A robust biomimetic blade design for micro wind turbines

T Ikeda, H Tanaka, R Yoshimura, R Noda, T Fujii… - Renewable Energy, 2018 - Elsevier
T Ikeda, H Tanaka, R Yoshimura, R Noda, T Fujii, H Liu
Renewable Energy, 2018Elsevier
Inspired by bird wings that enable robust aerodynamic force production and stable flight, we
propose a biomimetic blade design for small wind turbines that is capable of achieving a
high integral power coefficient, C p, over a broad range of tip-speed ratios, λ, and hence
enhances robustness in aerodynamic performance. We first developed a basic blade design
with bird-inspired flexed wing morphology and investigated its aerodynamic characteristics
with computational fluid dynamics. Our results demonstrated that the swept-forward shaped …
Abstract
Inspired by bird wings that enable robust aerodynamic force production and stable flight, we propose a biomimetic blade design for small wind turbines that is capable of achieving a high integral power coefficient, Cp, over a broad range of tip-speed ratios, λ, and hence enhances robustness in aerodynamic performance. We first developed a basic blade design with bird-inspired flexed wing morphology and investigated its aerodynamic characteristics with computational fluid dynamics. Our results demonstrated that the swept-forward shaped portion proximal to wing root augmented Cp at smaller λ, whereas the distal swept-backward shaped portion improved Cp at larger λ. We further conducted a morphology optimization and developed an optimized flexion blade that is capable of achieving a remarkably improved Cp over a broad range of λ. To evaluate the aerodynamic robustness under variable tip-speed ratios in an integral way, we here propose a new Robustness Index (Ri) and find that the optimized-flexion blade outperforms a conventional blade based on Blade Element Momentum Theory by 8.1%, indicating marked robustness in power output. Our results indicate that of great potential for wind turbines robustness-oriented biomimetic blade design can be a practical and effective methodology in wind-based sustainable energy harvesting.
Elsevier
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