Hindawi Publishing Corporation

Advances in Mechanical Engineering

Volume 2013, Article ID 905379, 11 pages
http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/905379

Research Article
Aerodynamic Performance Prediction of Straight-Bladed
Vertical Axis Wind Turbine Based on CFD

L. X. Zhang, Y. B. Liang, X. H. Liu, Q. F. Jiao, and J. Guo

College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Harbin Engineering University, Harbin 150001, China

Correspondence should be addressed to Y. B. Liang; lyingbin@163.com

Received 15 October 2012; Revised 9 March 2013; Accepted 10 March 2013

Academic Editor: Toshio Tagawa

Copyright © 2013 L. X. Zhang et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License,
which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Numerical simulation had become an attractive method to carry out researches on structure design and aerodynamic performance
prediction of straight-bladed vertical axis wind turbine, while the prediction accuracy was the major concern of CFD. Based on the
present two-dimensional CFD model, a series of systematic investigations were conducted to analyze the effects of computational
domain, grid number, near-wall grid, and time step on prediction accuracy. And then efforts were devoted into prediction and
analysis of the overall flow field, dynamic performance of blades, and its aerodynamic forces. The calculated results agree well with
experimental data, and it demonstrates that RNG k-𝜀 turbulent model is great to predict the tendency of aerodynamic forces but
with a high estimate value of turbulence viscosity coefficient. Furthermore, the calculated tangential force is more dependent on
near-wall grid and prediction accuracy is poor within the region with serious dynamic stall. In addition, blades experience mild
and deep stalls at low tip speed ratio, and thus the leading edge separation vortex and its movement on the airfoil surface have a
significant impact on the aerodynamic performance.

1. Introduction of blade. Aerodynamic models still cannot meet the demands

As one of the most promising renewable energy resources,
wind energy plays an important role in response to shortage
of fossil fuels and climate change [1]. With widely use of small-
scale wind turbine, the straight-bladed vertical axis wind tur-
bine (S-VAWT) is attractive for its simple blade design, mak-
ing it relatively easy to be fabricated and cost saving. There are
some distinct advantages over to the commercial horizontal
axis wind turbine [2–5], where no yaw mechanism is required
and it responds well to changes of wind direction for its omni-
directional virtue. Whereas, the unsteady flow around blades,
Darrieus motion [6], and dynamic changes of angle of attack
have a significant impact on aerodynamic loads on blades.
Therefore aerodynamic prediction models of VAWT are still
immature [7, 8], although concept of VAWT has been pro-
posed by Darrieus [9] as early as 1931. Accurate prediction and
effective and efficient optimization tools are urgently needed
to realize the goal for an S-VAWT with better performance.
It is commonly believed that streamtube models and vor-
tex models make great contributions to overall aerodynamic
performance optimization and local interaction mechanism
for various purposes, although the streamtube and vortex
models have been improved for many times, including
multiple streamtube model [10], double multiple streamtube
model [11], FEVDTM [12], and VPM2D method [13]; more
details can be found in the literature [14–16]. But with the
rapid development of computational fluid dynamics (CFD),
which has not only accelerated the design process but also has
brought down the overall cost of design, the CFD become an
attractive solution for aerodynamic performance prediction.
CFD method had been widely used for overall perfor-
mance prediction. A CFD prediction model based on BE-
M theory was presented by Raciti Castelli et al. [17] for
evaluating the aerodynamic forces of S-VAWT. Calculation
results obtained from large eddy simulation of Iida et al.
[18] indicated that the results at high tip speed ratios (TSR)
show good agreement with that of momentum theory, but it
was not accurate for low TSR cases. Howell et al. provided
three-dimensional CFD model based on RNG k-𝜀 turbulence
model [19], and the effects of turbine solidity, roughness,
and tip vortices were considered. Numerical investigations
on flow curvature effects were conducted by Coiro et al. [20],
2 Advances in Mechanical Engineering

