An improved LB method for predicting dynamic characteristics of Vertical Axis Wind Turbine airfoils

One of the important challenges for Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT) is to fully understand its dynamic characteristics in different operating conditions. Meanwhile, it is necessary to seek a fast and accurate method to evaluate the dynamic characteristic of VAWT. In this study, we improve the LB model by considering the operating principle of VAWT to study the dynamic characteristics of the dedicated and commonly used VAWT airfoils in different operating conditions. The results show that the improved LB model is suitable for simulating the dynamic characteristic of VAWT with a thick airfoil. Although the asymmetric airfoil shows the higher lift coefficient, their dynamic characteristic appears huge fluctuation as the increases of tip speed ratio. Moreover, at a low tip speed ratio, the advantages of the asymmetric airfoil are not obvious. While the dynamic characteristic of the symmetric airfoil is relatively stable with the variation of tip speed ratio.

Aerodynamic Design and Wind Tunnel Tests of Small-scale Horizontal-axis Wind Turbines for Low Tip Speed Ratio Applications

In recent times, the application of small-scale horizontal axis wind turbines (SHAWTs) has drawn interest in certain areas where the energy demand is minimal. These turbines, operating mostly at low Reynolds number (Re) and low tip speed ratio (λ) applications, can be used as stand-alone systems. The present study aims at the design, development, and testing of a series of SHAWT models. On the basis of aerodynamic characteristics, four SHAWT models viz., M1, M2, M3, and M4 composed of E216, SG6043, NACA63415, and NACA0012 airfoils, respectively have been developed. Initially, the rotors are designed through blade element momentum theory (BEMT), and their power coefficient have been evaluated. Thence, the developed rotors are tested in a low-speed wind tunnel to find their rotational frequency, power and power coefficient at design and off-design conditions. From BEMT analysis, M1 shows a maximum power coefficient (Cpmax) of 0.37 at λ = 2.5. The subsequent wind tunnel tests on M1, M2, M3, and M4 at 9 m/s show the Cpmax values to be 0.34, 0.30, 0.28, and 0.156, respectively. Thus, from the experiments, the M1 rotor is found to be favourable than the other three rotors, and its Cpmax value is found to be about 92% of BEMT prediction. Further, the effect of pitch angle (θp) on Cp of the model rotors is also examined, where M1 is found to produce a satisfactory performance within ±5° from the design pitch angle (θp, design).

Development of a Computational Model for Investigation of and Oscillating Water Column Device with a Savonius Turbine

The present work aims to develop a computational model investigating turbulent flows in a problem that simulates an oscillating water column device (OWC) considering a Savonius turbine in the air duct region. Incompressible, two-dimensional, unsteady, and turbulent flows were considered for three different configurations: (1) free turbine inserted in a long and large channel for verification/validation of the model, (2) an enclosure domain that mimics an OWC device with a constant velocity at its inlet, and (3) the same domain as that in Case 2 with sinusoidal velocity imposed at the inlet. A dynamic rotational mesh in the turbine region was imposed. Time-averaged equations of the conservation of mass and balance of momentum with the k–ω Shear Stress Transport (SST) model for turbulence closure were solved with the finite volume method. The developed model led to promising results, predicting similar time–spatial-averaged power coefficients (CP¯) as those obtained in the literature for different magnitudes of the tip speed ratio (0.75 ≤ λ ≤ 2.00). The simulation of the enclosure domain increased CP¯ for all studied values of λ in comparison with a free turbine (Case 1). The imposition of sinusoidal velocity (Case 3) led to a similar performance as that obtained for constant velocity (Case 2).

Experimental Validation of a Hydrostatic Transmission for Community Wind Turbines

Hydrostatic transmissions are commonly used in heavy-duty equipment for their design flexibility and superior power density. Compared to a conventional wind turbine transmission, a hydrostatic transmission (HST) is a lighter, more reliable, cheaper, continuously variable alternative for a wind turbine. In this paper, for the first time, a validated dynamical model and controlled experiment have been used to analyze the performance of a hydrostatic transmission with a fixed-displacement pump and a variable-displacement motor for community wind turbines. From the dynamics of the HST, a pressure control strategy is designed to maximize the power capture. A hardware-in-the-loop simulation is developed to experimentally validate the performance and efficiency of the HST drive train control in a 60 kW virtual wind turbine environment. The HST turbine is extensively evaluated under steady and time-varying wind on a state-of-the-art power regenerative hydrostatic dynamometer. The proposed controller tracks the optimal tip-speed ratio to maximize power capture.

