Experimental and Numerical Studies on a Low Reynolds Number Airfoil for Wind Turbine Blades

Ahmed, M. Rafiuddin; Narayan, Sumesh; Zullah, M. Asid; Lee, Young-Ho

doi:10.1299/jfst.6.357

Cited by 16 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…The Re was varied from 38 000 to 300 000, and Tu was varied from 1% to 10%. The a versus C l and a versus C d graphs are shown in Figures 16 and 17, respectively [28]. It can be seen that C l increases continuously up to 14 o for the lowest Re of 38 000, after which it starts to decrease because of the separation of the flow from the upper surface.…”

Section: Low Re Airfoilsmentioning

confidence: 95%

Blade sections for wind turbine and tidal current turbine applications-current status and future challenges

Ahmed

2012

Int. J. Energy Res.

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SUMMARY The designers of horizontal axis wind turbines and tidal current turbines are increasingly focusing their attention on the design of blade sections appropriate for specific applications. In modern large wind turbines, the blade tip is designed using a thin airfoil for high lift : drag ratio, and the root region is designed using a thick version of the same airfoil for structural support. A high lift to drag ratio is a generally accepted requirement; however, although a reduction in the drag coefficient directly contributes to a higher aerodynamic efficiency, an increase in the lift coefficient does not have a significant contribution to the torque, as it is only a small component of lift that increases the tangential force while the larger component increases the thrust, necessitating an optimization. An airfoil with a curvature close to the leading edge that contributes more to the rotation will be a good choice; however, it is still a challenge to design such an airfoil. The design of special purpose airfoils started with LS and SERI airfoils, which are followed by many series of airfoils, including the new CAS airfoils. After nearly two decades of extensive research, a number of airfoils are available; however, majority of them are thick airfoils as the strength is still a major concern. Many of these still show deterioration in performance with leading edge contamination. Similarly, a change in the freestream turbulence level affects the performance of the blade. A number of active and passive flow control devices have been proposed and tested to improve the performance of blades/turbines. The structural requirements for tidal current turbines tend to lead to thicker sections, particularly near the root, which will cause a higher drag coefficient. A bigger challenge in the design of blades for these turbines is to avoid cavitation (which also leads to thicker sections) and still obtain an acceptably high lift coefficient. Another challenge for the designers is to design blades that give consistent output at varying flow conditions with a simple control system. The performance of a rotating blade may be significantly different from a non‐rotating blade, which requires that the design process should continue till the blade is tested under different operating conditions. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Section: Low Re Airfoilsmentioning

confidence: 95%

Blade sections for wind turbine and tidal current turbine applications-current status and future challenges

Ahmed

2012

Int. J. Energy Res.

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“…the optimal chord dimension can be made based on several parameters tailored to the design, such as wind speed, number of blade, tip speed ratio, and angle of attack, and if operated at low wind speeds it is possible to perform aerodynamic optimization of the rotor blades which are the most important part of the wind turbine. [10][11][12]. This study aims to get local fast growing wood wind turbines blades in Indonesia, which has the best physical and mechanical properties of wood, and is tested computationally on certain airfoils and shows a uniform distribution of stress.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Selecting and testing of wind turbine blades of the local-wood growing fastly on local wind characteristics

Surjosatyo¹,

Dewantoro²,

Saragih³

et al. 2018

IOP Conf. Ser.: Earth Environ. Sci.

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Abstract. The total potential of wind energy in Indonesia reaches 144 GW. This wind energy potential is dominated by small wind speeds ranging from 4-6 m / s and about 113 GW. This is the reason why the development of small-scale wind powerplant is more feasible to be developed in Indonesia. The characteristics of local wind and geographical conditions of Indonesia which is an archipelagic country are fundamental in designing wind power and utilizing of local materials. This study aims to get local fast-growing wood of wind turbines blades in Indonesia, which has the best physical and mechanical properties of wood, and is tested computationally on certain airfoils and shows a uniform distribution of stress. The types of wood are tested in this study were Sengon (Albizia chinensis), Jabon (Antocephalus cadamba), and Balsa (Ochroma Rowlee grandiflorum). The test covers the basic properties of the wood, physical and mechanical properties. The test results showed that Jabon have density 0.34 was the best compared to Sengon (0.24) and balsa (0.18). The best dimensional stability (T/R Ratios) are Jabon (1.97), sengon (2.19) and balsa (2.84), respectively. With the highest density result and the lowest dimensional stability value, mechanical testing of Jabon wood shows the best mechanical properties. The simulation result using Q-Blade software was obtained airfoil NACA 4415 most suitable for local wind characteristics, and got the low value of stress and distribution color uniformly on each wood.

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“…3 The commonly used NACA airfoils are not appropriate for wind turbines that need to operate in regions of low wind. 4 NACA airfoils are suitable mainly for high Reynolds numbers and relatively small angles of attack (a). 5 Wind turbine airfoils need to perform well over a wide range of angles of attack.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Low Reynolds number airfoil optimization for wind turbine applications using genetic algorithm

Ram

Lal

Ahmed

2013

Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy

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Optimization of a low Reynolds number airfoil for use in small wind turbines is carried out using a Genetic Algorithm (GA) optimization technique. With the aim of creating a roughness insensitive airfoil for the tip region of turbine blades, a multi-objective genetic algorithm code is developed. A review of existing parameterization and optimization methods is presented along with the strategies applied to optimize the airfoil in this study. A composite Bezier curve is used to parameterize the airfoil. The resulting airfoil, the USPT2 has a maximum thickness of 10% and shows insensitivity to roughness at the optimized angles and at other angles of attack as well. The characteristics of USPT2 are studies by comparing it against the popular SG6043 airfoil. While a slight loss in lift is noticed for both airfoils, the drag increments due to early transition are noticeable as well. The airfoil is also studied using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and wind tunnel experiments during free and forced transition. The USPT2 airfoil will be useful in small wind turbines for locations where blade soiling is likely or where other flow phenomena may cause early transition of the boundary layer.

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Experimental and Numerical Studies on a Low Reynolds Number Airfoil for Wind Turbine Blades

Cited by 16 publications

References 10 publications

Blade sections for wind turbine and tidal current turbine applications-current status and future challenges

Blade sections for wind turbine and tidal current turbine applications-current status and future challenges

Selecting and testing of wind turbine blades of the local-wood growing fastly on local wind characteristics

Low Reynolds number airfoil optimization for wind turbine applications using genetic algorithm

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