Proceedings of the ASME 2010 International Mechanical Engineering Congress & Exposition

IMECE2010
November 12-18, 2010, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Proceedings of the ASME 2010 International Mechanical Engineering Congress & Exposition
IMECE2010
November 12-18, 2010, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
IMECE2010-3
IMECE2010-39548

MODELING STRATEGY AND NUMERICAL VALIDATION

FOR A DARRIEUS VERTICAL AXIS MICRO-WIND TURBINE

Marco Raciti Castelli (*), Guido Ardizzon (*), Lorenzo Battisti (**),
Ernesto Benini (*), Giorgio Pavesi (*)
(*) Department of Mechanical Engineering – University of Padova
Via Venezia, 1 – 35131 Padova, Italy
(**) Department of Mechanical and Structural Engineering – University of Trento
Via Mesiano, 77 I – 38123 Povo (TN), Italy
marco.raciticastelli@unipd.it (corresponding author)

ABSTRACT INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

This paper presents a model for the evaluation of optimal Recent instabilities of world economy, due to the
spatial grid node distribution in the CFD analysis of a Darrieus increasing price of carbon-derivative fuels along with the
vertical axis micro wind turbine, by analyzing the trends over a connected socio-political turbulences, have aroused the interest
360° rotation of some indicators of near-blade mesh quality. in the production of renewable energy among the most
To this purpose, a complete validation campaign has been industrialised western nations.
conducted through a systematic comparison of numerical In this scenario, the continuous quest for clean energy is
simulations with wind tunnel experimental data. now focusing on the local production of electric power, spread
Both two-dimensional and three-dimensional grids, in a wide area, so as to cooperate with the big electric power
characterized by average y+ values of 30 and 1, have been plants located in just few specific strategic locations of the
tested by applying some statistical techniques as a guidance in countries.
selecting the appropriate grid configuration and corresponding One of the most promising resources is wind power
turbulence model. associated with local production of clean electric power inside
Finally, the tip downstream recirculation zone due to the the built environment such industrial and residential areas,
finite blade extension and the influence of spokes have been which has lead to the development of the so called
analyzed, achieving a numerical quantification of the influence “Computational Wind Engineering”. This new discipline has
of induced drag and spokes drag on overall rotor performance. also renewed the interest in vertical-axis wind turbines
(VAWTs), which present several advantages if compared with
the classical horizontal-axis wind turbines (HAWTs), primarily:
NOMENCLATURE
A [m2] rotor swept area • lower sound emission;
Cp [-] rotor power coefficient • independence from wind directions;
λ [-] tip speed ratio • better environmental impact due to their “three-
P∞ [W] kinetic energy flux entering rotor front section dimensionality”.
ρ [kg/m3] unperturbed air density (assumed 1.225 kg/m3)
n statistical population data The vertical axis wind turbine has an inherently non-
uτ [m/s] tangential wall velocity stationary aerodynamic behaviour, mainly due to the
V∞ [m/s] unperturbed wind velocity at test section entrance continuous variation of the blade angle of attack during the
y [m] wall-grid centroid distance rotation of the machine: this peculiarity involves the continuous
ω [rad/s] rotor angular velocity variation both of the relative velocity with respect to the blade
x [Nm] data average value profile and - although to a lesser extent - of the corresponding
σ [Nm] standard deviation Reynolds number. This phenomenon, typical of slow rotating
µ [Pa·s] air dynamic viscosity machines, has a significant effect both on the dynamic loads

