Computational Fluid Dynamics Analysis of Wind Turbine Blades at Various Angles of Attack

Abstract

AbstractThe airfoil blades have significant impact on the aerodynamic efficiency of the wind turbine. In this regard, the current work focuses on the investigation of wind turbine-based airfoil blade profiles at different wind velocities and angle of attacks. In this paper, CFD analysis is carried out using Ansys Fluent to select the most suitable blade geometry for use in the wind rotors. For the current simulation, three NACA airfoils, namely NACA 2412, NACA 4412, and NACA 0012, are selected, and with this, the computed results are validated with the existing experimental results. With the validated CFD method, the different values of drag coefficients and lift coefficients have been calculated for the above-mentioned airfoils at various wind velocities and angles of attack. From the CFD analysis that is carried out, it can be concluded that NACA 4412 provides the maximum lift and drag making it suitable for the use in rotors as compared to the other blade profiles selected in our study.KeywordsAirfoilPressure distributionVelocity distributionAngle of attackLift coefficientDrag coefficient