2020 Volume 5 Pages 69-74
MT type blade configuration, which is exclusively designed for vertical axis wind turbine, has been proposed by authors. It has been discovered that performance of this MT blade is better than those of conventional blades such as Savonius turbine or NACA0018 airfoil. In this paper it is attempted to improve the performance of the MT blade by changing its configuration. To this end, genetic algorithm is employed. By changing blade configuration, it is attempted to increase lift force of the MT blade. Two-dimensional panel method, numerical analysis of inviscid potential flow, is employed to evaluate the lift force. Obtained improved new MT blade are provided for experiments to confirm its lift force. This experiment is conducted in Hele-Shaw cell. In this Hele-Shaw cell streamlines of potential flow around a blade are visualized. The lift force of the new MT blade is calculated from streamline intervals visualized in the Hele-Shaw cell. Results of the experiments show that the lift force of the new MT blade has similar trend to that predicted by two-dimensional panel method. Lift and drag forces of the blades in viscous flow condition are also measured by wind tunnel experiments. From the results obtained by these inviscid and viscid investigation it is suggested that the new MT blade may increase the performance of actual VAWT.