and he argued the difference between DMS model and VAT-

VOR3D code. Hwang et al. proposed a cycloidal water turbine 𝑉∞
with individual blade pitch control [21], along with optimized
cycloidal motion for better performance obtained from CFD 𝑉𝜃
simulations. 𝑦
𝜃
In addition, CFD simulation is an effective solution for
analysis of local flow field around blades, particularly for 𝛼𝜃 𝑊𝜃
dynamic stall and wake flow. Two-dimensional computa- 𝑈
tional investigations on dynamic stall with different blade
pitching patterns were carried out by Wang et al. [22], and he
𝐹𝜏 𝑃
stated that obtained results agreed well with the experimental
data except for high angle of attack. Amet et al. provided a
𝜑
detailed numerical analysis of the physical phenomena that
𝐹𝑙 𝛼𝜃
occurs during dynamic stall where compressible RANS k-𝜔
model and multiblock structured mesh structure were used 𝐹𝑑
[23]. Furthermore, studies of dynamic stall show that SST k- 𝐹𝑃
𝐹𝑛
𝜔 turbulence model was better than k-𝜔 model as reported
by Ekaterinaris and Platzer [24] and Qian et al. [25]; Qian
𝜔 𝜃
et al. said that SST k-𝜔 turbulence model was an effective
𝑥
model for dynamic stall simulation with high accuracy and
𝑂
the predicted aerodynamic coefficients agreed well with the
experimental data.
Due to that CFD method is an attractive solution for Figure 1: Local velocity field and transient aerodynamic loads of
blade.
performance optimization, thus reliability and accuracy of
CFD have become the key factors. The work presented here
addressed the issues that the influences of process of numer-
ical simulation on accuracy and efforts were devoted into the where 𝐶𝑞 is dynamic pressure coefficient and is equal to 𝐶𝑞 =
effects of mesh structure and time step, expecting for a better 1/2⋅𝜌𝑊𝜃2 . 𝐶𝜏 and 𝐶𝑛 are tangential force coefficient and radial
performance prediction. Both 2D and 3D CFD simulations force coefficient, respectively, and can be derived by
of S-VAWT were conducted to assist a better understanding
of dynamic stall. In addition, comparison analysis between 𝐶𝜏 sin 𝛼𝜃 − cos 𝛼𝜃 𝐶𝑙
[ ]=[ ][ ]. (2)
experimental data from literature [13] and calculated results 𝐶𝑛 cos 𝛼𝜃 sin 𝛼𝜃 𝐶𝑑
was done to verify the reliability and accuracy of CFD.
Thus the torque coefficient 𝐶𝑚 of S-VAWT is

2. Flow Field of Blade

𝑚
𝐶𝜏 𝑊𝜃 2
𝐶𝑚 = 𝜎 ⋅ ∑ ( ), (3)
𝑖=1 𝑚 𝑉𝜃
The present work here aims at obtaining the relationship
between prediction accuracy and preset parameters of CFD. where 𝜎 and 𝑚 are solidity and the number of streamtubes,
In order to have an overall understanding of interference respectively. Equation (3) suggests that operational capacity
terms, it is better to get knowledge of local velocity field of S-VAWT is closely related to velocity field and configura-
around blade. tion parameters 𝜎 of wind turbine, and the tangential force
states the torque coefficient to some extent.
2.1. Macro Flow Field. Figure 1 is the local velocity field of
blade in first quadrant and its transient aerodynamic forces 2.2. Microflow Field. Based on boundary layer theory and
exerting on blade. It indicates that the local relative velocity mixing length theory, the flow field around blade can be
𝑊𝜃 is dependent on local wind speed 𝑉𝜃 and tangential divided into three regions: external potential flow, boundary
velocity 𝑈. In addition, Reynolds number and angle of attack layer, and wake flow, as shown in Figure 2. The external
𝛼𝜃 are in dynamic change and are functions of azimuth angle potential flow is assumed to be ideal fluid, ignoring the effect
𝜃. more details can be found in literature [26]. of viscosity, and it can be solved by potential flow theory.
The aerodynamic forces acting on blade, lift 𝐹𝑙 and drag While the boundary layer is sensitive to viscosity and needs
𝐹𝑑 , can be decomposed into tangential force 𝐹𝜏 along the rotor more concerns, for that it is the region where vortexes take
and radial force 𝐹𝑛 , as shown in Figure 1. place, grow up, and shed, which leads to dynamic stall. The
wake flow is extremely complex and it affects performance
ℎ of itself and that of next blades. In this work, attentions were
{
{ ∫ 𝐶 ⋅ 𝐶 ⋅ 𝐶𝑑𝑧}
} paid to boundary layer, taking local Reynolds number and
{
{ −ℎ 𝑞 𝜏 }
}
𝐹𝜏𝜃 thickness of boundary layer into account.
{ }={ ℎ } , (1)
𝐹𝑛𝜃 {
{ }
{∫ 𝐶 ⋅ 𝐶 ⋅ 𝐶𝑑𝑧}} Due to the dependence of characteristics of boundary
𝑞 𝑛 layer on Reynolds number [27], the thickness of boundary
{ −ℎ }
Advances in Mechanical Engineering 3