A Review on the Building Wind Impact through On-site Monitoring in Haeundae Marine City: 2021 12th Typhoon OMAIS Case Study

Overcrowding of high-rise buildings in urban zones change the airflow pattern in the surrounding areas. This causes building wind, which adversely affects the wind environment. Building wind can generate more serious social damage under extreme weather conditions such as typhoons. In this study, to analyze the wind speed and wind speed ratio quantitatively, we installed five anemometers in Haeundae, where high-rise buildings are dense, and conducted on-site monitoring in the event of typhoon OMAIS to determine the characteristics of wind over skyscraper towers surround the other buildings. At point M-2, where the strongest wind speed was measured, the maximum average wind speed in 1 min was observed to be 28.99 m/s, which was 1.7 times stronger than that at the ocean observatory, of 17.0 m/s, at the same time. Furthermore, when the wind speed at the ocean observatory was 8.2 m/s, a strong wind speed of 24 m/s was blowing at point M-2, and the wind speed ratio compared to that at the ocean observatory was 2.92. It is judged that winds 2–3 times stronger than those at the surrounding areas can be induced under certain conditions due to the building wind effect. To verify the degree of wind speed, we introduced the Beaufort wind scale. The Beaufort numbers of wind speed data for the ocean observatory were mostly distributed from 2 to 6, and the maximum value was 8; however, for the observation point, values from 9 to 11 were observed. Through this study, it was possible to determine the characteristics of the wind environment in the area around high-rise buildings due to the building wind effect.

Wind Shear of Low-Level Jets and Their Influence on Manned and Unmanned Fixed-Wing Aircraft during Landing Approach

Wind shear at low altitudes represents a potential hazard to landing aircraft. Based on two wind lidar data sets of one year, the occurrence of low-level jets (LLJs), the vertical wind shear and the rotation of the wind direction were analysed. The lidar system was located at the sites of Braunschweig in the North German Plain, Germany, and Clausthal-Zellerfeld in the low mountain range Harz, Germany. The observed wind shear gradients between the altitude of 40 m and the altitude of the maximum wind speed was in the range of −0.23 s−1 to +0.20 s−1. The rotation of the wind direction with altitude occurred both in clockwise and anticlockwise direction. The ratio of clockwise versus anticlockwise occurrence of directional shear was 4:1 for Braunschweig and 3:1 for Clausthal-Zellerfeld. The observed wind shear gradients were compared to values for hazard potential of different levels for a typical aircraft. Although the LLJ was not hazardous for manned aircraft in any observed case, the awareness of LLJ helps to reduce the pilot’s workload and possible pilot-introduced oscillations caused as a result of the wind shear and aircraft characteristics. In contrast to manned aviation, the value of changes in wind speed and direction during LLJ conditions can cause significant risks for unmanned aerial system operations with less than 25 kg of take-off weight. This is a result of the lower airspeed-wind-speed ratio and the flight control and flight planning.

Evaluation of the aerodynamic performance of the counter rotating turbo fan COBRA by means of experimental and numerical data

In the present study, steady numerical simulations performed on the counter rotating turbo fan (CRTF) COBRA are compared with experimental data carried at the CIAM C-3A test-bench in Moscow. For this purpose, a systematic analysis of the measurement uncertainties was performed for the global aerodynamic performances of the CRTF, namely, the massflow, the total pressure ratio, the isentropic efficiency, as well as the torque ratio applied on both fan rows. Several numerical models are investigated to highlight their effects on the aforementioned predicted quantities. Differences in modeling consist in grid resolutions and the use of two turbulence models popular in the turbomachinery community. To match as much as possible the experiment running conditions, the performance map of the CRTF is simulated using the exact measured speed ratio and massflow. The comparisons show good estimations of the numerical simulation over the entire performance map. The main differences between the turbulence models occur at part-speed close to stall conditions. More surprisingly at aerodynamic design point, the importance of the turbulence modeling on the predicted torque ratio has been pointed out.

Effect of Parameters of Rotating Cylinders on the Heat Transfer Advancement

Conjugate pure mixed convection in a differentially heated square cavity with two vertically placed heat conductive revolving cylinders has been analyzed in computational approach applying the Finite Element Method. This analysis has been implemented considering the upper and lower wall as insulated simultaneously and the left vertical wall as heated maintaining constant temperature (i.e., isothermally heated) and the right vertical wall as isothermally cooled. The outcomes of this study have been examined concerning streamlines, isotherms, average Nusselt number (Nu) which unveils a noteworthy fact that both the rotating cylinders' inclination patterns and Reynolds number have a vital role upon the Nu, flow pattern, and isotherms. From that perspective, best heat transfer phenomena have been observed for counterclockwise circulation of both cylinders so that the condition for these cases has been assessed from a distance variation between the two cylinders maintaining a constant speed ratio (s). The best result has been specified for different speed ratios at different materials of the rotating cylinders.

Synthesis of multi-input multi-degree-of-freedom fixed shaft gear transmission configuration for vehicles

The rapid development of dual-clutch transmission (DCT) and hybrid and purely electric vehicles stimulate the researches on multi-input fixed shaft gear transmission mechanisms. The multiple degree-of-freedom (DOF) transmission mechanism can achieve a wider range of speed ratio adjustment and more modes under certain space and weight constraints, which is an ideal choice for multi gear transmission. In this paper, a synthesis method of fixed shaft gear transmission configuration is proposed. Based on the established graph theory model, kinematic characteristics of the fixed shaft gear transmission configuration are studied and the shift sequence is determined. Using these characteristics, a derivation method from the basic configuration to the comprehensive gears and shafts configuration is proposed. Multiple parameters such as the synchronizer arrangement and speed ratios are optimized. Finally, the proposed method is vigorously verified by a seven-speed DCT with four DOFs. This method is comprehensive and systematic in designing fixed shaft gear transmission configurations, which can be applied to DCT, transmissions for parallel hybrid electric vehicles, and to some novel multi-input transmissions.