Typical Airfoil Research Articles

Investigation of the decisive factor for the effectiveness of biomimetic protuberances during the stall process

This study investigates the influence of leading-edge protuberances (LEP) on the stall process of airfoils to identify the decisive factor in the effectiveness of LEPs. Owing to its clearly defined three-dimensional structure, an LEP introduces uncertainties into its effects on the stall angle of attack and the lift coefficient curve. This poses a challenge for several airfoils when universal stall control strategies are adopted. These problems were studied by classifying 12 symmetrical baseline airfoil types based on their blade thicknesses under the condition of Re = 180 000. These include thin airfoil stalls (TS), leading-edge stalls (LS), and a combination of leading-edge and trailing-edge stalls (CS). Two representative airfoils from each category were selected to study single-protuberance airfoils. The distribution of the suction surface momentum and evolution of the spanwise vortices revealed that the streamwise vortices induced by the LEP resulted in an attached flow. However, the impact of these flow patterns varies depending on the type of airfoil used. The TS and LS airfoils experienced an increase in the stall angle and maximum lift coefficient, resulting in an overall improvement in the airfoil performance. The CS airfoils are the most heavily influenced, experiencing a decrease in the maximum lift coefficient and exhibiting phenomena such as a one-sided stall and step-by-step stall. Finally, this paper proposes for the first time that the main factor influencing the different effects of protuberances is the stall type of the airfoil. This new knowledge can serve as a valuable reference for the implementation of protuberances in practical mechanical applications.

Design and Optimization of the Shape of a Single-person Submersible based on ANSYS

Due to the complex growth environment of wild sea cucumbers, the difficulty and low efficiency of traditional ROV identification, at present, wild sea cucumber fishing is mainly obtained through manual fishing, in order to ensure the life safety of divers and improve the fishing efficiency of sea cucumbers, new ideas and solutions for single-man submersibles suitable for shallow water operations are proposed. Under the condition of ensuring the driver's operating space, the shape and structure of an easy-to-process manned submersible are designed to optimize its resistance performance. Creo was used to establish a model of a single-man submersible for shape design, and three design schemes were proposed: scheme 1 flat spindle type, scheme 2 imitation unmanned boat type, and scheme 3 imitation airfoil type. The drag performance of the single-man submersible is simulated and analyzed by using the Fluent module in the analytical fluid dynamics simulation software Ansys, and the results show that the drag performance of scheme 3 imitation airfoil type is better than that of other schemes.The conclusion was verified by simple experiments.It provides effective reference information for the subsequent structural optimization of single-man submersibles.

Fast Prediction of Airfoil Aerodynamic Characteristics Based on a Combined Autoencoder

Aircraft airfoils are classified into two main categories: symmetrical and asymmetrical. Both types of airfoils have a significant impact on the flight performance and safety of the aircraft. The fast prediction of the aerodynamic coefficients and pressure distributions of airfoils is crucial for the design of aircraft. The traditional wind tunnel test and CFD methods have the disadvantages of high test cost and high time consumption. To solve these problems, a combined autoencoder (CAE) network is proposed in this paper, which can achieve the fast prediction of airfoil aerodynamic coefficients and pressure distributions. The network consists of an airfoil shape autoencoder (AE) network and a multilayer perceptron (MLP) network. Firstly, an autoencoder network reflecting the characteristics of the airfoil shape is established, and the effects of different latent variables on the performance of the autoencoder network are investigated. Then, the latent variables obtained from the autoencoder are concatenated with the inflow conditions such as the Reynolds number and the angle of attack to be used as inputs to the MLP network, and the aerodynamic coefficients of different airfoils in different inflow conditions are predicted. The effects of various latent variable inputs, as well as the direct input of the airfoil shape into the MLP network, on the prediction performance of aerodynamic coefficients are compared and analyzed. The optimal aerodynamic coefficient prediction network is then obtained. Finally, the CAE network is also applied to predict the pressure distributions of different airfoils in different inflow conditions and the effects of different latent variables and input conditions on the prediction performance of the pressure distributions are analyzed and compared with the advantages and disadvantages of the CAE network and the conditional variational autoencoder (CVAE) network. The results demonstrate that the proposed method is capable of accurately predicting aerodynamic characteristics in a shorter time, offering a valuable reference for the fast and efficient design of aircraft airfoils.

