To investigate the optimum layouts of small vertical-axis wind turbines, a two-dimensional analysis of dynamic fluid body interaction is performed via computational fluid dynamics for a rotor pair in various configurations. The rotational speed of each turbine rotor (diameter: D = 50 mm) varies based on the equation of motion. First, the dependence of rotor performance on the gap distance (gap) between two rotors is investigated. For parallel layouts, counter-down (CD) layouts with blades moving downwind in the gap region yield a higher mean power than counter-up (CU) layouts with blades moving upwind in the gap region. CD layouts with gap/D = 0.5–1.0 yield a maximum average power that is 23% higher than that of an isolated single rotor. Assuming isotropic bidirectional wind speed, co-rotating (CO) layouts with the same rotational direction are superior to the combination of CD and CU layouts regardless of the gap distance. For tandem layouts, the inverse-rotation (IR) configuration shows an earlier wake recovery than the CO configuration. For 16-wind-direction layouts, both the IR and CO configurations indicate similar power distribution at gap/D = 2.0. For the first time, this study demonstrates the phase synchronization of two rotors via numerical simulation.

Time-resolved tomographic particle image velocimetry experiments show that new hairpin vortices are generated within a fully developed and unperturbed turbulent boundary layer. The measurements are taken at a Reynolds number based on the momentum thickness of 2038, and cover the near-wall region below y + = 140, where y + is the wall-normal distance in wall units. Instantaneous visualizations of the flow reveal near-wall low-speed streaks with associated quasi-streamwise vortices, retrograde inverted arch vortices, hairpin vortices and hairpin packets. The hairpin heads are observed as close to the wall as y + = 30. Examples of hairpin packet evolution reveal the development of new hairpin vortices, which are created upstream and close to the wall in a manner consistent with the auto-generation model (Zhou et al., J. Fluid Mech., vol. 387, 1999, pp. 353-396). The development of the new hairpin appears to be initiated by an approaching sweep event, which perturbs the shear layer associated with the initial packet. The shear layer rolls up, thereby forming the new hairpin head. The head subsequently connects to existing streamwise vortices and develops into a hairpin. The time scale associated with the hairpin auto-generation is 20-30 wall units of time. This demonstrates that hairpins can be created over short distances within a developed turbulent boundary layer, implying that they are not simply remnants of the laminar-to-turbulent transition process far upstream.

This study aimed to determine the optimal rotor spacing of two vertical-axis wind turbines, which are simulated by miniature models arranged side-by-side with a relatively low aspect ratio. Wind tunnel experiments with a pair of 3-D printed model rotors were conducted at a uniform velocity. A series of experiments were conducted involving both incremental adjustments to the rotor gaps, g, and the rotational direction of each rotor. Increases in the power and the related flow patterns were observed in all three arrangements: Co-Rotating (CO), Counter-Up (CU), and Counter-Down (CD). The maximum phase-synchronized rotational speed occurs at the narrowest gap in the CD arrangement. Meanwhile, local maxima arise in the CO and CU arrangements at g/D < 1, where D is the rotor diameter. From an engineering perspective, the optimal rotor spacing is g/D = 0.2 with the CO arrangement, using the same two rotors rotating in the same direction. Based on flow visualization using a smoke-wire method at a narrower gap opening of 0.2D, the wake width in the case of the CU arrangement was remarkably narrower than those obtained in the CO and CD arrangements. In the CU arrangement, a movement towards the center of the rotor pair of the nominal front-stagnation point of each rotor was confirmed via flow visualization. This finding explains a reduction tendency in the rotational speed of the rotors via a reduction in the lift in the CU arrangement.

No abstract

No abstract