Fluid Structure Interaction Simulation on the Seagull Airfoil of the Small Wind Turbine

For the blades of the small wind turbine working under the conditions of Low-Reynolds, the air viscosity has relatively great influence on them. The design and calculation on thickness of airfoils were studied in order to raise its life and reduce weight. In the premise of strength, the lighter, the better. This paper studied the aerodynamic performance of the airfoil under the Low-Reynolds and analyzed fluid-structure interaction effect at Reynolds number 600,000 under three different attack angles. The numerical simulation approach addresses unsteady Reynolds-averaged N-S solutions and covers transition prediction for unsteady mean flows. The computational result and the analysis show that the fluid-structure interaction is an important issue to consider while designing the wind turbine blade. The results may provide technical reference for the further wind turbine design.