Muhammad Ahmad

In this research, an experimental and computational analysis of a novel hybrid vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) arrangement has been performed. We suggest an innovative VAWT design that has a high power coefficient and self-starting capability. The inner side of the proposed hybrid system has been integrated with the H-rotor turbine with cambered blades, which demonstrates strong self-starting capabilities at various azimuths. Three NACA0018 airfoil blades are mounted on the outside of the proposed hybrid wind turbine, while three DU 06-W-200 airfoil blades are installed on the inside. Based on a similarity analysis, a scaled-down model was developed, and performance characteristics such as the output power, power coefficient ( C p ), dynamic torque coefficient ( C t ), and static torque coefficient ( C t s ) were determined. An existing hybrid VAWT and a typical H-rotor Darrieus design were also examined for comparison. The highest C p for the proposed hybrid design was found to be 0.486 at a tip speed ratio (TSR) of 3, while the H-rotor Darrieus’ maximum value was 0.42 at a TSR of 2.62 and the existing hybrid VAWT’s value was 0.41 at a TSR of 2.5. Positive C t s values at all azimuths demonstrate that the proposed hybrid wind turbine can start entirely on its own. In comparison to the existing H-rotor and hybrid VAWT, this novel hybrid system has shown enhanced performance parameters ( C p , C t , C t s , output power) by around 11%–13% over a wide range of wind speeds.

In this paper, an attempt has been made to highlight major developments of vertical axis wind turbines (VAWTs) in the last few decades. The effects of various design parameters such as airfoil, number of blades, solidity, aspect ratio, blade helicity, and overlap ratio have been critically analyzed. Wind energy is the most promising renewable, cost-effective, efficient, and accessible source for both domestic and commercial applications. Horizontal axis wind turbines are highly developed and are being used for medium-to-large scale power projects. VAWT are considered viable options for urban and semi-urban areas. These turbines have several characteristics, such as omnidirectional, power generation in weak and unstable winds, esthetically sound, safety, and low noise. Darrieus turbines with a fixed blade-type have starting problems at low wind speeds. Savonius turbines have good starting capability; however, their power coefficients are lower than other types of VAWT. To overcome the shortcomings of conventional wind turbines, an innovative engineering solution was sought in the design of hybrid VAWT. The analysis revealed that hybrid wind turbines have addressed the deficiencies to an extent; however, the overall performance is still less than that of conventional wind turbines. Several recommendations have been made based on state-of-the-art information from the perspective of future studies and acceptability. It was concluded that vast opportunities for wind turbine applications are available in urban areas; however, further academic research is required on critical aspects such as self-starting at low wind speeds, efficiency, structural reliability, design improvement for aerodynamic performance, and wind resource assessment.

This study aims to optimize the design parameters of a vertical axis wind turbine using design of experiments (DOE). Response surface methodology combined with desirability optimization was used to optimize multiple parameters such as the chord length, number of blades, aspect ratio, and pitch angle. The range of contributing parameters was selected using one factor at a time (OFAT) approach, and the performance parameters were evaluated by applying the double multiple streamtube theory. Datasets retrieved from the Q-Blade open-source software were employed in the DOE to determine the optimal configurations. Based on response surface investigation, a quadratic model was established and the accuracy of the model was determined by applying analysis of variance, goodness of fit, normal plot of residuals, and R-squared values. The optimized chord length, number of blades, pitch angle, and aspect ratio were 0.546 m, 03, −2.82°, and 0.808, respectively. The maximum power coefficient of 0.45 was obtained at a tip speed ratio of 3 from the optimized design parameters. The analysis revealed an increase of approximately 8.43% in the maximum power coefficient of the proposed wind turbine. A 3D unsteady computational fluid dynamics model along with Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes equations were utilized to verify the obtained results, and a maximum difference of less than 1.5% was found. A standard H-rotor Darrieus configuration obtained from the OFAT approach was also tested at different wind speeds for comparison. The analysis revealed that when the wind speed was less than 3.85 m/sec, the standard Darrieus produced no power; however, the self-starting speed of the optimized VAWT was as low as 3.22 m/sec. This novel design methodology provides guidelines for obtaining optimum design configurations and can help in achieving high-fidelity analysis in the early design phase.

In this paper, we present the procedure of estimating the aerodynamic coefficients for a commercial aviation aircraft from geometric parameters at low-cruise-flight conditions using US DATCOM (United States Data Compendium) and XFLR software. The purpose of this research was to compare the stability parameters from both pieces of software to determine the efficacy of software solution for a wide-body aircraft at the stated flight conditions. During the initial phase of this project, the geometric parameters were acquired from established literature. In the next phase, stability and control coefficients of the aircraft were estimated using both pieces of software in parallel. Results obtained from both pieces of software were compared for any differences and the both pieces of software were validated with analytical correlations as presented in literature. The plots of various parameters with variations of the angle of attack or control surface deflection have also been obtained and presented. The differences between the software solutions and the analytical results can be associated with approximations of techniques used in software (the vortex lattice method is the background theory used in both DATCOM and XFLR). Additionally, from the results, it can be concluded that XFLR is more reliable than DATCOM for longitudinal, directional, and lateral stability/control coefficients. Analyses of a Boeing 747-200 (a wide-body commercial airliner) in DATCOM and XFLR for complete stability/control analysis including all modes in the longitudinal and lateral directions have been presented. DATCOM already has a sample analysis of a previous version of the Boeing 737; however, the Boeing 747-200 is much larger than the former, and complete analysis was, therefore, felt necessary to study its aerodynamics characteristics. Furthermore, in this research, it was concluded that XFLR is more reliable for various categories of aircraft alike in terms of general stability and control coefficients, and hence many aircraft can be dependably modeled and analyzed in this software.