• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.73-78
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• 2013

CFD (computational fluid dynamics) analyses that considered the dynamic interaction effects between the flow and a turbine were performed to evaluate the power output characteristics of two representative vertical-axis tidal-current turbines: an H-type Darrieus turbine and Gorlov helical turbine (GHT). For this purpose, a commercial CFD code, Star-CCM+, was utilized, and the power output characteristic were investigated in relation to the scale ratio using the relation between the Reynolds number and the lift-to-drag ratio. It was found that the power coefficients were significantly reduced when the scaled model turbine was used, especially when the Reynolds number was lower than $10^5$. The power output characteristics of GHT in relation to the twisting angle were also investigated using a three-dimensional CFD analysis, and it was found that the power coefficient was maximized for the case of a Darrieus turbine, i.e., a twisting angle of $0^{\circ}$, and the torque pulsation ratio was minimized when the blade covered $360^{\circ}$ for the case of a turbine with a twisting angle of $120^{\circ}$.