A CFD Analysis of Oscillating Airfoil with Leading Edge Roughness: Comparing Correlations for Equivalent Sand Grain Roughness

Numerical simulations express surface roughness as equivalent sand grain roughness values, so the correlation is required to convert realistic roughness into equivalent sand grain roughness values. The correlations were designed to match the wall velocity distributions for static cases with roughness, and they accurately predicted roughness effects when applied to URANS simulations. Several studies have examined the roughness effect on dynamic pitching airfoils. Still, they have only considered the presence of roughness, neglecting the process of converting the actual roughness to equivalent sand-grain roughness. Thus, in the present study, we apply a static case-based equivalent sand-grain roughness correlation to dynamic pitching analysis to validate the suitability of each correlation and verify the significance of correlation parameters. It was observed from a comparison study between numerical aerodynamic coefficients and experimental data from Ohio State University that physical parameters such as skewness and roughness height were important parameters to predict the dynamic stall behaviour more accurately. It was also observed that dynamic stall prediction accuracy is affected by the frequency and type of airfoil, and through this, it was confirmed that there are additional factors to consider when using an equivalent sand grain roughness correlation on pitching airfoils.

A field inversion and symbolic regression enhanced Spalart–Allmaras model for airfoil stall prediction

A data-driven turbulence modeling method based on symbolic regression (SR) is proposed in this paper to enhance the prediction accuracy of the Spalart–Allmaras (SA) model for airfoil stall. Unlike traditional methods that rely on neural networks and lack physical interpretability, this paper utilizes SR to establish an analytic expression mapping local flow field variables to the SA model correction factor β. The training data are obtained through field inversion with the discrete adjoint method in the flow field of the S809 airfoil. Additionally, a relearning approach proposed in this paper is applied to the SR process to address the issue arising from the multi-solution nature of field inversion. The SA model embedded with β, referred to as the SA-SR model, can be integrated into computational fluid dynamics solvers with negligible computational cost. The generalization performance of the SA-SR model is tested under various conditions and airfoil types. The results indicate that the new model improves the predictive capability for airfoil stall without compromising the performance of the baseline SA model for attached flows.

Numerical study on bionic airfoil fins used in printed circuit plate heat exchanger

Abstract Airfoil printed circuit heat exchangers (PCHEs) possess exceptional comprehensive performance. In recent years, extensive research has been conducted on the layout and structure optimization of airfoil fins. As biomimetic technologies gradually mature, bionics has achieved numerous outcomes in optimizing airfoil aerodynamic characteristic. Inspired by the sailfish geometry, four types of bionic airfoils are proposed based on the NACA 0015 airfoil, to enhance the thermal-hydraulic performance of the airfoil PCHEs. The results show that while the four types of sailfish airfoils are effective in terms of drag reduction, their overall performance at the same pumping power is suboptimal, with only one type providing an advantage at the low Re region. Moreover, airfoils with concave head curves further increase the weakening of heat transfer by the velocity boundary layer.

Stall characteristics of wavy leading-edge airfoil in subsonic and transonic airflows

Based on the bioinspired wavy leading-edge, the stall characteristics of the NACA0012 airfoil are optimized. In this paper, the semicircle plus line segment is used to obtain the wavy leading edge. The aerodynamic forces of the airfoil are measured by a high-precision balance, and the detailed flow features of the airfoil are obtained by the oil flow tests. Then, combined with numerical simulation, the optimization mechanism is obtained. The operating conditions are as follows: Mach number ranging from 0.4 to 0.8, and angle of attack ranging from −4° to 25°. The results show that in high speed airflows, compared with the basic airfoil, the lift coefficient of the wavy leading-edge airfoil does not decrease sharply with the increase of the angle of attack, and the drag coefficient of the wavy leading-edge airfoil is similar to the basic airfoil; among the three types of airfoils studied, the larger wavy leading-edge feature size has better aerodynamic characteristics; combined with the numerical simulation results, it can be seen that the stall mechanism of airfoils varies at different Mach numbers. The wavy leading-edge generate streamwise vortex. The streamwise vortices increase energy transport in the boundary layer. Therefore, the separation zone moves toward the trailing edge of the airfoil, and the stall characteristics of the airfoil are optimized.

