Study on the Relationship between Structural Aspects and Aerodynamic Characteristics of Archimedes Spiral Wind Turbines

A combined experimental and numerical research study is conducted to investigate the complex relationship between the structure and the aerodynamic performances of an Archimedes spiral wind turbine(ASWT).Two ASWTs are considered,a prototypical version and an improved version.It is shown that the latter achieves the best aerodynamic performance when the spread angles at the three sets of blades areα_(1)=30°,α_(2)=55°,α3=60°,respectively and the blade thickness is 4 mm.For a velocity V=10 m/s,a tip speed ratio(TSR)=1.58 and 2,the maximum CP values are 0.223 and 0.263 for the prototypical ASWT and improved ASWT,respectively,and the maximum C_(P) enhancement is 17.93%.For V=10 m/s and TSR=2,the CP values of the prototypical ASWT and improved ASWT are 0.225 and 0.263,respectively,with an aerodynamic performance enhancement of 16.88%.Through mutual verification of the test outcomes and numerical results,it is concluded that the proposed approach can effectively lead to aerodynamic performance improvement.