7.55𝑒+01
7.17𝑒+01
6.8𝑒+01
𝑊 𝛼 6.42𝑒+01
6.04𝑒+01
𝑃 5.66𝑒+01
5.29𝑒+01
1 2 3 4.91𝑒+01
4.53𝑒+01
4.15𝑒+01
3.78𝑒+01
(1) External potential flow 3.4𝑒+01
(2) Boundary layer 3.02𝑒+01
(3) Wake flow 2.64𝑒+01
2.27𝑒+01
1.89𝑒+01
Figure 2: Microflow field around blade. 1.51𝑒+01
1.13𝑒+01
7.55𝑒+00
3.78𝑒+00
layer will be affected by the local relative velocity 𝑊𝜃 . 0𝑒+00
Schlichting and Gersten [27] stated that Reynolds number Figure 3: Effects of computational domain.
had a significant impact on thickness of boundary layer which
was the cradle of vortexes and turbulence, and thus solving
turbulence was more dependent on grids than laminar flow.
be discretized into finite control volumes, realizing the trans-
Also, tangential velocity fluctuation can be reduced by viscous
formation form differential equations to algebraic equations.
damping of near-wall region and normal velocity fluctuation
However, the discretization error, closing error, and rounding
is arrested by the wall. Thus the predicated accuracy is
error during transformation, as well as the numerical dissi-
dependent on the mesh structure of boundary layer.
pation, have great impacts on accuracy, reliability, and con-
For the sensitivity of turbulent flow on thickness of
vergence. Performance prediction of S-VAWT also depends
boundary layer, the near-wall around blade is divided into
on mesh structure and its solution algorithm, and only the
three regions: viscous sublayer, blending region, and fully
grids structure and solution algorithm are matched, and a
turbulent region, see the literature [28]. In viscous sublayer,
higher accuracy and efficiency will be achieved.
dimensionless average velocity 𝑢+ is equal to dimensionless
The CFD model depends on mass, momentum, and
distance 𝑦+ , while the dimensionless average velocity of fully
energy conservation equations, and thus the distribution
turbulent region can be derived by (4). In blending region,
of physical quantities and their changes over time at any
turbulent stresses and viscous stresses have the same order of
position of the complex flow field can be obtained by using
magnitude, and the blending region cannot be ignored with
CFD method. Flow around wind turbine is assumed to be
the decrease of Reynolds number:
incompressible, and the energy dissipation is ignored during
1 numerical simulation, and thus the general control equation
𝑢+ = ln 𝑦+ + 𝐵, (4) is
𝜅
where 𝜅 and 𝐵 are Karman parameter and parameter relating 𝜕 (𝜌𝜙)
+ div (𝜌𝑢𝜙) = div (Γgrad𝜙) + 𝑆, (7)
to surface roughness, respectively; for the cases of smooth 𝜕𝑡
wall, 𝜅 = 0.4, 𝐵 = 5.5 and 𝑢+ and 𝑦+ can be expressed as
where 𝜙 is universal variable, standing for 𝑢, ], 𝑤, 𝑇, and so
𝑢
+ + 𝑦 ⋅ 𝑢𝜏 on, and Γ is generalized diffusion coefficient.
𝑢 = , 𝑦 = , (5)
𝑢𝜏 ] For the CFD method, it must be discretized before solving
the control equations, where the variables are interpolated
where the wall friction speed 𝑢𝜏 = (𝜏𝑤 /𝜌)1/2 , ] and 𝜏𝑤 , res- into control decent, as shown in (8),
pectively, are wall shear stress and kinematic viscosity.
The dimensionless distance 𝑦+ is related to flow velocity, 𝜕 (𝜌𝜙) 𝑁faces 𝑁faces

viscosity, and shear stress. The wind turbine operates at low 𝑉cell + ∑ 𝜌𝑉𝑓 𝜙𝑓 𝐴 𝑓 = ∑ Γ𝜙 ∇𝜙𝑓 𝐴 𝑓 + 𝑆𝜙 𝑉cell . (8)
𝜕𝑡 𝑓 𝑓
speed and the Reynolds number is quite small; in general, the
distance from the center of the first layer grid to the wall can Terms in (8) are successively transient term, convection
be estimated by (6) term, diffusion term, and original term. For time saving and
𝑦 high accuracy, first-order upwind scheme is used in the first
= 8.6 ⋅ 𝐿 ⋅ Re−13/14
𝐿 , (6) place (usually after approximately three to five operation
𝑦+
cycles) with a better convergence, and then second-order
where is 𝐿 characteristic length. upwind scheme is employed for higher accuracy.