Aerodynamic characterization of a H-Darrieus wind turbine with a Drag-Disturbed Flow device installation

This study examines the impact of the Drag-Disturbed Flow device on the startup and operation of HDWT (H-Darrieus wind turbine). The device plays a crucial role in enhancing the startup performance of the HDWT and improving the overall wind energy utilization. This work presents a study where two-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) evaluations are performed on various D-DF (Drag-Disturbed) devices. The HDWT utilizes the NACA0018 airfoil type, while the D-DF device employs triangular, oval, and NACA0018 airfoil structures. The text explains the installation process and operational principles of the D-DF device. It also verifies the device's meshing and accuracy. Furthermore, this study conducts 2-D simulations to analyze the impact of various D-DF devices on the moment and wind energy consumption coefficients of the HDWT. Additionally, the process by which D-DF devices enhance the performance of the HDWT is explained by an analysis of the vortex cloud diagram. The results indicate that the HDWTs equipped with D-DF devices experience significant performance improvements during the wind turbine startup phase. Specifically, the Drag blade effectively enhances the moment coefficient of the HDWTs at low tip speed ratios by an average of approximately 41.74 %. Additionally, once the HDWTs are started and operating at high tip speed ratios, all D-DF devices, except for the DF-Tri, can be utilized within the λ = 1.2–2 range to enhance the torque coefficient of the HDWT by an average of about 7.53 %. This study aims to improve the operating performance of the current HDWT, lower the wind turbine cut-in wind speed, and enhance the wind energy consumption of the turbine.

The effect of airfoil type and wind speed on HAWT wind turbine performance using QBlade software

Energy transition is critical in the context of the current global climate situation. It is also important for Indonesia to achieve Sustainable Development in the Clean and Affordable Energy sector; given that the country’s primary energy mix is still dominated by fossil energy, which accounts for around 90% of energy production. Wind is a new renewable energy that can be utilized to produce electrical energy through energy conversion. In addition, wind power is a type of renewable energy that has the lowest price compared to other types. This study aims to determine the characteristics of the selected airfoil types, including; NACA 2412, NACA 4412, NACA 6409 and SG6043. These characteristics included lift and drag coefficient. The BEM (Blade Element Momentum) method approach was used to obtain the performance parameter values of the airfoil and wind turbine, which include; lift and drag coefficient, lift-to-drag ratio, power coefficient, torque coefficient, turbine rotation, and power with variations ranging from angle of attack, tip speed ratio and wind speed. The results obtained for the highest lift coefficient value produced by SG6043 airfoil of 1.838 at an angle of attack of 16 °, and the lowest value produced by NACA 2412 of 1.529 at an angle of attack of 16 °. For the drag coefficient value, all types of airfoils produced values that increased as the angle of attack increased. Then, the highest power coefficient value produced by the SG6043 airfoil of 0.496 at TSR 5, and the lowest value produced by the NACA 6409 airfoil of 0.481 at TSR 5. Then, the power generated was based on the results of the power coefficient, where the SG6043 airfoil produced the greatest power for each wind speed used, and the NACA 6409 airfoil produced the lowest power. From the results of this study, it can also be concluded that the SG6043 airfoil produced the best performance compared to other types used.

Optimal airfoil selection for small horizontal axis wind turbine blades: A multi-criteria approach

Over the last century, the growing demand for clean energy has emphasized wind energy as a promising solu-tion to address contemporary energy challenges. Within the realm of wind energy, the wind turbine plays a pivotal role in harnessing the kinetic energy of the wind and converting it into electrical power. Among the various components of the wind turbine system, turbine blades assume a critical role in capturing the wind's kinetic energy and converting it into rotational motion. Consequently, the design of wind turbine blades holds the utmost importance in determining the overall performance and efficiency of the entire wind turbine system. One essential aspect of blade design involves selecting an appropriate airfoil. Throughout history, numerous airfoil profiles have been developed for various applications. Notably, National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) and National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) airfoils have been tailored for aircraft and large-scale wind turbine blades, respectively. However, the quest for suitable airfoil types for small-scale wind turbine blades has been ongoing. This study delves into an examination of over 62 distinct NACA and NREL aerofoil types tailored for small horizontal-axis wind turbine blades. Employing specialized software, namely QBlade, specifically designed for modeling and simulating wind turbine blades, the study calculates key parameters such as power output, stress, deformation, and weight for each airfoil. Subsequently, based on the simulated data, the optimal airfoil is identified using the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) multi-criteria selection approach. This selection process takes into account simulation results pertaining to power output, stress, deformation, and weight. The decision-making process involving multiple criteria is facilitated using Excel and Python. The findings of this study reveal that among the 62 airfoil types under consideration, the NACA 0024, NACA 2424, and NACA 4424 airfoils emerge as the most suitable choices for small horizontal-axis wind turbine blades.

