Design Criteria on Sizing and Material Selection of SB-VAWTS
A design methodology has been presented on the sizing and material selection of straight-bladed vertical axis wind turbines. Several design parameters such as turbine power coefficient, blade tip speed ratio, rotor solidity factor, blade aspect ratio and rotor moment of inertia have been analyzed. Material selection and its relevant design criteria have also been discussed for different parts of a straight-bladed vertical axis wind turbines with three blades and two supporting arms per blade. The number of the supporting arms and their optimum locations have been determined via minimizing the bending moments on the blade. A comparative study has also been performed to examine the effect of blade density and turbine H/D ratio on the rotor moment of inertia. It was found that the turbine rotational speed increases as blade density decreases and this increase is larger at higher turbine H/D ratio.