Experimental and Numerical Study of Helical Savonius Wind Rotor Performance Improvement Using Novel Blade Shape

This research work tackles the blade shape effect on a helical Savonius wind rotor (HSWR). In order to enhance its performance, a novel blade shape called two-stage delta bladed and a helical Savonius rotor were numerically and experimentally tested. Numerical simulations were undertaken investigating the Shear Stress Transport k-ω turbulence model through the use of Ansys Fluent 17.0 software based on the finite volume method solver. Performance properties at the level of torque and power coefficients were identified. Additionally, aerodynamic features at the level of velocity distributions were determined and analyzed. Experimental static and dynamic tests were equally conducted in a common wind tunnel and subsequently served to validate the numerical model. The novel blade shape proved to outperform the HSWR in terms of maximum power coefficient improvement with 29.5% and 22.58% experimentally and numerically, respectively. The novel blade displayed a dual merit. It promoted the efficiency of the HSWR and bettered its self-starting ability.