Energy‐Saving Optimization Design of Propeller Boss Cap Fin Based on BP Neural Network Coupled with Northern Goshawk Optimization Algorithm

Facing the escalating global energy demand and environmental pressures, efforts to enhance ship efficiency and reduce carbon emissions have become pivotal strategies in addressing energy challenges. This study focuses on optimizing propeller boss cap fin (PBCF), proposing a strategy that integrates a backpropagation neural network (BPNN) with an intelligent optimization algorithm. PBCF’s positions relative to the propeller are expressed parametrically, and the sample space for PBCF parameters is constructed using Latin hypercube sampling. Building upon this, a BPNN model is established, with design parameters as inputs and hydrodynamic performance calculated by computational fluid dynamics as outputs. Simultaneously, the approximate model trained by the neural network serves as the objective function for the northern goshawk optimization algorithm, significantly enhancing the iteration speed. After determining the PBCF’s position parameters, the optimal performance airfoil is chosen as the PBCF profile from seven airfoil types. Finally, visualization techniques were employed to compare the flow field distributions of the optimized fin and the original propeller. The results demonstrate that the optimized fins effectively absorb tangential kinetic energy from blade flow, reduce hub cap pressure differences, and suppress post‐hub vortices. Under specified design conditions, the optimized fins enhance the propulsion system’s efficiency by 1.5%. This study underscores the transformative potential of intelligent optimization techniques in shaping the future of maritime engineering, providing sustainable solutions to global energy challenges.

Aerodynamic prediction and roughness implementation toward ice accretion simulation

Ice accretion in aircraft leads to significant separation and surface roughness. Therefore, the simulation of icing is highly intricate and challenging. The aerodynamic prediction of an iced wing requires an accurate turbulence model. In this paper, a modified transition model for the Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes equation is developed. The model is implemented using a linear eddy viscosity transition model as a baseline. It is modified to accurately predict the flow separation and simulate the influence of roughness. Different cases are numerically tested based on the modified model, including two types of iced airfoils (glaze ice and rime ice) and two rough geometries. The results indicate that the model demonstrates engineering accuracy in terms of the flow separation and aerodynamic coefficient prediction. Moreover, this model could be adapted for a wide range of ice shapes. In addition, the present model is capable of accounting for the influence of surface roughness, leading to significant improvements in heat transfer coefficients that match the experimental data well.

Ice sensitivity analysis of different airfoils

When an aircraft passes through clouds containing supercooled water droplets, it condenses into ice on the surface of the wing. Wing icing will reduce the flight envelope of the aircraft as a whole, limit the flight range and speed, and threaten flight safety. The range and intensity of icing are not only determined by meteorological conditions but also closely related to the types of airfoils. In order to study the influence of airfoils on icing, GAW-2 high lift airfoil, NLF (1)-0215F natural laminar airfoil and SC (2)-0714 supercritical airfoil are selected as the representatives of the three mainstream airfoils. The Numerical simulation method is used to analyze the influence of icing parameters on the three airfoils, summarize the icing rules and analyze the differences.

ANALISIS CFD PADA SAYAP MINI GLIDER DENGAN PENAMPANG LOW REYNOLD NUMBER AIRFOIL DAN FOLDED FLAT PLATE AIRFOIL

The purpose of this research is to make a very small unmanned aircraft as a teaching aid in aerospace engineering workshops, because of its very small size, this type of unmanned aircraft is abbreviated as Micro Air Vehicle, this MAV is only operated at low Reynolds numbers. MAV development research for smaller sizes continues to be carried out such as the Micro Glider. In this study, the author uses the Computational Fluid Dynamic method and the software used ANSYS Fluent and compares the existing DATCOM data, the author simulates the 4 types of airfoils into a wing object. The results of this study can be seen that based on the average deviation diff value that has been obtained in a population to determine the error from the comparison of the reference airfoil lift coefficient and its FFP by comparing the two methods, namely the IISHI airfoil reference geometry is 6.22% while the FFP is is 11.25% and the SD 7037 airfoil reference geometry is 3.71% while the FFP is 2.11%. Then for the comparison of the maximum lift to drag ratio values, it is obtained that the airfoil reference geometry (SD 7037) has a value of = 9.96 while the airfoil reference geometry (IISHI) has a value of = 8.81. In the Folded Flat Plate airfoil geometry (SD 7037) it has a value of = 7.61 while the Folded Flat Plate airfoil (IISHI) has a value of = 7.37. Then for the visualization of fluid flow can be obtained, namely the results of visualization of fluid flow in several parts of the angle of view / plane of the wing geometry when the AoA is high, namely the root plane to the half wing plane. early, while the geometry of SD 7037 (airfoil reference) is not easy to occur early turbulence flow. Second, that in general the fluid flow pattern seen in the FFP airfoil geometry (FFP IISHI) has the most dominant turbulence flow pattern (very much/large) while the FFP airfoil geometry (FFP SD 7037) has very little/small turbulence flow pattern..

