Investigation of the two-element airfoil with flap structure for the vertical axis wind turbine

Abstract

The aerodynamic performance of Vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) is not as simple as its structure because of the large changing range of angle of attack. We have designed a new kind of two-element airfoil for VAWT on the basis of NACA0012. CFD calculation has been confirmed to have high accuracy by comparison with the experiment data and Xfoil result. The aerodynamic parameter of two-element airfoil has been acquired by CFD calculation in using the Spalart-Allmaras (S-A) turbulence model and the Simple scheme. The relationship between changings of angle of attack and flap's tilt angle has been found and quantified. The analysis will lay the foundation for further research on the control method for VAWT. © Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd.