Investigation of aerodynamic effects on performance of wind turbine blades by using finite element method

Abstract

In this study, design of the most suitable wind turbine rotor for Iztech campus area is performed by taking into account aerodynamic effects.Aerodynamic properties of various airfoils are determined, numerically, by using a software called FLUENT. Blade element momentum theory is applied to find chord lengths and twist angles for mean wind speed at 10m height in Iztech campus area. Rotor performance is determined by using blade element momentum theory. Effects of twist angle and tip speed ratio are investigated for blade design. Rotor maximum power coefficient of the new designed blade is found as 0.4313 while another design in use gives a maximum power coefficient of 0.4044.It can be noted that new designed blade is more efficient, as it gives the maximum power coefficient at design conditions, 6.85 m/s wind speed at 10 m height and 25oC ambient temperature. It is observed that new design gives higher power values than the design in use, over 5.8 m/s wind speed.