AERODYNAMIC OPTIMIZATION FOR TURBINE BLADE BASED ON HIERARCHICAL FAIR COMPETITION GENETIC ALGORITHMS WITH DYNAMIC NICHE

A global optimization approach to turbine blade design based on hierarchical fair competition genetic algorithms with dynamic niche （HFCDN-GAs） coupled with Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes （RANS） equation is presented. In order to meet the search theory of GAs and the aerodynamic performances of turbine, Bezier curve is adopted to parameterize the turbine blade profile, and a fitness function pertaining to optimization is designed. The design variables are the control points＇ ordinates of characteristic polygon of Bezier curve representing the turbine blade profile. The object function is the maximum lift-drag ratio of the turbine blade. The constraint conditions take into account the leading and trailing edge metal angle, and the strength and aerodynamic performances of turbine blade. And the treatment method of the constraint conditions is the flexible penalty function. The convergence history of test function indicates that HFCDN-GAs can locate the global optimum within a few search steps and have high robustness. The lift-drag ratio of the optimized blade is 8.3% higher than that of the original one. The results show that the proposed global optimization approach is effective for turbine blade.

Using a pressure controlled vortex design method to control secondary flow losses in a turbine stage

A turbine design method based on pressure controlled vortex design （PCVD） is presented to design a small-size turbine stage. Contrary to the conventional controlled vortex design （CVD） method, the main objective of PCVD is to control the axial velocity and radial pressure in the sta- tor rotor gap. Through controlling axial velocity, the PCVD establishes a direct tie to meridional stream surface. Thus stream surface variation is induced, resulting in a large secondary flow vortex covering the full blade passage in the respective stator and rotor. This secondary flow vortex could be dedicated to control the secondary flow mitigation and migration. Through radial pressure, the PCVD is also associated with the macroscopic driving force of fluid motion. So the better benefit of CVD can be achieved. The core concept behind PCVD is to mainly control the spanwise pressure gradient by altering profile loading at various spanwise locations. Therefore not only the local pro- file lift is affected, but also the resulting throat widths, stage reaction degree, and massflow rate are altered or redistributed respectively. With the PCVD method, the global stage efficiency is increased successfully while the mass flow rate keeps constant. Additionally there is no endwall shape optimization, stacking optimization, or pitch/chord variations, concentrating solely on varying blade profile deflections and stagger.

Review on Tidal Energy Technologies and Research Subjects

Tidal current power is one of the promising and reliable renewable energies with the advantage of continuous and predictable resource. It can make stable electricity regardless of weather conditions or seasons all year around. The required technologies for tidal current power in the ocean have been developed for years and now recognized that it could be commercialized after intensive field tests and successful demonstrations. There are several tidal farm development projects in the world, such as the MeyGen project in UK with its commercialization at hand. However, various research subjects in the tidal current energy field are seeking improvements and industrialization of tidal current power in terms of economy and technical reliability. This paper introduces the resource assessment procedure of tidal energy that has been applied in Korea coastal regions. The key research subjects for tidal current power together with the interaction effect of multi-arrangement is described. Also, this paper is to introduce the research output of each subject such as turbine design, experimental validation, turbine interaction and wake, multi-array module, FSI (fluid-structure interaction), and duct application.

Numerical Optimization and Noise Analysis of High-Tip-SpeedWind Turbine

With lower turbulence and less rigorous restrictions on noise levels,offshore wind farms provide favourable conditions for the development of high-tip-speed wind turbines.In this study,the multi-objective optimization is presented for a 5MW wind turbine design and the effects of high tip speed on power output,cost and noise are analysed.In order to improve the convergence and efficiency of optimization,a novel type of gradient-based multi-objective evolutionary algorithm is proposed based on uniform decomposition and differential evolution.Optimization examples of the wind turbines indicate that the new algorithm can obtain uniformly distributed optimal solutions and this algorithm outperforms the conventional evolutionary algorithms in convergence and optimization efficiency.For the 5MW wind turbines designed,increasing the tip speed can greatly reduce the cost of energy(COE).When the tip speed increases from 80m/s to 100m/s,under the same annual energy production,the COE decreases by 3.2%in a class I wind farm and by 5.1%in a class III one,respectively,while the sound pressure level increases by a maximum of 4.4dB with the class III wind farm case.

Effect of inlet rotating swirl on endwall film cooling for two representative hole arrangements

The swirl generator is widely used in lean-burn combustor to guarantee flame stability and reduce NOxemissions. Thus, the non-uniformities induced by the swirler would affect and damage film-cooling effectiveness on the turbine components, even blow-off coolant coverage, to some certain extent. The arrangement of film-cooling holes was normally designed to be perpendicular to the axial direction and in standard straight row. In this work we experimentally studied the effects of inlet swirl and mass flow ratio on traditional film cooling holes arrangement and a new arrangement pattern whose holes are located along the isobars. Results indicated that the swirl perturbation would damage film coverage. The film-cooling effect of endwall on which the holes are along the isobars, is invariably more promising than that of endwall on which hole arrangement is perpendicular to axial with the same mass flow of coolant, whether the inlet conditions is uniform or not.