Mini-project report Computational Fluid Dynamics Analysis of a Low Cost Wind Turbine

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software was used to compare the performance of a handmade wind turbine blade with that of a conventional factory made model. The geometry was simplified to 2D aerofoils and the surrounding flow field was analysed at a Reynold’s number of 80,000. It was found that the lift/drag characteristics of the two aerofoils across a range of angles of attack were virtually identical, meaning that the torque force exerted on the wind turbine blades would also be identical and therefore as would the power outputs of the two turbines. However, the simple model ignored a number of important issues, such as 3D effects and the influence of manufacturing quality on the idealised blade geometry. Further modelling and/or experimental validation work is needed to increase confidence in the quality of the results. Table of