A computational procedure to define the incidence angle on airfoils rotating around an axis orthogonal to flow direction

Numerical simulations provided in the last few years a significant contribution for a better understanding of many phenomena connected to the flow past rotating blades. In case of airfoils rotating around an axis orthogonal to flow direction, one of the most critical issues is represented by the definition of the incidence angle on the airfoil from the computed flow field. Incidence indeed changes continuously as a function of the azimuthal position of the blade and a distribution of peripheral speed is experienced along the airfoil’s thickness due to radius variation. The possibility of reducing the flow to lumped parameters (relative speed modulus and direction), however, would be of capital relevance to transpose accurate CFD numerical results into effective inputs to low-order models that are often exploited for preliminary design analyses. If several techniques are available for this scope in the case of blades rotating around an axis parallel to flow direction (e.g., horizontal-axis wind turbines), the definition of a robust procedure in case the revolution axis is orthogonal to the flow is still missing. In the study, a novel technique has been developed using data from Darrieus-like rotating airfoils. The method makes use of the virtual camber theory to define a virtual airfoil whose pressure coefficient distributions in straight flow are used to match those of the real airfoil in curved flow. Even if developed originally for vertical-axis wind turbines, the method is of general validity and is thought to represent in the near future a valuable tool for researchers to get a new insight on many complex phenomena connected to flow past blades rotating around an axis orthogonal to flow direction, like for example dynamic stall.