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 acting on the rotor and on the generated power and, therefore, Figure 1 shows the main geometric characteristics of the
on performance. analyzed rotor.
The complexity of the phenomena involved in the
inherently unsteady behaviour of vertical axis turbines is often
impossible to investigate through classical aerodynamic tools
such as the theory of the blade elements (BE-M) and gives an
account of the use of computational fluid dynamics aimed at
determining the structure of the flow field (vortices, three-
dimensional effects, influence of spoke shape) otherwise
impossible to analyze.
Performing CFD calculations provide knowledge about the
flow in all its details, such as velocities, pressure, temperature,
etc. Further, all types of useful graphical presentations, such as
flow lines, contour lines and iso-lines are readily available.
This stage can be compared to having completed a wind-tunnel
study or an elaborate full-scale measurement campaign [1].
CFD methods involve very large amounts of computation
even for relatively simple problems and their accuracy is often
difficult to assess when applied to a new problem where prior
experimental validation has not been done [2].
To date only Ferreira [3], [4] presented a systematic CFD
analysis of a two-dimensional blade configuration. The effect
of dynamic stall in a 2D single-bladed VAWT was investigated, Figure 1: VAWT rotor model layout
reporting the influence of the turbulence model in the
simulation of the vortical structures spread from the blade. But Experimental characteristic curves are representative of
a single blade VAWT, although very suitable for the average-stationary rotor behaviour: torque and rotational speed
visualization of flow field close to the rotor, has no practical data acquisition frequency was only 0.5 Hz and was therefore
engineering applications. too low to reproduce the instantaneous torque curve as a
The present work aims to develop a numerical function of rotor angular position. This choice, in light of the
methodology in order to predict the performance of a three- subsequent numerical analysis, proved unfortunate, since it
bladed Darrieus rotor by reviewing the adequacy of the only allowed the comparison of torque average values, whereas
numerical solutions and physical models implemented in CFD higher data acquisition frequency would have allowed a
codes. comparison based on instantaneous torque values and therefore
The software used was ANSYS Fluent 6.3.26. blade azimuthal position.
The measurements were carried out at the “Politecnico di
Milano” in Milan – Bovisa low turbulence wind tunnel, whose
EXPERIMENTAL SETUP test section of 4000 x 3840 mm is shown in figure 2.
The experimental setup consisted in a straight-bladed
Darrieus rotor, developed for experimental purpose and made
of woven carbon fiber wrapped around a wood core, with the
following geometrical characteristics:

Diameter [mm] 1030

Height [mm] 1456.4
Number of blades 3
Blade section NACA 0021
Chord [mm] 85.8
Spoke-blade connection 0.5 c
σ 0.25

Table 1: Rotor geometrical characteristics

Figure 2: Low turbulence wind tunnel at the “Politecnico di
Spokes were made of simple aluminium plates 5 mm thick. Milano” (source: [5])

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 EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
Figure 3 shows the “rough” values of Cp obtained by
dividing the value of the kinetic energy flux entering the front
section of the rotor by the product of measured rotor torque and
angular velocity, for an unperturbed wind speed at test section
entrance of 9 m/s:
Cp = P / (½ ρ A V∞3) (1)
as a function of the tip speed ratio, defined as:
• a prismatic (rectangular in a two-dimensional case)
outer zone having the same section of the wind tunnel
test chamber, with a cylindrical hole (circular in a two-
dimensional case) centered on the turbine rotational
axis, which was identified as Wind Tunnel sub-grid,
fixed;
• a cylindrical (circular in a two-dimensional case) inner
zone, which was identified as Rotor sub-grid, rotating
with angular velocity ω.

λ = ωR / V∞ (2)
WIND TUNNEL SUB-GRID
These data are defined as " rough " because the correction Figure 4 shows the main dimensions of the Wind Tunnel
due to wind tunnel blockage was not considered, in order to sub-grid area for a two-dimensional case.
minimize any sources of error due to a wrong estimation of the
blockage of the wind tunnel itself: the operation of the rotor
inside the wind tunnel was numerically simulated by
reproducing a computational domain of rectangular shape,
having the same wind tunnel test section size.
Furthermore, this choice has the significant advantage of
reducing the computational domain, allowing a saving in the
total number of mesh elements (even if low, since increasing
the distance from the rotor, the cell size significantly increases).
The correction of the friction resistive torque due to the
bearings interposed between rotor and torquemeter was taken
into account. Figure 4 Main dimensions of the Wind Tunnel sub-grid area
(dimensions in mm)
0.35
Inlet and outlet boundary conditions were placed
0.30
respectively 10 diameters upwind and 14 diameters downwind
0.25 with respect to the rotor, allowing a full development of the
0.20 wake, as suggested by the work of Ferreira et al [3].
Cp

