Three-dimensional modeling and investigation of the flow around a troposkein vertical axis wind turbine at different operating conditions

Abstract

Vertical axis wind turbines of troposkein architecture are among the most attractive technologies for harvesting wind energy off-shore. In this paper, a high-fidelity Computational Fluid-Dynamics model of the flow around troposkein rotors is presented, experimentally validated, and applied to analyze the complex aerodynamics of this machine considering both operation and design aspects. At first, a set of two-dimensional simulations of the machine equatorial section was carried out to compare multiple spatial resolutions and three eddy-viscosity turbulence models, including Spalart–Allmaras, k-ω SST, and k-ω SST in low-Reynolds formulation, using as reference wind-tunnel experimental data. Then, the results of fully three-dimensional simulations for peak power and high TSR conditions are discussed, to further assess the models against experiments and to investigate the turbine aerodynamics and its spanwise variability, the flow around and downstream of the rotor, with particular emphasis on the peculiar character of troposkein rotor wake and the related tip vortices. Finally, the paper proposes an analysis about the impact of blade design on the machine aerodynamics, showing that rotors obtained with the simplest and most economic blade bending procedure outperforms configurations obtained by manufacturing the blades with plane airfoil sections along the troposkein curve.