Numerical Study of the blade dynamics for a cross-flow turbine

Two and three-dimensional flows around a cross-flow wind turbine are investigated by the numerical simulation. The turbine studied in this paper has cylindrical shape with many small blades along its periphery. Incompressible Navier-Stokes equation is used for this simulation. A rotating coordinate system, which rotates at the same speed of the turbine, is used in order to simplify the boundary conditions on the blades of the turbine. Additionally, a boundary fitted coordinate system is employed in order to express the shape of the blades precisely. A third order upwind scheme is chosen for the approximation of the non-linear terms. When the number of blades is about 10, the highest torque is obtained.