On the estimation of the angle of attack for vertical axis wind turbines
International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow
ISSN: 0961-5539
Article publication date: 8 August 2023
Issue publication date: 13 August 2024
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate the problem of estimating the angle of attack (AoA) and relative velocity for vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) blades from computational fluid dynamics data.
Design/methodology/approach
Two methods are implemented as function objects within the OpenFOAM framework for estimating the blade’s AoA and relative velocity. For the numerical analysis of the flow around and through the VAWT, 2 D unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (URANS) simulations are carried out and validated against experimental data.
Findings
To gain a better understanding of the complex flow features encountered by VAWT blades, the determination of the AoA is crucial. Relying on the geometrically-derived AoA may lead to wrong conclusions about blade aerodynamics.
Practical implications
This study can lead to the development of more robust optimization techniques for enhancing the variable-pitch control mechanism of VAWT blades and improving low-order models based on the blade element momentum theory.
Originality/value
Assessment of the reliability of AoA and relative velocity estimation methods for VAWT’ blades at low-Reynolds numbers using URANS turbulence models in the context of dynamic stall and blade–vortex interactions.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The computations for this research were carried out using computational resources provided by Compute Canada and Calcul Québec, which are here gratefully acknowledged.
Data availability: In the interest of transparency, data sharing, and reproducibility, the author(s) of this article have made the data underlying their research openly available. It can be accessed by following the link here: https://gitlab.com/c6031/VAWT
Citation
Ouchene, S., Smaili, A. and Fellouah, H. (2024), "On the estimation of the angle of attack for vertical axis wind turbines", International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, Vol. 34 No. 7, pp. 2626-2653. https://doi.org/10.1108/HFF-09-2022-0566
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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