The blade azimuthal position was identified by the angular

0.15
coordinate of the pressure centre of the blade midsection, as
0.10 can be seen in Figure 5.
0.05

0.00
1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5
Tip Speed Ratio

Figure 3: Wind tunnel measured power curve (correction

due to wind tunnel blockage was not considered) for a wind
speed at test section entrance of 9 m/s

SPATIAL DOMAIN DISCRETIZATION

All the meshes which were analyzed in the present work
had common geometric features, except for the areas close to
the blade profiles.
As the aim of the present work was to reproduce the
operation of a rotating machine, the use of moving sub-grids
was necessary. In particular, the discretization of the
computational domain into macro-areas led to two distinct
subgrids: Figure 5: Blade azimuthal coordinate

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 In the three-dimensional analysis only half of the easy to obtain, also for complex geometries, and often represent
experimental setup was modelled, due to its vertical symmetry: the “first attempt” in order to get a quick response from the
a symmetry boundary condition was used, allowing a CFD in engineering work.
considerable saving of elements (50%), which resulted in
reduction of computational time. Anyway, the geometrical
features of the model did not allow other simplifications to be
performed.
The effect of gravity on the rotor working curves has not
been contemplated, being considered not influential for the aim
of this work.
An unstructured mesh was chosen for the Wind Tunnel
sub-grid, in order to reduce engineering time to prepare the
CFD simulations.

Figure 7: Schematic of Rotor sub-grid area (dimensions in

mm)

All blade profiles inside the Rotor sub-grid are enclosed in

a control cylinder (circle in a two-dimensional case) of 400 mm
diameter. Unlike the interface, it has no physical significance:
its aim is to allow a precise dimensional control of the grid
elements in the area close to rotor blades by adopting a first
size function operating from the blade profile to the control
Figure 6: Mesh visualization for Wind Tunnel sub-grid area cylinder itself and a second size function operating from the
control cylinder to the whole Rotor sub-grid area, ending with
Either a symmetry or a wall boundary condition were used grid elements of the same size of the corresponding Wind
for the two side walls (a sensitivity analysis performed on a 2D tunnel sub-grid elements.
model proved the equivalence of these two boundary An interior boundary condition was used for control
conditions for the aerodynamic characterization of the rotor). cylinder surfaces, thus ensuring the continuity of the cells on
The cylindrical surface (circumference in a two- both sides of the control cylinder.
dimensional case) of the central hole was set as an interface, A growth factor of 1.26 was set from the surface of the
thus ensuring the continuity of the flow field. control cylinder to Rotor sub-grid, thus expanding grid size
from 8.5 mm to 30 mm, as shown in figure 8.
ROTOR SUB-GRID
The Rotor sub-grid is the fluid area simulating the rotation
of the wind turbine and is therefore characterized by a moving
mesh, rotating at the same angular velocity of the turbine. Its
location coincides exactly with the hole inside the Wind Tunnel
sub-grid area.
It is good engineering practise to provide that the mesh on
both sides of the interface (Rotor sub-grid and Wind Tunnel
sub-grid areas) has approximately the same characteristic cell
size in order to obtain faster convergence [6].
An isotropic unstructured mesh was chosen for the Rotor
sub-grid, in order to guarantee the same accuracy in the
prediction of rotor’s performance during the rotation –
according to the studies of Commings, Forsythe, Morton and
Squires [7] – and also in order to test the prediction capability
of a very simple grid. Considering their features of flexibility
and adaption capability, unstructured meshes are in fact very
Figure 8: Two-dimensional Rotor sub-grid

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 ∑
n
( x j − x )2
σ= j =1 (4) 90
n
n  xj − x 
3
n
a= ∑ 
(n − 1)(n − 2) j =1  σ 
 (5) 80

70

Average y+ .
where n is the population of data analyzed, x is the average
60
value of blade y+ and σ is the standard deviation.
Figure 21 adds some information about the asymmetry of 50
the y+ parameter: it can be observed that some azimuthal
positions, though having acceptable y+ average values, present 40
very high asymmetry values, thus being critical for the
accuracy of the numerical solution 30
0 60 120 180 240 300 360
Blade azimuthal position [°]

