Effect of wind fluctuating on self-starting aerodynamics characteristics of VAWT

Abstract

The present work deals with an investigation of the self-starting aerodynamic characteristics of VAWT under fluctuating wind. In contrast to the previous studies, the rotational speed of the turbine is not fixed, the rotation of the turbine is determined by the dynamic interaction between the fluctuating wind and turbine. A weak coupling method is developed to simulate the dynamic interaction between the fluctuating wind and passive rotation turbine, and the results show that if the fluctuating wind with appropriate fluctuation amplitude and frequency, the self-starting aerodynamic characteristics of VAWT will be enhanced. It is also found that compared with the fluctuation amplitude, the fluctuation frequency of the variation in wind velocity is shown to have a minor effect on the performance of the turbine. The analysis will provide straightforward physical insight into the self-starting aerodynamic characteristics of VAWT under fluctuating wind.

Keywords

fluctuating wind / vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) / self-starting performance / weak coupling method / fluctuation amplitude and frequency

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