Numerical Study of an Airfoil with High Starting Performance and High Efficiency for Straight Wing Vertical Axis Wind Turbine

Abstract

New airfoils for straight wing vertical axis wind turbine are designed using a genetic algorithm and two-dimensional vortex method aimed at improving the starting performance or the efficiency at a given rotational speed. Compared to a basic airfoil of NACA0018, these characteristics are improved in the optimized airfoils. It is also found that the change in the location of the aerodynamic center contributes to the increase of torque.