Figure 20: Average y+ values for a single-bladed Group 1

mesh as a function of the azimuthal position

0.4

0.2
Asymmetry [-] .

0
0 60 120 180 240 300 360

-0.2

-0.4

Figure 18: Variation of the angle of incidence on the blade -0.6

profile as a function of the azimuthal coordinate position

for different tip speed ratios -0.8
Blade azimuthal position [°]

Figure 21: Average y+ values and asymmetry values for a

single-bladed Group 1 mesh as a function of the azimuthal
position

The systematic application of the methodology described

Figure 19: Velocity vectors around a blade. In the area of
stagnation (right) downwind of the profile very low values
of the y+ parameter are registered (turbulence model: k-ω
SST).
in this section allowed a relevant improving of mesh quality for
a Group 1 single-bladed configuration.
The final choice was mesh Mod A for Group 1, based on a
better distribution of the blade y+ and asymmetry, coupled with
a k-omega SST turbulence model, because of its better ability to
describe flow separation [9], [10], [11] which occurs in flow
fields dominated by adverse pressure gradients, even if it has
shown a certain sensitivity to grid size [12]. Standard wall
functions were used to model the boundary layer.
For Group 2 meshes, Enhanced Wall Treatment k-ε
Realizable proved to be the best turbulence model, because of

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 BE-M code does not model the drag of the arm-blade-
tower fluid-dynamic interactions;
• there is a marked difference of infinite aspect ratio
case between CFD and BE-M. With this option, the
reduction of the angle of attack due to the tip effects
along the blade is not longer dumped and leads to
large stall effects in the low tip speed ratio range. The
torque results to be greatly reduced and even negative
in this range;
• A moderate shift of the maximum Cp tip speed ratio is
also observed for the BE-M simulations, but this effect
can be caused by the model used for the tunnel
blockage effect.
The high value of the numerically determined maximum
power coefficient (0.56) is fictitious and is due to wind tunnel
blockage effects: the presence of an obstacle (the rotor) inside
the wind tunnel test section raises the wind speed close to the
rotor to a higher value than the unperturbed reference wind
speed of 9 m/s, which was measured at the test section
entrance.
CONCLUSION AND FUTURE WORK
In this paper a numerical analysis validation campaign for
a Darrieus micro-VAWT has been conducted through a
systematic comparison with wind tunnel experimental data.
The optimal spatial discretization has been obtained by
analyzing the trends over a 360° rotation of some indicators of
the quality of the near-blade mesh, i.e. the average value of the
y+ and its asymmetry.
Two different groups of mesh, characterized by values of
y+ of 30 and 1, have been developed both for three-dimensional
and two-dimensional models.
The choice of turbulence models, based on literature data
and numerical comparisons with wind tunnel experimental
measurements, led to k-ω SST model for meshes characterized
by y+ of 30 and Enhanced Wall Treatment k-ε Realizable model
for meshes characterized by y+ of 1.
The obtained results demonstrate that, through statistical
analysis of some indicators such as the y+ parameter, it is
possible to determine the best near-blade element dimension so
as to maximize the accuracy of the numerical prediction of
rotor performance.
It has also been demonstrated that, through accurate
numerical analysis, it is possible to replicate the shape of the
experimental rotor power curve and that the numerical code is
also able to capture the maximum power coefficient tip speed
ratio, thus offering a reliable alternative to the development of
experimental tests for the first step implementation of wind
turbine control systems.
The proposed procedure is a valid tool for assessing the
performance of blade profiles in micro vertical axis wind
turbines, even in the absence of an extended database.
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The sub-model used for the BEM analysis (dynamic stall,
flow curvature, streamtubes expansion) need further
refinements to get comparable results with the CFD, although it
seems to be able to capture the main physical phenomena.
The influence of wind tunnel blockage on rotor
performance must be further investigated through the
development of a numerical tool, in order to estimate real
operational rotor power curve.
REFERENCES
[1] Jensen, A. G., Franke, J., Hirsch, C., Schatzmann, M.,
Stathopoulos, T., Wisse, J., Wright, N. G.: CFD
Techniques – Computational Wind Engineering,
Proceedings of the International Conference on Urban
Wind Engineering and Building Aerodynamics – Impact
of Wind and Storm on City Life and Built Environment –
Working Group 2, COST Action C14, Von Karman
Institute, Rode-Saint-Genèse (Belgium), 2004;
[2] Stathopoulos, T.: Wind Effects on People, Proceedings of
the International Conference on Urban Wind Engineering
and Building Aerodynamics – Impact of Wind Storm on
City Life and Built Environment, COST Action C14, Von
Karman Institute, Rode-Saint-Genèse (Belgium), 2004;
[3] Simao Ferreira, C. J., Bijl, H., van Bussel, G., van Kuik,
G.: Simulating Dynamic Stall in a 2D VAWT: Modeling
Strategy, Verification and Validation with Particle Image
Velocimetry Data, The Science of Making Torque from
Wind, Journal of Physics: Conference Series 75, 2007;
[4] Simao Ferreira, C.J., van Bussel, G., Scarano, F., van
Kuik, G.: 2D PIV Visualization of Dynamic Stall on a
Vertical Axis Wind Turbine, AIAA, 2007;
[5] http://www.windtunnel.polimi.it/brochure.pdf;
[6] Fluent Inc., Fluent User’s Manual, pp. 52, 54, 59, 71, 143;
[7] Cummings, R.M., Forsythe, J.R., Morton, S.A., Squires,
K.D., Computational Challenges in High Angle of Attack
Flow Prediction, 2003, Progr Aerosp Sci 39(5):369-384;
[8] Battisti L., Brighenti A., Zanne L., Analisi dell’effetto
della scelta dell’architettura palare sulle prestazioni di
turbine eoliche ad asse verticale, 64° Congresso
Nazionale ATI, 6-11 Settembre 2009, L’Aquila
[9] Spalart, P. R.: A One-Equation Turbulence Model for
Aerodynamic Flows, La Recherche Aerospatiale, 1994;
[10] Menter, F. R.: Two-Equation Eddy-Viscosity Turbulence
Models for Engineering Applications, AIAA Journal,
32(8):1598, 1994;
[11] Wilcox, D. C.: Turbulence Modeling for CFD, DCW
Industries Inc., La Canada, California, 1998;
[12] Bardina J.E., Huang P.G., Coakley T.J., Turbulence
Modeling Validation, Testing and Development, Technical
Report 110446, NASA, 1997.
10 Copyright © 2010 by ASME