3. CFD Model 3.2. Effect of Computational Domain. Computational domain

must be determined before meshing, which is significant for
3.1. Theoretical Background. Discretization is one of the accuracy. At a given grid density, there are fewer grids and it
critical steps for CFD method, where continuous space will is time saving when computational domain is much smaller.
4 Advances in Mechanical Engineering

Symmetry
Blade 1

6R

Pressure outlet
Velocity inlet
Interface

Interface Blade 3

6R
Blade 2

Symmetry
6R 25R
(a) (b)

Figure 4: Mesh structure of the 2D computational domain of S-VAWT.

But, it will have great impact on accuracy if the domain is 0.05

too small. It is due to that flow velocity that passed through
the S-VAWT does not yet fully be back to inflow speed, thus
pressure of wake flow is much smaller than outlet pressure, 0.04
leading to adverse pressure gradient and recirculation at

Torque coefficient 𝐶𝑚
outlet, see Figure 3. Furthermore, recirculation zone extends
0.03
with the increase of adverse pressure gradient, leading to
meaningless calculated results.
However, the computation time will be increased with
0.02
a large computational domain. Taking the accuracy and
computing time into account, the distance between rotor axis
and inlet (or the two sides) is usually more than five times 0.01
than radius of S-VAWT, and the distance from outlet to the
rotor axis is more than ten times of the radius. In this paper, a 0 5 10 15 20 25
computational domain of rectangular shape had been chosen, Grid number ×104
as shown in Figure 4. The three-bladed wind turbine, using a
NACA0015 blade profile with a chord length of 0.4 m, was 4 m Figure 5: Effects of grid independence on accuracy.
in diameter. The computational domain was 62 m in length,
24 m in width, and the distance between rotor axis and inlet 0.05
was 12 m. The front of domain was defined with velocity inlet,
the outlet of domain was pressure outflow, and the two sym-
metry boundary conditions were defined as nonslip walls. 0.04
Torque coefficient 𝐶𝑚

In order to control the mesh structure for analyzing its

influences on prediction accuracy, thus structured meshes
0.03
and the sliding mesh technology were employed. For tur-
bulence, Reynolds-averaged method had been widely used,
where instantaneous N-S equation was replaced by time- 0.02
averaged one. In addition, the Reynolds number in boundary
layer is much smaller and viscous plays a leading role,
and thus wall function method or low Reynolds number 0.01
modeling method will be employed to solve the turbulent
flow. Due to that the wall function can reduce the computing 0
time and storage space, and the accuracy can be guaranteed 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
by introducing empirical equations, therefore RNG k-𝜀 model Cycle number
and wall function were employed in this paper for high
Grid number = 2.4 × 105 Grid number = 0.7 × 105
accuracy at low Reynolds number. Grid number = 1.8 × 105 Grid number = 0.5 × 105

