• Wind and Structures
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• v.9 no.6
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• pp.493-503
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• 2006

The demand for energy in the world increases everyday. Blade energy which is wind turbine is a significant resource which must be appreciated in this field. Especially, in places where wind potential is high, the usage of wind energy is a beneficial factor for every country's economy. In this study, first, 6 different miniature rotor were produced by using 6 different NACA profiles. Rotors were produced with three blades. The electrical performance and the speed of start of action values that are provided from each rotor form were established by measuring them in the wind tunnel. The calculation of area and volumetric values of each profile and wind surfaces were made with AutoCad technical drawing program. As a result, it was searched whether there is any relation between electrical performance values and speed of start of motion that rotors produced and volumetric values of rotors. The aim of this study is to find out whether rotor blade volume is one of factors that influences rotor performance. The general tendency observed here is that the increase in the volume of rotor blade leads to an increase in the speed of start of motion and to a decrease in the rotor performance.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2007.05b
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• pp.3347-3352
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• 2007

This paper describes a research for the performance improvement of the straight-bladed vertical axis wind turbine. To improve the performance of VAWT, the individual blade pitch control method is adopted. For the wind turbine, CFD analysis is carried out by changing blade pitch angle according to the change of wind speed and wind direction. By this method, capacity and power efficiency of VAWT are obtained according to the wind speed and rotating of rotor, and could predict the overall performance of VAWT. It was manufactured to verify performance of the experimental system that consists of rotor including four blades and base. Furthermore, torque sensor and power generator were installed. Also, active controller which can change the pitch angle of the individual blade according to the wind speed and direction was used.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.289-309
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• 2014

A rotor blade is an important device that converts kinetic energy of wind into mechanical energy. Rotor blades affect the power performance, energy conversion efficiency, and loading and dynamic stability of wind turbines. Therefore, considering the characteristics of a wind turbine system is important for achieving optimal blade design. This study examined the general blade design procedure for a wind turbine system and aero-structure design results for a 2-MW class wind turbine blade (KR40.1b). As suggested above, a rotor blade cannot be designed independently, because its ultimate and fatigue loads are highly dependent on system operating conditions. Thus, a reference 2-MW wind turbine system was also developed for the system integrated load calculations. All calculations were performed in accordance with IEC 61400-1 and the KR guidelines for wind turbines.

• Journal of Wind Energy
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.61-67
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• 2011

In the present study, numerical unsteady simulations of the NREL Phase VI wind turbine in downwind operation conditions were conducted to investigate rotor-tower interaction. The calculations were performed using an unstructured mesh, incompressible Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes flow solver. To capture the unsteady effects associated with the tower shadow between the rotor blades and the tower, the wind turbine was modelled including the rotor, tower, hub, and nacelle. The present results generally showed good agreements with available experimental data. At the lowest wind speed, the pressure distribution was characterized by a complete collapse of the suction peak on the blade when the blade passes through the tower wake. It was found that unsteady effects play a significant role in the response of the blades.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.195-213
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• 2014

Recently, the horizontal axis rotor performance optimizer (HARP_Opt) tool was developed in the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, USA. This innovative tool is becoming more popular in the wind turbine industry and in the field of academic research. HARP_Optwas developed on the basis of two fundamental modules, namely, WT_Perf, a performance evaluator computer code using the blade element momentum theory; and a genetic algorithm module, which is used as an optimizer. A pattern search algorithm was more recently incorporated to enhance the optimization capability, especially the calculation time and consistency of the solutions. The blade optimization is an aspect that is highly dependent on experience and requires significant consideration on rotor control strategies, wind data, and generator type. In this study, the effects of rotor control strategies including fixed speed and fixed pitch, variable speed and fixed pitch, fixed speed and variable pitch, and variable speed and variable pitch algorithms on optimal blade shapes and rotor performance are investigated using optimized blade designs. The effects of environmental wind data and the objective functions used for optimization are also quantitatively evaluated using the HARP_Opt tool. Performance indices such as annual energy production, thrust, torque, and roof-flap moment forces are compared.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.7 no.5
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• pp.305-316
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• 2004

In this study, a wind tunnel, that has been developed for experiments of wind turbine rotor blades, has been considered. The deviations of the measurements have been examined after this wind tunnel had been introduced and the measurements on it had been explained. Two different wind turbine rotor blades miniatures have been used for getting better results from the experiments. The accuracy of measurements have been experimented three times repetitively and examined statistically. As a result, wind speed values which this type of wind tunnel and wind turbine rotors need for starting, wind speed in the tunnel, temperature and moisture values, the number of rotor's revolution, and the voltage that is produced in 102 ${\Omega}$ resistance and current values have been determined to be fixed by measurements used. This type of wind tunnel and wind turbine rotor' performance difference and the difference of revolution figures have been determined to be fixed by measurements used.

• International Journal of Fluid Machinery and Systems
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.197-205
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• 2009

Since large-scale commercial wind turbine generator systems such as MW-class wind turbines are becoming widely operated, the vibration and distortion of the blade are becoming larger and larger. Therefore the soft structure design instead of the solid-design is one of the important concepts to reduce the structural load and the cost of the wind turbine rotors. The objectives of the study are development of the fluid-structure coupled analysis code and evaluation of soft rotor-blade design to reduce the unsteady structural blade load. In this paper, fluid-structure coupled analysis for the HAWT rotor blade is performed by free wake panel method coupled with hinge-spring blade model for the flapwise blade motion. In the model, the continuous deflection of the rotor blade is represented by flapping angle of the hinge with one degree of freedom. The calculation results are evaluated by comparison with the database of the NREL unsteady aerodynamic experiment. In the analysis the unsteady flapwise moments in yawed inflow conditions are compared for the blades with different flapwise eigen frequencies.

• International Journal of Aeronautical and Space Sciences
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.354-359
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• 2011

This study proposes a design for an airborne wind turbine generator. The proposed system comprises a cycloidal wind turbine adopting a cycloidal rotor blade system that is used at a high altitude. The turbine is mounted on a tethered balloon. The proposed system is relatively easier to be realized and stable. Moreover, the rotor efficiency is high, which can be adjusted using the blade pitch angle variation. In addition, the rotor is well adapted to the wind-flow direction change. This article proves the feasibility of the proposed system through a sample design for a wind turbine that produces a power of 30 kW. The generated wind power at 500 m height is nearly 3 times of that on the ground.

• Journal of Industrial Technology
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.37-40
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• 2017

This study was carried out to improve the performance of a vertical-axis micro wind turbine. It is unique in that it has two identical generators on both sides of the main shaft. Also it has a C shape frame to fix the generators and the main shaft firmly and to provide a connection to a tower. Performance analysis of the wind turbine rotor was performed using Qblade, which is an analysis program for vertical axis wind turbines and freeware. Based on the analysis results, the blade airfoil, the chord length, and the rotor size were modified to improve the performance of the rotor. The modification was found to increase the performance of the wind turbine and to reach the targeted rated power.

• The KSFM Journal of Fluid Machinery
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.63-68
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• 2012

This paper deals with the aerodynamic analysis and structural test under estimated loading condition for small composite blade, which is utilized in dual rotor wind turbine system. Firstly, the front and rear blades of dual rotor wind turbine system were modeled using reverse engineering method. And using finite volume method, the aerodynamic forces were analyzed at the rated and cutout wind speed to identify the pressure distribution on blades. And then, the full scale structural tests were conducted according to load and strength based methodology in IEC 61400-2 to identify the structural integrity of composite blade.