An unsteady boundary element model for hydrodynamic performance of a multi-blade vertical-axis tidal turbine

Abstract

An unsteady boundary element model is developed to simulate the unsteady flow induced by the motion of a multi-blade vertical axis turbine. The distribution of the sources, bound vortices and wake vortices of the blades are given in detail. In addition, to make the numerical solution more robust, the Kutta condition is also introduced. The developed model is used to predict the hydrodynamic performance of a vertical axis tidal turbine and is validated by comparison with experimental data and other numerical solutions available in the literature. Good agreement is achieved and the calculation of the proposed model is simpler and more efficient than prior numerical solutions. The proposed model shows its capability for future profile design and optimization of vertical axis tidal turbines.