3.3. Effect of Grid Number. Due to that the density of grids
has a significant impact on accuracy, grid number will be
considered in this present paper. Effects of grid number
on accuracy of CFD simulations were shown in Figures
5 and 6. Figure 5 is the effects of grid independence on
the accuracy. It indicates that torque coefficient gradually
becomes stable when the grid number is more than 100
thousand, meanwhile the accuracy is acceptable. In addition,
Figure 6: Effects of grid number on accuracy.
the calculated accuracy will not improve significantly with
more grids, but with too much computational time. It also
shows that obtained results make no sense for too small
grid number, and the computational results are incredible
when the grid number is less than 100 thousands. (Note:
Advances in Mechanical Engineering
0.3
Tangential force coefficient 𝐶𝑡
0.2
0.1
0
−0.1
0 45 90 135 180 225 270
Azimuth angle 𝜃 (∘ )
Blade 1: 3D Blade 2: 2D
Blade 1: 2D Blade 3: 3D
Blade 2: 3D Blade 3: 2D
Figure 7: Comparison analysis of tangential force coefficient of 3D
and 2D for S-VAWT.
the increase of grid number is for the whole computational
domain, the condition of local grid refinement and low
density of other domain are nonexistent).
Figure 6 shows the relationship between grid number and
accuracy. In this thesis, it is regarded as convergent when
the error between inlet and outlet flow is less than 0.1% of
the total flow, or the errors of the flow field variables in the
adjacent cycle are less than 1%. As shown in Figure 6, the
torque coefficient becomes stable when it operates more than
five cycles, meanwhile the residual for convergence is less
than 0.0001, and thus it is concluded that it is convergent and
calculations are terminated. The sudden increase of torque
coefficient for cases with grid numbers 50 thousands and 70
thousands is caused by conversion of discrete formats. The
solutions were initially obtained using first-order discrete for-
mat until periodic solutions were achieved, and then second-
order discrete format were used to have a higher accuracy.
Figure 6 also demonstrates that the more grids are utilized
when the grid independence has not been achieved, the
higher prediction accuracy can be obtained, while much too
less grids will lead to wrong conclusion which is consistent
with Figure 5.
3.4. Effects of Near-Wall Grid Size. Dimensionless distance 𝑦+
is related to flow velocity, viscosity, and shear stress, and near-
wall grid affects the calculated accuracy of turbulence for low
wind speed and Reynolds number. Comparison analysis of
instantaneous tangential force coefficient of 3D and 2D for
S-VAWT was shown in Figure 7.
From 𝐶𝜏 ∼ 𝜃 curves, the instantaneous tangential force
coefficient presented to be periodic change and the number of
peak values was equal to blade number. It also indicates that
the torque coefficient obtained by 3D simulation is smaller
than that of 2D and lags behind, which is due to the effects of
cross-flow of wingtip and spanwise flow.
5
0.25
0.2
Tangential force coefficient 𝐶𝑡
0.15
0.1
0.05
0
−0.05
−0.1
315 360 3.8 3.9 4 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4
Time 𝑡 (s)
Δ𝑡 = 𝑇/360
Δ𝑡 = 𝑇/90
Δ𝑡 = 𝑇/45
Figure 8: Curves of instantaneous tangential force coefficient of S-
VAWT at various time steps.
Figure 7 suggests that maximum of instantaneous tangen-
tial force occurs at the azimuth angle nearby 75 degrees of
upstream, and upstream plays an important role in driving
the wind turbine than downstream. It is found that the peak
value of blade 2 is obviously higher than that of blade 1 and
blade 3. However, the tangential force at upstream should be
the same even though it was affected by the curvature effect.
With large-scale investigations being done, it was found that
the primary cause was the 𝑦+ value of near-wall grid of blade
2, and the big difference was eliminated by adjusting the near-
wall grid of blade-2. It is clearly seen that the 𝑦+ value of
near-wall grid has a significant impact on accuracy of CFD
method.
3.5. Effect of Time Step. For the unsteady flow around S-
VAWT, setting of time step has a significant impact on the
calculation accuracy. With a big time step, it will lead to
serious false diffusion and stability of CFD becomes poor.
Meanwhile the truncation error increases with the time step
which cannot well demonstrate the change of flow field
over time, failing to obtain expected results. Sometimes the
calculation accuracy of a large time step can be improved by
increasing the iterative steps in a single time step, but it is not
always effective.
Plenty of researches showed that time step was dependant
on the thickness of the first layer of near-wall grids. The
smaller the thickness of the first near-wall grid, the smaller
the time step to achieving convergence, and it was time-
consuming. It was proved that the thickness of near-wall grid
played an important role in accuracy and stability, and the
time step could be determined based on the near-wall grid
parameters. Usually, the time step Δ𝑡 can be calculated by
Δ𝑡 ≤ 60/(𝑁 ⋅ 𝐶 ⋅ 𝜔).
The effect of time step on accuracy was shown in Figure 8.
It is clearly seen that the accuracy of the case of time step Δ𝑡 =
𝑇/360 is the best, followed by case of Δ𝑡 = 𝑇/90, and case
6 Advances in Mechanical Engineering

(a) (b)

Figure 9: Computational domain for the 3D simulation and details of the mesh structure of the rotor blades.