Study on the Hydrodynamic Performance of the Beam Used in the Antarctic Krill Beam Trawl

The beam trawl is one of the primary operational trawls for Antarctic krill, and its beam provides horizontal expansion support for the trawl net. The hydrodynamic performance of the beam significantly affects the vertical expansion and sinking performance of the trawl, as well as impacts the energy consumption of the fishing vessel. In this study, the beam of the Antarctic krill trawl used on the “Shen Lan” fishing vessel served as a prototype. Three types of beams, cylindrical, airfoil, and elliptical, were designed. The hydrodynamic performances of beams with different shapes at different angles of attack were studied using numerical simulation, and the accuracy of the numerical simulation was validated through the flume test. The results show that the cylindrical beam has a higher drag coefficient and a lower lift coefficient, compared to the airfoil beam and the elliptical beam. Under different angles of attack, the cylindrical beam’s drag coefficient is, on average, 49.54% higher than that of the airfoil beam and 59.74% higher than that of the elliptical beam. Its lift coefficient is 87.79% lower than that of the airfoil beam and 85.06% lower than that of the elliptical beam, respectively. At different angles of attack, the hydrodynamic coefficients of the airfoil beam and the elliptical beam are similar, and their trends, with respect to the angle of attack, are generally consistent. The drag coefficients increase with an increasing angle of attack, while the lift coefficients show a trend of initially increasing and then decreasing with an increasing angle of attack. The absolute values of the lift coefficients for the airfoil beam and the elliptical beam both reach their maximum values at an angle of attack of 45°, with values of 0.703 and 0.473, respectively. Compared to the cylindrical beam, the hydrodynamic performances of the airfoil beam and elliptical beam are superior.

Experimental and Numerical Investigation of the Control of the Flow Structure on Surface Modified Airfoils

In this study, experimental and numerical flow analysis was performed on three different blade profiles with a chord length of 165 mm using passive flow control method. The first of the airfoil is the standard NACA 0018 profile. The second airfoil type has a NACA 0018 profile with a gap in the suction surface. The last airfoil is the NACA 0018 profile which is 66% of the trailing edge cut from the chord length. All airfoil profiles were analyzed at the Reynolds number, Re=2x104, and angles of attack α=0o, 5o, 10o, 12o and 14o in both experiment and numerical studies. The experiments were carried out using the Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) method in a closed-loop open water channel, and the time-averaged velocity vectors, streamlines, and vorticity contours of the flow field were obtained. Subsequently, numerical analyses were performed using the ANSYS Fluent package program, one of the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) programs used frequently in the literature. The streamlines and pressure contours of the airfoil profiles have been compared visually at the same Re and different angles of attack. In addition, according to the angle of attack of the airfoil profiles, lift coefficient CL, drag coefficient CD, and the ratio of lift coefficient to drag coefficient CL/CD graphs were presented. It has been shown that the gap on the airfoil at high attack angles caused changes in lift (up to 0.7) and drag (up to 0.15). These features can allow these models to be used for different purposes in the aerodynamics field.

ANALISIS SUDUT SERANG TERHADAP KARAKTERISTIK AERODINAMIKA PADA BILAH 4412 RPM RENDAH DENGAN METODE CFD 6DOF

At this time the power plant still uses a lot of coal fuel, so it is necessary to look for alternative energy, one of which is wind energy. Wind turbines are devices that can convert kinetic energy in the wind into mechanical energy which is then converted into electrical energy through a generator. The analysis method in this research uses Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), Qblade, and experimental validation testing using a wind tunnel. The simulated airfoil types consist of 3 types, namely, NACA 4412, NACA 4415, and FX-60 100 (126). The simulation results show that, the most optimal airfoil is NACA 4412 with an angle of attack of 25° and a wind speed of 8 m/s can produce a torque of 3.55503 Nm, a pressure of 45 Pa, a tangential velocity of 55.495 m/s, and a rotational speed of 529. 94 rpm, while the smallest simulation results are on the FX-60 100 (126) airfoil with an angle of attack of 15° and the same wind speed of 8m/s can produce a torque of 1.60390 Nm, a pressure of 40 Pa, a tangential velocity of 9.06592 m/s, and a rotational speed of 108.2164 rpm. The results of experimental testing of wind turbines where the wind turbine used uses the geometry of NACA 4412 show that an angle of attack of 25 ° and a wind speed of 8m / s produces a large electrical power and rpm with a value of 7.98 Watt and 482.2 rpm respectively

