• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.73-78
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• 2013

CFD (computational fluid dynamics) analyses that considered the dynamic interaction effects between the flow and a turbine were performed to evaluate the power output characteristics of two representative vertical-axis tidal-current turbines: an H-type Darrieus turbine and Gorlov helical turbine (GHT). For this purpose, a commercial CFD code, Star-CCM+, was utilized, and the power output characteristic were investigated in relation to the scale ratio using the relation between the Reynolds number and the lift-to-drag ratio. It was found that the power coefficients were significantly reduced when the scaled model turbine was used, especially when the Reynolds number was lower than $10^5$. The power output characteristics of GHT in relation to the twisting angle were also investigated using a three-dimensional CFD analysis, and it was found that the power coefficient was maximized for the case of a Darrieus turbine, i.e., a twisting angle of $0^{\circ}$, and the torque pulsation ratio was minimized when the blade covered $360^{\circ}$ for the case of a turbine with a twisting angle of $120^{\circ}$.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.67-72
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• 2013

In this study, numerical analyses that considered the dynamic interaction effects between the flow and a turbine were carried out to investigate the power output performance of an H-type Darrieus turbine rotor, which is one of the representative lifting-type vertical-axis tidal-current turbines. For this purpose, a commercial CFD code, Star-CCM+, was utilized for an example three-bladed turbine with a rotor diameter of 3.5 m, a solidity of 0.13, and the blade shape of an NACA0020 airfoil, and the optimal tip speed ratio (TSR) and corresponding maximum power coefficient were evaluated through exhaustive simulations with different sets of flow speed and external torque conditions. The optimal TSR and maximum power coefficient were found to be approximately 1.84 and 48%, respectively. The torque and angular velocity pulsations were also investigated, and it was found that the pulsation ratios for the torque and angular velocity were gradually increased and decreased with an increase in TSR, respectively.