Performance Enhancement Analysis of a Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine by Vortex Trapping Cavity

A wind turbine blade has the particularity of containing twisted and tapered thick airfoils. The challenge with this configuration is the highly separated flow in the region of high twist. This research presents a numerical investigation of the effectiveness of a vortex trapping cavity (VTC) on the aerodynamics of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory phase VI wind turbine. First, simulations are conducted on the S809 profile to study the fluid flow compared to the airfoil with the redesigned VTC. Second, the blade is simulated with and without VTC to assess its effect on the torque and the flow patterns. The results show that for high angles of incidence at Re_c = 10⁶, the lift coefficient increases by 10% and the wake region appears smaller for the case with VTC. For wind speeds larger than 10 m/s, the VTC improves the torque by 3.9%. This is due to the separation that takes place in the vicinity of the VTC and leads to trapping early separation eddies inside the cell. These eddies roll up forming a coherent laminar vortex structure, which in turn sheds periodically out of the cell. This phenomenon favorably reshapes excessive flow separation, reenergizes the boundary layer, and globally improves blade torque.