Numerical Modeling and Evaluation of a Downwind Pre-Aligned Wind Turbine with an Innovative Blade Geometry Concept

Significant growth of the wind power market has led to a dramatic increase in the scale and capacity of wind turbines over the past decades. As these extreme-scale structures are expected to pose a wide range of challenges, an innovative concept which both lightens blade's mass and improves their aerodynamic performance, is vital for the future of rotor's design. In the present study, modeling and evaluating of an innovative pre-aligned rotor design based on SANDIA SNL100-00 wind turbine blade were accomplished. To evaluate the aerodynamic performance of the proposed rotor, CFD simulation was used as a well-developed technique in fluid mechanic. In the new rotor design, the swept area was increased using an equal blade length and the blade sections were more appropriately aligned with the wind flow compared to the reference model. This enhancement attained due to transferring the bending position from the root to a certain point alongside the length of blade. According to simulation assessments, this modification led to the overall improvement of main performance parameters in terms of the mean power and the applied torque on the blades. The simulation revealed that the novel concept is capable of increasing the mean power coefficient by 13.21 % compared to the conventional rotor designs. Analysis of the axial induction in front of the rotor plane displayed a greater drop in the flow velocity streaming up to the rotor, which could lead to have a more efficient configuration for harnessing the upcoming wind's power.