Vertical-axis wind turbine aerodynamics

This chapter highlights the main aerodynamic phenomena and challenges of vertical-axis wind turbines. First, an introduction is provided on the VAWT history and (dis-)advantages. The basics of VAWT aerodynamics and the various rotor simplifications/representations are presented. Further, the state-of-the art aerodynamic modeling techniques,...

Airfoil optimisation for vertical-axis wind turbines with variable pitch

To advance the design of a multimegawatt vertical-axis wind turbine (VAWT), application-specific airfoils need to be developed. In this research, airfoils are tailored for a VAWT with variable pitch. A genetic algorithm is used to optimise the airfoil shape considering a balance between the aerodynamic and structural performance of airfoils. At...