Figure 14-15: Improved mesh regularity
after conversion into polyhedra
The temporal discretization has been achieved by imposing
a time step equal to the lapse of time the rotor takes to make a
1° rotation. An improved temporal-discretization simulation did
not show any significant variation. The data were saved and
then analyzed every 4 degrees of turbine rotation, so as to avoid
handling a large amount of data storage.
The commercial CFD package used was Fluent 6.3.26,
which implements 3-D Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes
equations using a finite volume-finite element based solver.
The fluid was assumed to be incompressible, being the
maximum fluid velocity on the order of 60 m/s.
The simulations, performed on a 8 processor, 2.33 GHz
clock frequency computer, have been run until the
instantaneous torque values showed a deviation of less than 1%
compared with the corresponding values of the previous period.
Total CPU time has been about:
• 20 days for each three-dimensional Group 1
simulation;
• 2 days for each two-dimensional Group 1 simulation;
• 7 days for each two-dimensional simulation Group 2
simulation.
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DETERMINATION OF OPTIMAL MESH AND
TURBULENCE MODEL
The CFD analysis of a Darrieus wind turbine shows some
peculiar characteristics that make the control of the y+
parameter very difficult. The flow field around the rotor is in
fact characterized by unsteadiness due to the continuous
variation of the angle of incidence on the blade profile, as can
be seen from figure 16 and 17.
Figure 16-17: Variation of pressure field on a profile as a
function of azimuthal position. Incoming flow from the left
side (turbulence model: k-ω SST)
In figure 18 the azimuthal variation of the angle of
incidence, obtained from double-disk, multiple streamtube
BEM was plotted for different tip speed ratios.
This variation causes a significant change in the value of
blade y+ parameter, depending on rotor tip speed ratio and
azimuthal position. When the blade profile operates in a post-
stall condition, the suction side average y+ parameter decreases
considerably below the limit value of 30 for Group 1 meshes
and 1 for Group 2 meshes.
STATISTICAL APPROACH
The average values of blade y+ for a Group 1 mesh have
been reported in figure 20 as a function of the azimuthal
position, thus identifying some areas where the CFD solution
could be inaccurate.
These considerations, though useful as a first approach to
the problem, were not considered sufficient as a guidance in
selecting the appropriate grid configuration. The next step was
to analyze also the standard deviation and the asymmetry of y+
values, as in the following formulas:
7 Copyright © 2010 by ASME
 ∑
n
( x j − x )2
σ= j =1 (4) 90
n
n  xj − x 
3
n
a= ∑ 
(n − 1)(n − 2) j =1  σ 
 (5) 80

