Fluid structure interaction of a loaded darrieus marine current turbine

Abstract

The present study aims to develop a model to simulate in 2 dimensions, the motion of the fluid and of the loaded Darrieus turbine without imposing the rotational speed. A resistive torque has been added to account for the load of a generator. Experimental and numerical studies were conducted and presented here. The experiment was set-up in the air first, on a wind turbine for reason of convenience. The simulations were made with Fluent (v14) for which a User Defined Function was developed. Then the experimental conditions were reproduced numerically for three cases. The study focuses on the determination of a factor (f) giving the relationship between the experimental and the simulated resistive torque in 2 dimensions. The results are quite satisfying in this preliminary study as they demonstrate that the model developed works well. Some improvement has to be made to refine the value of f.