Effect of Blade Twist on The Flow Characteristics of Gas-Liquid Two-Phase Flow in a Spiral Axial Flow Pump

The mixing of oil and gas forms the foundation of deep-sea oil and gas extraction and transportation. However, traditional conveying equipment has low efficiency and high failure rates. In this study, a spiral axial flow gas and liquid multiphase pump was used as the base model. The Eulerian multiphase flow model and RNG turbulence model were used for numerical simulations to analyze the internal flow field of the multiphase pump. A modification scheme was proposed to twist the airfoil shape and create a twisted vane. The twisted blade with the center of the hub-side flange chord length as the twisting center was twisted in the counterclockwise direction to help reduce the relative volume of gas in the flow channel. When the twisted vane with the hub-side airfoil type trailing edge point as the twisting center was twisted in the suction side direction, it helped to accelerate the movement of the gas-liquid mixture at the trailing edge of the back of the vane and further reduced the low velocity zone at the back of the vane. When the twist center is located at the hub side wing type trailing edge point of the twist vane, the twist degree is 0.214. This results in the maximum head and efficiency of the pump, improves gas phase aggregation phenomenon, and enhances the performance of the multiphase pump.

Effects of blade tip flow on aerodynamic characteristics of straight-bladed vertical axis wind turbines

Straight-bladed vertical axis wind turbines (SB-VAWTs) are increasingly recognized as a favorable choice for wind energy systems in both urban and offshore environments. This study examines the effects of the blade tip flow on the aerodynamic characteristics of SB-VAWTs by numerical simulation. The analysis employs a comprehensive set of 84 models, varying in parameters such as rotor diameters, blade chord lengths, tip speed ratios, blade aspect ratios (ARs), and airfoil types. Initially, the blade is modeled using the finite division method, followed by a comprehensive three-dimensional URANS numerical simulation. A comprehensive analysis of the aerodynamic performance across the blade span is conducted to quantify the effects of the blade tip flow. The findings indicate that, in addition to causing losses, the tip flow also encourages reattachment of the separated flow onto the blade surface, especially under conditions of stronger flow separation. The influence of the tip flow reduces with a higher AR for AR less than 8. However, when AR surpasses 8, the effect of tip flow stabilizes. This study will serve as a valuable reference for the design of SB-VAWTs and lay the groundwork for future research on blade tip optimization.

The Effect of Leading-Edge Wavy Shape on the Performance of Small-Scale HAWT Rotors

The purpose of this experimental work was to investigate the role of the leading-edge wavy shape technique on the performance of small-scale HAWT fixed-pitch rotor blades operating under off-design conditions. Geometric parameters such as amplitude and wavelength were considered design variables to generate five different wavy shape blade models in order to increase the aerodynamic performance of the rotor with a diameter of 280 mm. A dedicated airfoil type S822 for small wind turbine application from the NREL Airfoil Family was chosen to fulfil both the aerodynamic and structural aspects of the blades. Rotor models were tested in a wind tunnel for different wind speeds while maintaining constant rotational speed to provide the blade-tip chord Reynolds number of 4.7 × 104. The corrected tunnel data, in terms of power coefficients and tip-speed ratios, were compared first with the literature to validate the experimental approach, and then among themselves. It was observed that for minimal sizes of tubercles, the performance of the rotor increases by about 40% compared to the RB1 baseline rotor model for a low tip-speed ratio. Conversely, for the maximum size of the tubercles, there is a marked decrease of about 51% of the rotor performance for a moderate tip-speed ratio compared to the RB1 rotor model. Among these models, specifically, the RB2 rotor model with the smallest values of amplitude and wavelength provides a 2.8% higher peak power coefficient compared to the RB1 rotor model, and at the same time preserves higher performance values for a broad range of tip-speed ratios.