Airfoil Shape Optimization of a Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine Blade using a Discrete Adjoint Solver

In this study, airfoil shape optimization of a wind turbine blade is performed using the ANSYS Fluent Adjoint Solver. The aim of this optimization process is to increase the wind turbine output power, and the objective function is to maximize the airfoil lift to drag ratio (CL/CD). This study is applied to the NREL phase VI wind turbine, therefore, the S809 airfoil is used as a reference profile. First, for the validation of the applied numerical model, steady-state simulations are carried out for the S809 airfoil at various angles of attack. Then, the optimization is performed with the airfoil set at a fixed angle of attack, AOA= 6.1°, considering three Reynolds numbers, RE = 300 000, 480 000, 1 000 000 . Next, computations are performed for the fluid flow around the optimized airfoils at angles of attack ranging from 0° to 20°. The results show that (i) the lift to drag ratios of the optimized airfoils are significantly improved compared to the baseline S809 airfoil, (ii) this improvement is sensitive to the Reynolds number, and (iii) the CL/CD ratios are also improved for another angle of attack values. Thereafter, the optimized airfoils are used for the design of the NREL Phase VI blade and the aerodynamic performances of this new wind turbine are assessed using the open-source code QBlade. These latter results indicate that when the blades are designed with the optimized airfoils, the wind turbine aerodynamic performances increase significantly. Indeed, at a wind speed of 10 m/s, the power output of the wind turbine is improved by about 38% compared to that of the original turbine

Numerical investigation of the effect of motion trajectory on the vortex shedding process behind a flapping airfoil

The effect of non-sinusoidal trajectory on the propulsive performances and the vortex shedding process behind a flapping airfoil is investigated in this study. A movement of a rigid NACA 0012 airfoil undergoing a combined heaving and pitching motions at low Reynolds number (11 000) is considered. An elliptic function with an adjustable parameter S (flatness coefficient) is used to realize various non-sinusoidal trajectories. The two-dimensional unsteady and incompressible Navier-Stokes equation governing the flow over the flapping airfoil is resolved using the commercial so ware STAR CCM+. It is shown that the combination of sinusoidal and non-sinusoidal mapping motion has a great effect on the propulsive performances of the flapping airfoil. The maximum propulsive efficiency is always achievable with sinusoidal trajectories. However, non-sinusoidal trajectories are found to considerably improve the propulsive force up to 52% larger than its natural value. Flow visualization shows that the vortex shedding process and the wake structure are substantially altered under the non-sinusoidal trajectory effect. Depending on the nature of the flapping trajectory, several modes of vortex shedding are identified and presented in this paper

Energy extraction performance improvement of a flapping foil by the use of combined foil

In this study, numerical investigations on the energy extraction performance of a flapping foil device are carried out by using a modified foil shape. The new foil shape is designed by combining the thick leading edge of NACA0012 foil and the thin trailing edge of NACA0006 foil. The numerical simulations are based on the solution of the unsteady and incompressible Navier-Stokes equations that govern the fluid flow around the flapping foil. These equations are resolved in a two-dimensional domain with a dynamic mesh technique using the CFD software ANSYS Fluent 16. A User Define Function (UDF) controls the imposed sinusoidal heaving and pitching motions. First, for a validation study, numerical simulations are performed for a NACA0012 foil undergoing imposed heaving and pitching motions at a low Reynolds number. The obtained results are in good agreement with numerical and experimental data available in the literature. Thereafter, the computations are applied for the new foil shape. The influences of the connecting area location between the leading and trailing segments, the Strouhal number and the effective angle of attack on the energy extraction performance are investigated at low Reynolds number (Re = 10 000). Then, the new foil shape performance was compared to those of both NACA0006 and NACA0012 baseline foils. The results have shown that the proposed foil shape achieves higher performance compared to the baseline NACA foils. Moreover, the energy extraction efficiency was improved by 30.60% compared to NACA0006 and by 17.32% compared to NACA0012. The analysis of the flow field around the flapping foils indicates a change of the vortex structure and the pressure distribution near the trailing edge of the combined foil compared to the baseline foils