70

Average y+ .
where n is the population of data analyzed, x is the average
60
value of blade y+ and σ is the standard deviation.
Figure 21 adds some information about the asymmetry of 50
the y+ parameter: it can be observed that some azimuthal
positions, though having acceptable y+ average values, present 40
very high asymmetry values, thus being critical for the
accuracy of the numerical solution 30
0 60 120 180 240 300 360
Blade azimuthal position [°]

Figure 20: Average y+ values for a single-bladed Group 1

mesh as a function of the azimuthal position

0.4

0.2
Asymmetry [-] .

0
0 60 120 180 240 300 360

-0.2

-0.4

Figure 18: Variation of the angle of incidence on the blade -0.6

profile as a function of the azimuthal coordinate position

for different tip speed ratios -0.8
Blade azimuthal position [°]

Figure 21: Average y+ values and asymmetry values for a

single-bladed Group 1 mesh as a function of the azimuthal
position

The systematic application of the methodology described

Figure 19: Velocity vectors around a blade. In the area of
stagnation (right) downwind of the profile very low values
of the y+ parameter are registered (turbulence model: k-ω
SST).
in this section allowed a relevant improving of mesh quality for
a Group 1 single-bladed configuration.
The final choice was mesh Mod A for Group 1, based on a
better distribution of the blade y+ and asymmetry, coupled with
a k-omega SST turbulence model, because of its better ability to
describe flow separation [9], [10], [11] which occurs in flow
fields dominated by adverse pressure gradients, even if it has
shown a certain sensitivity to grid size [12]. Standard wall
functions were used to model the boundary layer.
For Group 2 meshes, Enhanced Wall Treatment k-ε
Realizable proved to be the best turbulence model, because of

