Abstract
A method for inverse design of horizontal axis wind turbines (HAWTs) is presented in this paper. The direct solver for aerodynamic analysis solves the Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) equations, where the effect of the turbine rotor is modeled as momentum sources using the actuator disk model (ADM); this approach is referred to as RANS/ADM. The inverse problem is posed as follows: for a given selection of airfoils, the objective is to find the blade geometry (described as blade twist and chord distributions) which realizes the desired turbine aerodynamic performance at the design point; the desired performance is prescribed as angle of attack (α) and axial induction factor (a) distributions along the blade. An iterative approach is used. An initial estimate of blade geometry is used with the direct solver (RANS/ADM) to obtain α and a. The differences between the calculated and desired values of α and a are computed and a new estimate for the blade geometry (chord and twist) is obtained via nonlinear least squares regression using the trust-region-reflective (TRF) method. This procedure is continued until the difference between the calculated and the desired values is within acceptable tolerance. The method is demonstrated for conventional, single-rotor HAWTs and then extended to multirotor, specifically dual-rotor wind turbines (DRWT). The TRF method is also compared with the multidimensional Newton iteration method and found to provide better convergence when constraints are imposed in blade design, although faster convergence is obtained with the Newton method for unconstrained optimization.
Highlights
Rapid increase in utilization of turbines to harvest clean and renewable wind energy resource has introduced new challenges for researchers
As power production is directly dependent on the design of the wind turbine blades, considerable research studies have focused on developing methods to improve blade design in order to increase the output power
This paper presents a methodology to use Reynolds Averaged Navier Stokes (RANS) CFD to perform inverse design of single and dual-rotor horizontal axis wind turbine (HAWT) blades
Summary
Rapid increase in utilization of turbines to harvest clean and renewable wind energy resource has introduced new challenges for researchers. As power production is directly dependent on the design of the wind turbine blades, considerable research studies have focused on developing methods to improve blade design in order to increase the output power. Researchers have started using optimization algorithms for a blade design. Inverse algorithms were introduced in wind turbine blade design process by Selig and Tangler.[2] They combined the multi-dimensional Newton method with the Blade Element Momentum (BEM) theory to develop a software called PROPID. The flow entrainment and the effects of the secondary rotor on the downstream turbines are under study.[4] This paper presents a methodology to use RANS CFD to perform inverse design of single and dual-rotor HAWT blades
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
