Aerodynamic Performance Investigation of a VAWT Instead of Conventional Ram Air Turbines of Airplane

In present work, aerodynamic performance of a straight-blade Darrieus VAWT is examined in order to use instead of conventional ram air turbines of airplane. These turbines can operate closer to airplane fuselage and it leads them to have shorter torque arm for its drag force; therefore it makes more stability for the whole airplane. In addition VAWTs generally generate their maximum output power in lower TSRs in comparison to HAWTs; this case also can reduce the possibility of shock waves phenomena on the turbine blades. In order to evaluate performance of proposed turbine, the ram air turbine of Airbus a320 is selected and also its dimensions is chosen for proposed turbine. Average of output power and drag force of proposed turbine are computed using 3D simulation and their values are compared with the values of ram air turbine of a320. Results show that proposed turbine which has small and thin endplates, produces almost equal average of output power along with 19.3% less drag force in comparison to ram air turbine of a320. In addition performance of proposed turbine also investigated while it locates in the airplane body between its azimuth angles of -30° to +30°. Although this configuration reduces clearly turbine’s emergence; but it also reduces its output power due to separation in the curved edge. Overllay, performance of proposed turbine indicates its prominent potential to use instead of conventional ram air turbines.