decreased even further tip speed ratio was increased. Further investigation was done on the variations of Cp & Ct in a complete cycle of rotation from 0° to 360° in a step of 45° rotor corresponding to the optimum tip speed ratio. The value of Cp at all the rotor angles is positive. Moreover, velocity magnitude contours were analyzed for each rotor angle and it could be concluded that high aerodynamic torque and power can be expected when the rotor is positioned at 45º & 90º with respect to incoming flow.

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