Open Access

Abstract

This study describes an effectively analytic methodology to investigate the aerodynamic performance of H vertical axis wind turbine (H-VAWT). An in-house code based on double multiple stream tube theory (DMST) coupled with dynamic stall and wake correction is implemented to estimate the power coefficient. Design optimization of airfoil shape is conducted to study the influences of the dynamic stall and turbulent wakes. Airfoil shape is universally investigated by using the Class/Shape function transformation method. The airfoil study shows that the upper curve tends to be less convex than the lower curve in order to extract more energy of the wind upstream and generate less drag of the blade downstream. The optimal results show that the power coefficient increases by 6.5% with the new airfoil shape.