0.9
0.8
0.7
𝐶𝑝 = 0.593

Power coefficient 𝐶𝑝
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
Figure 10: Diagrams of streamline and slice of 3D flow field. 0
−0.1
0 45 90 135 180 225 270 315 360
Azimuth angle 𝜃 (∘ )
of Δ𝑡 = 𝑇/45 is the worst, indicating that the calculation
accuracy can be guaranteed by a smaller time step. TSR = 1 TSR = 2.5
TSR = 1.5 TSR = 3
TSR = 2
4. Performance Prediction of S-VAWT Figure 11: Average power coefficient of three-bladed S-VAWT at
various TSRs.
4.1. 3𝐷 Flow Field of S-VAWT. In order to have a better
understanding of the tip flow, 3D investigations had been
conducted but also for comparison analysis of the difference
between 3D and 2D. Based on the computational domain of to the middle of blade. The two strands of fluid mix at wake
2D simulation shown in Figure 4, mesh structure of 3D flow region and fully develop, producing a free inflow at father
field and detailed mesh structure of rotor blades were shown wake region.
in Figure 9. The distance from top of the rotor to the ground Due to cross-flow at the ends of blade, the calculation
was 7 m, and length of blade was 2 m. with the purpose to results of 3D were slightly smaller than that of 2D, seen in
build a realistic flow field for better prediction accuracy, a Figure 7. The difference between 2D and 3D computational
“sky” (not shown in Figure 9) with 13 m in depth was stacked results was acceptable by comparison analysis with that of
on the top of the wind turbine, and at the end the total grid the literature [19], and it basically met the demands for
of the 3D model was approximately 1.3 million. aerodynamic performance prediction of S-VAWT. In order
Figure 10 was the three-dimensional flow field of S- to reduce the computational time, 2D simulations were
VAWT. As shown in Figure 10, it is clearly seen that the employed for the following work.
velocity from upstream to downstream decreases gradually,
leading to a relative low-velocity zone behind the rotor. It 4.2. Aerodynamic Forces of S-VAWT. Two-dimensional inves-
is also found that streamlines of leaf blade move down to tigations had been carried out to obtain the operational capa-
middle of the blade and streamlines of bottom blade move bility of the turbine at various TSRs, as shown in Figure 11.
up to middle of blade. It is due to that pressure is high at Figure 11 suggests that averaged power coefficient at var-
pressure surface and low at suction surface, leading to a big ious TSRs is periodic and lags behind each other by 120
accelerating pressure gradient between the two surfaces, and degrees. Curves of 𝐶𝑝 ∼ 𝜃 suggest that fluctuation of flow
then cross-flows occur both at leaf blade and bottom blade. becomes smaller with the increase of TSR, and the averaged
Also, the pressure of middle of blade is relatively lower than power coefficient becomes more stable. This is due to that
that of the ends of blade, thus fluids at the ends of blade move Reynolds number increases with the TSR, but the angle of
Advances in Mechanical Engineering 7

0.99 1.6
4 0.71
0.57 1.2
−0.14

0.14
−0.14
0.29
0.43 0.8
2 −0.24 0.29

Lift coefficient 𝐶𝑙
−0.71
0.29
0.14 0.4
−0.24 −0.24
0
0 −0.21 0
−0.14
𝑌 −0.43
−0.24 −0.14

−0.21 −0.4
−1

0.99 −0.3
−0.71
−0.24
0.57 0.71

−2 −0.43
−0.8
−0.3
−0.43
0.43 0.29 0 −0.14
−1.2
−4 −0.71
−1 −1.6
−4 −2 0 2 4 −20 −15 −10 −5 0 5 10 15 20
𝑋 Angle of attack 𝛼 (∘ )
Figure 12: Pressure distribution of S-VAWT (TSR = 3). Upstroke 1 Upstroke 2
Downstroke 1 Downstroke 2

