Integrated Approach to Aerodynamic Optimization of Darrieus Wind Turbine Based on the Taguchi Method and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)
Source abstract
Abstract
This paper presents a numerical study of the optimization of the geometric parameters of a four-bladed Darrieus vertical-axis wind turbine (VAWT) with a NACA 0021 aerodynamic profile. The aim of the study was to increase the aerodynamic efficiency of the turbine by selecting optimal values of the rotor diameter and blade chord length. The Taguchi method using an orthogonal array was used as an optimization method, which reduced the number of necessary calculations from 77 to 20 while maintaining the reliability of the analysis. CFD modelling was performed in the ANSYS 2022 R2 Fluent software environment based on a two-dimensional non-stationary model, including a full rotor revolution and an analysis of the steady-state mode for the twentieth cycle. As a result of the analysis, the optimal parameters were determined: rotor diameter D = 3 m and chord length c = 0.4 m. Additionally, for the selected configuration, the numerical model was validated by constructing the dependence of the power coefficient Cp on the tip speed ratio λ in the range from 0.2 to 2.8. The maximum value of Cp was 0.35 at λ = 2.2, which is an increase of ~64% compared to the least efficient rotation mode in the considered range of λ. The obtained results allow us to conclude that the Taguchi method can be used in combination with CFD modelling for fast and accurate optimization of the aerodynamic parameters of low-power wind turbines.
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Research context
OpenAlex topics: Aerodynamics and Fluid Dynamics Research · Wind Energy Research and Development · Wind and Air Flow Studies
SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.
Affiliations
Department of Thermal and Technical Physics, Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, 71 Al-Farabi Ave, Almaty 050040, Kazakhstan
Department of Physics, Kazakh National Women‘s Teacher Training University, 114/8 Gogol Street, Almaty 050000, Kazakhstan
Funding
Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan
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