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Procedia Computer Science 93 (2016) 1017 – 1023

6th International Conference On Advances In Computing & Communications, ICACC 2016, 6-8
September 2016, Cochin, India

Vertical axis wind turbine: Aerodynamic modelling and its testing

in wind tunnel
Kalakanda Alfred Sunnya,*, and Nallapaneni Manoj Kumarb
a
Department of Aerospace Engineering, Karunya University, Coimbatore-641 114, Tamil Nadu, India
b
Department of Electrical & Electronics Engineering, Bharat Institute of Engineering & Technology, Ranga Reddy-501 510, Telangana, India

Abstract

This paper presents aerodynamic modelling, fabrication and the performance evaluation of vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT).
Aerodynamic modelling of VAWT is designed using software tools by considering NACA0012 airfoil whose chord length is 0.12
m. Aluminum material based light weight 3 bladed practical prototype model of VAWT having rotor diameter and rotor height as
0.36 m and 0.40 m respectively is fabricated. This practical prototype model is tested in subsonic wind tunnel to analyze the
performance parameters like power in the wind, mechanical power at turbine shaft, tip speed ratio (TSR) and power coefficient.
The rotor is tested under different wind speeds ranging from 4.38 m/s to 22.38 m/s, test results shows the reliable and efficient
performance.

©©2016
2016TheTheAuthors. Published
Authors. by Elsevier
Published B.V.B.V.
by Elsevier This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of the Organizing Committee of ICACC 2016.
Peer-review under responsibility of the Organizing Committee of ICACC 2016

Keywords: Wind turbine; Vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT); Aerodynamic Modelling; Wind tunnel testing; Tip speed ratio.

1. Introduction

Renewable energy power generation has gained acceptable level of attention in the present day energy sector, even
though the majority contribution to the energy sector is from fossil fuels like-coal, natural gas and other fossil fuels1.
Among renewable power generation, wind energy has gained its importance and marked as cheapest and freely

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +91 95-97-139760; +91 94-91-925258.

E-mail address: alfredsunny@karunya.edu

1877-0509 © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of the Organizing Committee of ICACC 2016
doi:10.1016/j.procs.2016.07.305
1018 Kalakanda Alfred Sunny and Nallapaneni Manoj Kumar / Procedia Computer Science 93 (2016) 1017 – 1023

available energy resource. It is a clean source with almost negligible greenhouse gas emissions leading to the
sustainable energy generation2, 3. Wind energy industries has great impact on climate change, wind power generation
is most essential in the present environmental condition of rising global warming, pollution levels etc. 4 Understanding
the wind energy conversion is much simpler. Uneven heating of the atmosphere by the suns solar energy results in
wind flow. Wind movement i.e., the kinetic energy present in the wind is converted in to the mechanical energy using
aerodynamically designed wind turbines. This mechanical energy present in the turbine shaft is converted into
electrical energy using alternators5. Evolution of wind turbine technology was dated back to 7th century BC in the
Afghan highlands6. The first recorded wind turbines are vertical axis and later horizontal axis wind turbines (HAWT)
recorded their appearance in the historical documents of Persia 6. However, horizontal axis wind turbines became more
popular and widely acceptable in modern wind energy farms 7. VAWTs are lags behind horizontal axis wind turbines
in development even though, they are aerodynamically efficient.
Research and development on VAWTs started in early 1980s8. There were lot differences between HAWT and
VAWT which were clearly explained8-10, this comparative study reveals that design, installation and performance of
VAWT would be more effective, therefore this would serve better in meeting present day increasing energy demand.

2. Description of vertical axis wind turbine

2.1. Description and Performance Parameters

Vertical axis wind turbines are of two type mainly-lift and drag models11. In this the rotating axis is maintained in
vertical position i.e. perpendicular to the ground. Other mechanical and electrical components were placed almost
closure to ground i.e. below the turbine using shaft8, 11. As they are not placed parallel to the ground, they have high
wind catching capability from all the directions8. Power and other parameters of the VAWTs can be calculated using
the following equations. The kinetic energy present in the wind is treated as the power available in the wind and this
is supposed to be proportional to air density, speed of the wind and the swept area of the wind turbine 12-17.
Power available in the wind is given by Pw, i.e.
Pw=1/2*²*A*V^3 (1)
Where,
ρ, is the air density i.e. 1.225 kg/m3;
A, is the turbine swept area;
V is the wind velocity or wind speed.
According to a German physicist, Albert Betz, no wind turbine can convert kinetic energy of wind to mechanical
energy not more than 59.3%. This conversion limitation thereafter named as Betz limit18. Hence the mechanical power
i.e. generated at the turbine is given as power available at turbine, Pt
Pt=1/2*²*16/27*A*V^3 (2)
The constant 16/27= ~ 0.593 referred as Betz coefficient. Electrical energy generated from the wind turbine system
can be considered 70 % of 59.3 % of the input wind energy18.
Therefore the coefficient of wind turbine or power coefficient, Cp, can be defined as the ratio of electricity produced
by wind turbine to the total power available in the wind.
Hence Cp is given as follows:
Cp= (Power produced by the wind turbine)/ (Total power available in the wind) (3)
Conversion to electricity would 70 % of 59.3 %, i.e. Cp value can be calculated as 0.70 * 0.593= ~ 0.41 i.e. this
would determine the approximate efficiency of good turbines as 41 %. In general the efficiency range of a good quality
make turbines would be in the range of 35 % - 45 %.
Swept area of the VAWT is given as the product of height of the rotor to the diameter of the rotor14.
A=H*D (4)
Where,
H, is the height of the VAWT rotor in meters;
D, is the diameter of the VAWT rotor in meters;
Tip speed ratio (TSR) of the wind turbine is defined as the ratio of speed of the rotating blade tip to the speed of
free wind stream16.
 Kalakanda Alfred Sunny and Nallapaneni Manoj Kumar / Procedia Computer Science 93 (2016) 1017 – 1023 1019

