Measurement of Unsteady Torque Acting on Blades of Straight Bladed Vertical Axis Wind Turbines

Abstract

A wind tunnel experiment on a vertical axis wind turbine is carried out to measure the force acting on each blade. The torque measurement shows that the wind turbine gains torque, while the blade is passing through the upstream side of the orbit. At the upstream side, the force normal to the blade chord becomes high, and a high pitching moment is also generated.