Numerical Investigation of a Vertical Axis Tidal Turbine with Deforming Blades

The vertical axis tidal turbines are initially constructed by using simple rigid blades. As an alternative to the conventional rigid blades, the proposition of the present work is to deform the blade leading edge via a sinusoidal smoothed curve. A deforming mesh involving both sliding and remeshing techniques is used to control and update the mesh throughout the system motion. Examinations of the shed vortices interactions and the accompanying pressure contours indicate that the correction of the leading edge shape gives rise to a vortex with large size at an advanced stage than the conventional blade. This vortex promotes in turn, the blades suction zone which alters the pressure distribution along the blade’s surfaces. The turbine efficiency is boosted by 35% relative to the uncontrolled case.