TSR= (ω*R)/V (5)

TSR can also be denoted with a parameter, Lambda.
Solidity of a wind turbine is used to ‘define the geometry of VAWT’ 17, 19, and it calculated using eq. 6 as follows
and it is a dimension less parameter;
Solidity= (N*C)/D (6)
Where,
N, is the number of blades used in designing VAWT;
C, is the airfoil chord length;
D, is the diameter of rotor.

2.2. Advantages over HAWT

VAWTs are having few advantages than HAWTs. Among those few are mentioned here 9, 10.
x Suitable for low wind speed conditions.
x Suitable for small scale power generation such as residential applications etc.
x Can withstand to extremely bad weather conditions of snow, ice, sand etc.
x Lighter weight, lower construction cost and Installation costs.
x Does not cause any harm to the wild life.
x Capable of generating more power on annual basis when compared with HAWTs.
x Can withstand high wind velocities up to 65 m/s and also operate well in turbulent wind conditions.
x Service, repairs and maintenance can be done very easily as the generator, gear box and other major
components are almost placed close to the ground.

3. Design of vertical axis wind turbine

Design of VAWT is described below in three stages-first is selecting the suitable airfoil, second is modelling of the
airfoil and other components in software tools like solid works, and third is fabricating the model by selecting
appropriate material.

3.1. Airfoil Selection

In this design, NACA 0012 airfoil is selected 20, see in Fig. 1. (a) The selected airfoil is symmetrical and the four
digits of any NACA series airfoil defines the wing profile by the following:
x Maximum camber as percentage of chord is described by the first digit.
x The distance of maximum camber from the airfoil leading edge in terms of percent of the chord is described
by the second digit.
x Maximum thickness of the airfoil as percent of the chord is described by the last two digits.
From the above three points, the selected airfoil profile is described that it has no camber and it has 12 % thickness
to its chord length ratio.

a b

Fig. 1. (a) NACA 0012 airfoil [20]; (b) Straight blade profile for VAWT designed in solid works.
1020 Kalakanda Alfred Sunny and Nallapaneni Manoj Kumar / Procedia Computer Science 93 (2016) 1017 – 1023

3.2. Modelling of VAWT

After selecting the airfoil, its co-ordinates were exported solid works software for designing the airfoil structure
and to design further as per the dimension required, see in Fig. 1. (b).
The major components that are designed in this work for VAWT are airfoil shaped blades, rotor center shaft,
bearing, bottom bearing holder and rotor support frames. All these components were designed individually later
assembled together to make aerodynamic model of VAWT, see in Fig. 2. (a). Here straight blades are used in
modelling VAWT whose radius is almost equal over its length, these is responsible for power generation over its
complete length21.

a b c

Fig. 2. (a) Aerodynamically modelled VAWT; (b) Fabricated laboratory prototype model of VAWT; (c) Wind tunnel testing of VAWT.

3.3. Fabrication of VAWT

The experimental prototype of VAWT is designed aerodynamically using CNC machine design as per the design
parameters shown in Table. 1. The material selection for fabricating the prototype is one of the most essential
requirement.

Table 1. Vertical axis wind turbine design parameters.

Modules or components Parameter Value with unit
Straight wind blades or Airfoil Chord length 12 cm
Height of the blade 40 cm
Rotor shaft Length of the shaft 48 cm
Diameter of the shaft 3.2 cm
Rotor support frame Diameter of the frame 36 cm
Bottom base support Diameter of support –I 30.5 cm
Diameter of support- II 23.6 cm

However a variety of materials like wood, steel, aluminum, fiber materials, carbon fiber, aromatic polyamides are
available for designing wind blades22. Among these materials suitable one is selected based on their properties and
performance. Suresh Talur et. al (2015), presented detailed studies on material selection for wind blades, this study
includes comparative analysis on giving ranking and performance percentage for different materials. Aluminum 7020
alloy is ranked 3rd whereas the other materials like stainless steel and polycarbonate sheet are in 2nd and 1st
respectively23. Another study on material selection by K. Suresh Babu et. al. (2006) describes which material is
suitable on the basis of our requirement. In the present paper, for fabricating the laboratory testing model, aluminum
material is used. Aluminum is in ductile nature having a low fatigue levels. Apart from this aluminum is having a low
 Kalakanda Alfred Sunny and Nallapaneni Manoj Kumar / Procedia Computer Science 93 (2016) 1017 – 1023 1021

tensile strength, lighter weight, lower price and with good reliability22. Hence aluminum is used for fabricating this
laboratory testing prototype model of VAWT, shown in Fig. 2. (b).