Figure 13: Lift coefficient hysteresis loops of blade under sinusoidal

attack becomes smaller, and therefore the region where deep
stall might happen becomes smaller, and thus the power
generation becomes more stable.
As can be seen from Figure 11, it is obviously seen the
averaged power coefficient of cases of TSR ≧ 1.5 beyond the
Bates limitation 0.593, which is unlikely to occur according
to Bates law. Nevertheless, Jonkman [29] stated that the
static pressure on the boundary of the streamtube portion
enclosing the rotor disc should be equal to unperturbed
ambient static pressure. However, this hypothesis is not
verified for the present work but can be explained by the
pressure distribution of wind turbine, see Figure 12.
Form the pressure distribution of S-VAWT, it is found
that the pressure of windward side is positive, but there
is a sudden drop of pressure coefficient at suction surface,
especially for the region with high-power generation. For
example, when the blade comes to azimuth angle 109 degrees,
the pressure coefficient of pressure surface is 0.99, while it
is −1 at suction surface. Due to the big differential pressure,
the thrust exerted to the blade increases sharply, thus the
averaged power coefficient exceeds the Bates limit at some
region.
As shown in Figure 11, there is a large fluctuation for the
power coefficient at TSR = 1, and there is a smaller peak
value following the big peak value. The main reasons are
the sinusoidal pattern of angle of attack, and more serious
dynamic stalls and secondary vortexes; these make great
contribution to the formation of aerodynamic forces.
4.3. Dynamic Performance of Blade. The variation of angle of
attack with azimuth angle at different TSRs is sinusoidal
function [22, 30], and thus we assume that the blades
are under sinusoidal oscillatory motion when S-VAWT is
under operation. Due to the investigations on effects of
reduced frequency, amplitude and original value of sinusoidal
function had been extensively conducted [23, 25]; we did
an example with NACA0015 blade profile at the sinusoidal
pattern of 𝛼 = 20∘ sin(𝜔𝑡) in this paper. The blade executes
an oscillatory motion at a fixed pivot (1/4 chord length) with
an oscillating period of 2 s; the time step is 0.005 s, and the
motion.
inflow velocity is 10 m/s. The dynamic performance of blade
is shown in Figure 13.
As seen from Figure 13, it is found that there is a hysteresis
loop that the blade cannot immediately return to the flow
field before dynamic stall. It shows that the difference between
upstroke and downstroke is small at small stage of angle of
attack, while the difference cannot be ignored for high angle
of attack. Meanwhile, the results suggest that lift coefficient
of upstroke at high angle of attack is better than that of
downstroke, whereas slightly lower at small angle of attack.
As can be seen in Figure 11, the power coefficient of
TSR = 2.5 was relatively good than other cases. In addition,
for a better understanding of the flow field of S-VAWT and
the effects of angle of attack on aerodynamic performance,
changes of flow field and aerodynamic forces of TSR 2.5
during a revolution were shown in Figures 14 and 15.
Figure 14 demonstrates that it is attached flow at azimuth
angle 𝜃 = 0∘ and viscosity plays an important role at that
region. Effective angle of attack increase with azimuth angle
and flow begins to separate at trailing edge, and then the
separation point moves to leading edge along with the
azimuth angle. Meanwhile, a clockwise circulation occurs at
trailing edge at suction surface and the blade is in mild stall.
When passes though azimuth angle of 30 degrees, vortex
occurs at leading edge with the increase of azimuth angle, and
the lift coefficient is proportional to the angle of attack during
this process, see Figure 15. The vortex keeps growing in size,
meanwhile the interaction with the growing circulation at
trailing edge gets stronger with a further increase of azimuth
angle, leading to serous energy dissipation, and thus the lift
coefficient grows nonlinear.
When it comes to azimuth angle 70 degrees, the vortex
rises up and begins to leave the surface of blade, and the blade
is in deep stall, leading to a sudden drop in lift coefficient, see
Figure 15, and coming into the peak value. With the increase
of azimuth angle, the angle of attack begins to decrease, and
secondary vortex is formed at trailing edge, which makes
8 Advances in Mechanical Engineering

(a) (b) (c) (d)

(e) (f) (g) (h)

(i) (j) (k) (l)

Figure 14: Flow field around blade in one revolution.

4 2.5
d d
e
c f e
c
3 2
f
g
b
Drag coefficient 𝐶𝑑

2 1.5
Lift coefficient 𝐶𝑙

g
1 1

j
0 a h 0.5
l b
k i k
i
−1 l 0 h
j
a

−2 −0.5
−30 −20 −10 0 10 20 30 −30 −20 −10 0 10 20 30
Angle of attack 𝛼 (∘ ) Angle of attack 𝛼 (∘ )
(a) (b)

Figure 15: Curves of dynamic changes of lift and drag coefficients of one blade in one revolution.

significant contributions to the increase of aerodynamic occurs at trailing edge, which has a significant impact on the
forces during downstroke motion. The induced vortex grows aerodynamic forces.
in size but the angle of attack begins to decrease, and therefore From Figure 14, it can be concluded that the blade has
the vortex sheds from the suction surface of blade and it experienced five stages: attached flow, mild stall, deep stall,
becomes to be attached flow when it is at azimuth angle of stage of secondary vortex, and reattached flow. The separation
180 degrees. At downstream, the flow penetrated from the at trailing edge marks the blade enter into mild stall, and the
pressure side of blade into the suction side and the angle shedding of leading vortex states that the blade is in deep stall
of attack began to increase, and therefore a reversed flow and the highest lift coefficient is obtained.
Advances in Mechanical Engineering 9

