The Performance Test of Three Different Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine (HAWT) Blade Shapes Using Experimental and Numerical Methods

Fei-Bin Hsiao, Chi-Jeng Bai and Wen-Tong Chong
Additional contact information
Fei-Bin Hsiao: Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, National Cheng Kung University, No.1 University Road, Tainan City 701, Taiwan
Chi-Jeng Bai: Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, National Cheng Kung University, No.1 University Road, Tainan City 701, Taiwan
Wen-Tong Chong: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia

Energies, 2013, vol. 6, issue 6, 1-20

Abstract: Three different horizontal axis wind turbine (HAWT) blade geometries with the same diameter of 0.72 m using the same NACA4418 airfoil profile have been investigated both experimentally and numerically. The first is an optimum (OPT) blade shape, obtained using improved blade element momentum (BEM) theory. A detailed description of the blade geometry is also given. The second is an untapered and optimum twist (UOT) blade with the same twist distributions as the OPT blade. The third blade is untapered and untwisted (UUT). Wind tunnel experiments were used to measure the power coefficients of these blades, and the results indicate that both the OPT and UOT blades perform with the same maximum power coefficient, C p = 0.428, but it is located at different tip speed ratio, ? = 4.92 for the OPT blade and ? = 4.32 for the UOT blade. The UUT blade has a maximum power coefficient of C p = 0.210 at ? = 3.86. After the tests, numerical simulations were performed using a full three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method using the k - ? SST turbulence model. It has been found that CFD predictions reproduce the most accurate model power coefficients. The good agreement between the measured and computed power coefficients of the three models strongly suggest that accurate predictions of HAWT blade performance at full-scale conditions are also possible using the CFD method.

Keywords: horizontal axis wind turbine; blade element momentum theory; wind tunnel experiment; power coefficient; computational fluid dynamics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (21)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/6/6/2784/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/6/6/2784/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:6:y:2013:i:6:p:2784-2803:d:26242

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().