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 very poor sensitivity to grid dimension. Mod A’ proved to be
the best option for Group 2.
TIP EFFECTS AND SPOKES DRAG ESTIMATION
Once the optimal mesh configuration had been achieved, it
was possible to estimate tip effect influence by comparing
Group 1 three-dimensional one-bladed rotor performance with
the correspondent two-dimensional configuration for optimum
tip speed ratio operational condition.
A Group 1 three-dimensional one-bladed rotor
configuration was also simulated in order to estimate the
influence of spokes drag on overall rotor performance for
optimum tip speed ratio operational condition.
Figure 22 shows the combined influence of tip effects and
spokes drag on a single-bladed rotor performance for optimum
tip speed ratio operational condition.
. . .
100
Percentual single-bladed rotor performance
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
No tip effects
No spokes drag
Figure 22: combined influence of tip effects and spokes
drag on single-bladed rotor performance for optimum tip
speed ratio operational condition
It can be seen that the combined effect of finite blade
extension and spokes drag weights about one half of two-
dimensional power coefficient for optimum tip speed ratio.
PRINCIPLE OF SUPERPOSITION FOR TIP EFFECTS
AND SPOKES DRAG
A complete campaign of analysis was run for different
angular velocity, showing that tip effects and spokes drag are
roughly constant over rotor operational angular velocity range.
The comparison between the following simulations:
•
two-dimensional single-bladed configuration;
•
three-dimensional single-bladed configuration;
•
three-dimensional single-bladed configuration with
spokes
proved that overall rotor performances could be obtained as the
superposition of:
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• two-dimensional rotor performance;
• tip effects contribution;
• spokes contribution.
TWO-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATION OF THREE-
BLADED ROTOR POWER CURVE AND COMPARISON
WITH EXPERIMENTAL DATA
Figure 23 shows the comparison between wind tunnel
measured power curved, the corresponding numerically
determined power curve (two-dimensional Group 2 Mod A’
mesh), and the results of the BEM code [8]. The latter results
have been corrected by the wind tunnel blockage effects to
make the curves comparable. For the BE-M case, two
simulations have been presented, one without considering tip
effects (aspect ratio = infinity), and the other taking into
account the actual tip effects by the theory of Prandtl (aspect
ratio = 16,9) of the model.
Tip effects Tip effects
No spokes drag Spokes drag
Figure 23: Comparison between wind tunnel measured, the
numerically determined power curve (correction due to
blockage was not considered), and the BE-M simulations
for a wind speed at test section entrance of 9 m/s
The following conclusions can be drawn:
• the CFD code is able to replicate the shape of the
experimental curve;
• the CFD code is able to accurately capture the
maximum power coefficient tip speed ratio;
• the discrepancies between the two curves, roughly
constant over rotor operational angular range and
corresponding to about one half of two-dimensional
power coefficient for optimum tip speed ratio, are due
to the combined effects of finite blade length and
spokes drag;
• the BE-M simulations underestimate the CFD
prediction, while experimental data are
underestimated. This result was expected since the
9 Copyright © 2010 by ASME
 BE-M code does not model the drag of the arm-blade-
tower fluid-dynamic interactions;
• there is a marked difference of infinite aspect ratio
case between CFD and BE-M. With this option, the
reduction of the angle of attack due to the tip effects
along the blade is not longer dumped and leads to
large stall effects in the low tip speed ratio range. The
torque results to be greatly reduced and even negative
in this range;
• A moderate shift of the maximum Cp tip speed ratio is
also observed for the BE-M simulations, but this effect
can be caused by the model used for the tunnel
blockage effect.
The high value of the numerically determined maximum
power coefficient (0.56) is fictitious and is due to wind tunnel
blockage effects: the presence of an obstacle (the rotor) inside
the wind tunnel test section raises the wind speed close to the
rotor to a higher value than the unperturbed reference wind
speed of 9 m/s, which was measured at the test section
entrance.
CONCLUSION AND FUTURE WORK
In this paper a numerical analysis validation campaign for
a Darrieus micro-VAWT has been conducted through a
systematic comparison with wind tunnel experimental data.
The optimal spatial discretization has been obtained by
analyzing the trends over a 360° rotation of some indicators of
the quality of the near-blade mesh, i.e. the average value of the
y+ and its asymmetry.
Two different groups of mesh, characterized by values of
y+ of 30 and 1, have been developed both for three-dimensional
and two-dimensional models.
The choice of turbulence models, based on literature data
and numerical comparisons with wind tunnel experimental
measurements, led to k-ω SST model for meshes characterized
by y+ of 30 and Enhanced Wall Treatment k-ε Realizable model
for meshes characterized by y+ of 1.
The obtained results demonstrate that, through statistical
analysis of some indicators such as the y+ parameter, it is
possible to determine the best near-blade element dimension so
as to maximize the accuracy of the numerical prediction of
rotor performance.
It has also been demonstrated that, through accurate
numerical analysis, it is possible to replicate the shape of the
experimental rotor power curve and that the numerical code is
also able to capture the maximum power coefficient tip speed
ratio, thus offering a reliable alternative to the development of
experimental tests for the first step implementation of wind
turbine control systems.
The proposed procedure is a valid tool for assessing the
performance of blade profiles in micro vertical axis wind
turbines, even in the absence of an extended database.
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The sub-model used for the BEM analysis (dynamic stall,
flow curvature, streamtubes expansion) need further
refinements to get comparable results with the CFD, although it
seems to be able to capture the main physical phenomena.
The influence of wind tunnel blockage on rotor
performance must be further investigated through the
development of a numerical tool, in order to estimate real
operational rotor power curve.
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