Aerodynamic performance analysis of a 5-kW vertical-axis wind turbine

In order to improve the aerodynamic performance of a vertical-axis wind turbine,the aerodynamic performance of a 5-kW vertical-axis wind turbine is predicted by using respectively double multiple streamtube(DMS)model and numerical simulation method of 2-D Navier-Stokes equation.The power coefficient obtained by these two methods has little difference with respect to tip-speed ratio,showing that the two methods are feasible.As for the former,the retardative effect of the flow in both the upwind and downwind zones intensifies with rotor solidity,and this effect is more remarkable in the downwind region of the rotor.As for the latter,it is shown that there is an obvious vortex shedding phenomenon around the blades of the wind turbine in the case of lower tip-speed ratio.And the wake velocity field behind the wind turbine has little change when the blades are located at different positions in the case of identical tip-speed ratio.