Effects of blunt trailing-edge optimization on aerodynamic characteristics of NREL phase VI wind turbine blade under rime ice conditions

Abstract

To reduce the adverse effects of the ice on aerodynamic characteristics, a new NREL Phase VI wind turbine blade which is suitable to rime ice environments is developed through the blunt trailing-edge optimization. The parametric control equations of blunt trailing-edge airfoil are established by adopting the airfoil profile integration theory and B-spline curve, and the curve fitting of the airfoil’s rime ice from LEWICE software is carried out using the linear interpolation algorithm with equidistant and equiangular step lengths. The S809 airfoil under rime ice conditions is optimized to maximize the lift coefficient by the particle swarm optimization (PSO) coupled with GAMBIT and FLUENT, and a NREL Phase VI blade is formed with the optimized airfoil S809-BT (with BT the blunt trailing-edge). The blade’s rime ice is obtained through using the polynomial fitting to deal with projection point coordinates of airfoils’ ice shapes in lagging and flapping surfaces, and the pressure coefficient, flow characteristics, torque and output power of icy sharp and blunt trailing-edge blades are investigated. The results indicate that in rime ice conditions, compared with those of sharp trailing-edge blade, the pressure difference and vortex size of blunt trailing-edge blade become larger, and the torque and output power increase by 4.36 %, 1.55 % and 2.88 % at v= 7 m/s, 15 m/s and 20 m/s, respectively. The research provides significant guidance for improving the aerodynamic performance of wind turbine blade considering the icing effects.