Numerical investigation of 3D unsteady flow around a rotor of vertical axis wind turbine darrieus type H

Abstract

This article presents an analysis of the complex and unsteady flow a ssociated with the functioning of the rotor of a vertical axis wind turbine Darrieus - H. In this study, the influence of different numerical aspects on the accuracy of the simulation of the flow around a rotor of three straight blades in rotation is performed, which are the effect of the turbulence modeling, and the effects of the mesh and the time step. The Delayed Detached Eddy Simulation (DDES) approach is used. The aim of this article is to describe and analyze the unsteady flow in 3D predicted numerically considering the effects of arms like blade-arms interference, blade-wake interactions around the Darrieus rotor and the effect of tip vortices. Two-dimensional simulations are used in a preliminary numerical configuration. Then, three-dimensional simulations a re performed t o p recisely determine the characteristics of the complex aerodynamic flow associated with the operation of the wind turbine rotor. The flow field around the rotor is studied for several values of the tip speed ratio, dynamic quantities, such as the torque and the power of the rotor that are presented and analyzed. From the results obtained, it is clear that the approach of the Detached Eddy Simulation with the SST K-ω model can be considered as a reliable prediction. A comparison of the performance of the results showed that the predicted coefficients of performance are very close to the experimental data from the bibliography.