Abstract
This study quantitatively investigates the effects of tunnel blockage on the turbine power coefficient in wind tunnel tests of small horizontal-axis wind turbines (HAWTs). The blockage factor (BF), U T U F 3 , was determined by measuring the tunnel velocities with and without rotors using a pitot–static tube under various test conditions. Results show that the BF depends strongly on the rotor tip speed ratio (TSR), the blade pitch angle ( β), and the tunnel blockage ratio (BR). The larger the TSR and BR are, the smaller the BF is. The BF approaches a constant value when the TSR exceeds a certain value. No blockage correction is necessary for small TSR under all of the investigated conditions, and for the investigated blade pitch angle of 25°. This study also shows that the blockage correction is less than 5% for a BR of 10%, which confirms that no blockage correction for a BR less than 10% in literatures is acceptable.
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