Influence of Number of Turbine Rotations on Numerical Prediction Accuracy of a Three-Bladed NACA0021 VAWT

Performance improvements on wind turbines are emerging due to increased renewable energy demand. The researchers are focusing on improvements in turbine efficiencies. The advancements in numerical simulations immensely support the new design developments and deployment of wind turbines. However, the fidelity and shortcomings of various numerical models are highly challenging to predict accurate results. One of the challenges in numerical simulations is the stopping criteria for the simulations after specific turbine rotations for highly accurate predictions. This paper investigates the influence of turbine rotations on the numerical prediction accuracy for a standalone three-bladed NACA0021 vertical axis wind turbine. The SST k- \(\omega \) turbulence model is used in 2D turbine configurations. A comprehensive turbine revolution study is carried out for an extensive range of tip speed ratio (TSR) values. The simulation result shows that the operating TSR highly influences prediction accuracy. For lower TSR, a minimal number of turbine rotations are required as compared to higher TSR.