1.5 12
Tangential force coefficient 𝐶𝑡

1 6

Radial force coefficient 𝐶𝑛

0.5 0

0 −6

−0.5 −12

−1 −18
0 45 90 135 180 225 270 315 360 0 45 90 135 180 225 270 315 360
Azimuth angle 𝜃 (∘ ) Azimuth angle 𝜃 (∘ )

Thickness = 1.2 mm Thickness = 0.1 mm Thickness = 1.2 mm Thickness = 0.1 mm

Thickness = 0.8 mm Experimental data Thickness = 0.8 mm Experimental data

(a) (b)
Figure 16: Comparison analysis of tangential and radial force coefficient between CFD and experimental date.

5. Experimental Verification 0.24

The present work here aimed at finding the effects of near-

0.2
wall grid on prediction accuracy, and then more efforts were
devoted to the influences of thickness of first layer near-
Power coefficient 𝐶𝑝

wall grids on mechanical properties. Investigations by CFD 0.16

were performed and compared with the experimental data
reported by Wang et al. [13]. Based on plenty of attempts,
it comes to be convergent at time step of 0.5 s, as shown in 0.12
Figure 16.
Figure 16 indicates that the thickness of the first-layer 0.08
near-wall grids has a great impact on accuracy. It is clearly
seen that calculation results obtained from RNG k-𝜀 turbu-
lence model agree well with the experimental data, especially 0.04
1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2 2.2 2.4 2.6
for the radial force coefficient. Furthermore, the thickness of TSR
grids has less impact on the accuracy of radial force than that
of tangential force. And the vibration frequency of radial force CFD
is significantly less than that of tangential force. It is because Experimental data
that the drag makes great contribution to radial force and the Figure 17: Comparison analysis of power coefficient between CFD
drag is quite small compared with the lift, thus the radial force and experimental data.
changes smoothly.
From the curves in Figure 16(a), it is also found that
curves of 0.8 mm and 1.2 mm are far away from the exper- carried out, and the calculated results are shown in Figure 17.
imental data. While the result of 0.1 mm is much better, Figure 17 states that the results at higher TSR are in good
particularly the results at upstream show well agreement with agreement with experimental data, while there is big differ-
experimental data but are much smaller than experimental ence at low TSR, about 3.8%. It is probably due to that the
data at downstream. It is probably caused by the shedding region where dynamic stall takes place expends at lower TSR,
vortexes form upstream as well as the lower flow velocity, thus dynamic stall is severe and effects of vortexes enhanced.
leading to serious dynamic stall and blade flutter. In addition, Furthermore, prediction results of the employed turbulence
prediction values of vortexes by using RNG k-𝜀 model are a models are larger than those of real values and lead to a poor
bit larger than the real values due to the high estimate value of accuracy.
turbulence viscosity coefficient, and therefore the tangential
force at downstream is much smaller than that of upstream 6. Conclusion
and its fluctuation is severe.
In addition, comparison analysis between calculation The present paper aimed at getting a better aerodynamic
results and experimental data of literature [19] has been performance prediction of S-VAWT, and efforts were devoted
10
to the effects of computational domain, grid independent,
near-wall grid, and time step on calculated accuracy. For
the present two-dimensional CFD model, the calculated
accuracy from RNG k-𝜀 model is accepted when the total
grid number is more than 100,000. In addition, the prediction
values of aerodynamic loads agree well with the experimental
data, and the near-wall grids have a significant impact on pre-
diction of tangential force than radial force. The calculation
results are smaller than those of experimental data especially
at downstream; it is because that the employed turbulent
model has a larger prediction values than the real values.
Thus, a turbulent model should be carefully selected for a
higher accuracy.
From the flow field analysis, it is concluded that the
blade experiences a complex process during one revolution,
including attached flow, mild stall, deep stall, and reattached
flow. The highest lift coefficient is obtained with the shedding
of leading vortex, and the secondary vortexes also make
significant contributions to the aerodynamic performance.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support
of the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universi-
ties (HEUCF110707) and the Heilongjiang Province Natural
Science Foundation, China (E201216) for this work.
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