4. Experimental results

Any prototype model i.e. fabricated should be tested as per the facilities available for analyzing its performance or
the characteristics. In this case, VAWT is tested in the wind tunnels laboratory.

4.1. Wind Tunnel Testing

VAWT is tested in the subsonic wind tunnel, whose test section size is 600*600*4000 mm. Maximum speed that
can be attained in the test section is 45 m/sec with a bell mouthed entry having two stainless steel mesh of sizes 8 and
16 respectively24. At the bottom of the tunnel there is a circular opening through which the base of the VWAT is fixed
with the help of screws and nuts using bottom support I and II, whereas airfoil shaped wind blades, rotor supporting
frames were fixed into the test section by opening top and side chambers, shown in Fig. 2. (c). Once the VAWT is
placed in the test section, wind tunnel is operated at different speeds. Wind speed is calculated by considering the
manometers height difference using the following equation based on the Bernoulli’s principle.
V^2= (Manometer fluid density)/ (Air density)*2*g*(h2-h1) (7)
Where,
h1 & h2 are the height difference in the manometer because of the pressure difference in the test section of the wind
tunnel;
g is the gravitational force i.e. 9.8 m/sec2;
A mathematical formulae obtained from the Bernoulli’s principle gives the velocity in the test section faced by
VAWT by using eq. 7. Now the performance of the wind turbine is analysed at different wind speeds using eq. 1-7.

Table 2. Experimental results of vertical axis wind turbine observed in wind tunnel testing
Wind Speed (V) VAWT Rotor Speed Power in the wind ,Pw (Watts) Power at the Tip Speed Angular Velocity
(RPM) turbine, Pt (Watts) Ratio (TSR) (w)
4.38 0 7.41 4.38 0 0
7.38 170 35.45 20.98 0.43 17.80
10.38 252 98.64 58.39 0.45 26.38
13.38 335 211.26 125.07 0.47 35.08
16.38 395 387.62 229.47 0.45 41.36

19.38 442 641.99 380.05 0.43 46.32

22.38 460 988.66 585.28 0.38 48.17

4.2. Performance Parameter Analysis

Performance parameters of VAWT is analyzed using wind tunnel testing. These parameters includes power
available in the wind, power captured by the turbine, power coefficient of turbine, tip speed ratio, angular velocity
and solidity of the turbine are studied experimentally and tabulated in Table. 2.
Fig. 3. (a). Shows the wind speed vs. VAWT rotor speed characteristics, this plot shows that as the wind speed
increases the rotational speed of the turbine rotor increases and maintains a linear relationship.
Fig. 3. (b). Represents the wind speed vs. torque characteristics, this plot also shows that torque increases with
increase in wind speed.
Fig. 3. (c). Shows the relation about power generated and power available in the wind. This practically designed
and tested model of VAWT produces accountable power generation with wind speed.
1022 Kalakanda Alfred Sunny and Nallapaneni Manoj Kumar / Procedia Computer Science 93 (2016) 1017 – 1023

Fig. 3. (d). Represents the tip speed ratio of the VAWT in relation with wind speeds, here tip speed ratio (TSR)
increases with increase in wind speed, but after reaching certain level of wind speed TSR is maintained almost a
closure values. This parameter study shows the best performance of the wind turbine model.

a) Wind speed (m/sec) vs. VAWT rotor speed (RPM) b) Wind speed (m/sec) vs. Torque (N. m)

c) Wind speed (m/sec) vs. Power (Watts) d) Wind speed (m/sec) vs. Tip speed ratio (TSR)

Fig. 3. (a) Wind speed vs. VAWT rotor speed; (b) Wind speed vs. Torque; (c) Wind speed vs. Power; (d) Wind speed vs. Tip speed ratio (TSR)

5. Conclusion

Aerodynamic modelling of straight bladed vertical axis wind turbine model is designed. Apart from this a practical
model is designed and tested in wind tunnels to test its feasibility. The analyzed experimental results evaluated the
characteristics parameters of VAWT. Wind tunnel test results showed the acceptable performance. However future
work should be done on selecting a high quality and lighter weight material for designing. This would help in achieving
good cut in speeds. Apart from this the performance of the wind turbine can be evaluated by modelling and testing
with different type of airfoils.
 Kalakanda Alfred Sunny and Nallapaneni Manoj Kumar / Procedia Computer Science 93 (2016) 1017 – 1023 1023

Acknowledgements

Authors would like express their heart full thanks to Mr. Jeeven Joseph for his excellent support. Apart from this,
authors would like to thank Mr. V. Kumar, Lab Technician (GR-II), Aerodynamics laboratory, Karunya University.

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