Numerical study of a self-adjusting blade turbine: model validation and parametric analysis

Subject Areas : Journal of Simulation and Analysis of Novel Technologies in Mechanical Engineering

Fatemeh Behrouzi ^{1 *} , Adi Maimun bin Abdel Malik ² , Yasser M.Ahmed ³

1 - a. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Bushehr Campus, Islamic Azad University, Bushehr, Iran
2 - University Technologi Malaysia, Skodai, Johor, Malaysia
3 - Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University, Egypt.

Received: 2025-06-04 Accepted : 2025-08-21 Published : 2025-10-18

Keywords: Novel vertical axis turbine, Self-Adjusting Blade Turbine, low speed flows, linkage effect, fixed blades turbine,

Abstract :

The plentiful advantages of the vertical axis turbine, have caused significant growth in vertical axis turbine research and development. This research paper presents a numerical study of self-adjusting blades turbine, as an alternative to the Savonius-based turbine. Unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes equations with the Semi-Implicit Method for Pressure-Linked Equation algorithm and a k-ω Shear Stress Transport turbulence model have been applied in computational fluid dynamics simulations. The dynamic behavior of fixed and self-adjusting blade turbines has been simulated numerically at a low flow speed of 0.32 m/s. The rotational motions of fixed and self-adjusting blade turbines were solved using the sliding mesh model and dynamic mesh motion, respectively. Additionally, the results of performance analysis were validated by the experimental data. The performance and flow characteristics of the self-adjusting blades turbine for different arm length to bucket diameter ratios (r/d) and blade angles (β) were discussed and analyzed. Moreover, C_Pmax and tip speed ratio for the modified turbine were found for flow velocities from 0.17 m/s to 0.64 m/s. the maximum performance of the modified self-adjusting blades turbine was 0.16 at tip speed ratio, λ=0.45 which the torque coefficient corresponding to maximum power coefficient was 0.34.

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