Eventos Anais de eventos
COBEM 2023
27th International Congress of Mechanical Engineering
AERODYNAMIC PERFORMANCE OF SG6043 PROFILE MODIFIED WITH BIOMIMETIC FOR SMALL WIND TURBINES APPLICATION
Submission Author:
Luana Schneider , RS
Co-Authors:
Luana Schneider, Giuliano Demarco, Carlos Eduardo de Souza
Presenter: Luana Schneider
doi://10.26678/ABCM.COBEM2023.COB2023-0506
Abstract
Replacing fossil fuels energy sources for renewable ones has been a goal with increasing interest in many countries, as well as the concern about environmental impacts caused by human activities. Despite the importance of expanding the installed capacity of wind turbines, it poses challenges for small wind turbines operating at low Reynolds numbers, resulting in reduced efficiency. Additionally, the smaller rotor diameter further impacts the performance of these turbines. Moreover, small wind turbines are limited by available technology and rely on high angles of attack to generate sufficient torque for overcoming resistance and initiating blade rotation. Thus, these preliminary study investigates the aerodynamic performance of the SG6043 airfoil profile, usually employed on small wind turbines, with and without biomimetic modifications. Inspired by the humpback whale's flipper, two three-dimensional airfoil models were developed, one with tubercles (bumps) on the leading edge and one without. The humpback whale, despite its massive size, exhibits remarkable maneuverability and improved performance due to the presence of leading-edge protuberances in its flippers. Using the OpenFOAM software, simulations were conducted, where lift and drag coefficients were obtained for various angles of attack, and the results were analyzed in ParaView and Gnuplot. The airfoil profile with tubercles demonstrated promising performance, particularly at high angles of attack, when compared to the profile without tubercles. These preliminary results align with expectations from existing literature. In conclusion, airfoil profiles with tubercle leading edges show potential for small wind turbine applications, considering their operational conditions at low Reynolds numbers and smaller rotor diameters. By incorporating biomimetic design elements, such as tubercles, improvements in the aerodynamic performance of small wind turbines could be achieved.
Keywords
Biomimetics, CFD, SG6043, OpenFOAM
