Numerical Simulations of Effects of Faults in a Vertical Axis Wind Turbine’s Performance

Renewable sources of energy are being developed globally to overcome the present excessive dependence on fossil fuels. Wind energy is one of the important sources of renewable energy. Considerable amount of research is being carried out on the innovative designs for optimal performance of wind turbines. Furthermore a lot of research is being carried out on maintenance and condition monitoring of such systems. Torque output is one of the most important parameters in analysing the performance of a turbine; which in turn depends on a number of factors including the structural health and the performance of each blade. Cracks in a wind turbine blade affect the aerodynamic profile of the blade and consequently flow field around it, and may cause vibration in the blade further affecting its performance. In this paper Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) based technique has been used to study the effect of the presence of cracks in the blades on the torque output of Vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT). For this purpose, different cracks configurations have been simulated and results analysed which indicate variations in the amplitude of the torque output of the turbine due to the presence of cracks.