MAE 598 HW#5 Tianze Peng

MAE 598 Wind Energy Homework #5

A Wind Turbine Blade Analysis using the Blade Element Momentum Method

Summary
In this report, a designed wind turbine blade was analyzed by using Blade Element
Momentum (BEM) Method. Firstly, the design of blade will be given, including the selection of
airfoil. Then the calculation would be carried out using a spreadsheet and lift and drag curves for
the chosen airfoil. After calculation, prediction of power output was calculated based on the
previous procedures.

Design of Blade
1. Airfoil selection
The airfoil selected in this assignment is NACA 4415, which corresponds to the final
project of wind energy class where NACA 4415 was used for vertical axial wind turbine. The
data of airfoil was retrieved online. Along with the airfoil data, the experimental data of airfoil
was also acquired. Below is a plot of shape as well as coefficient of drag and lift for airfoil
NACA 4415.

Figure 1 Plot of NACA 4415, Lift and drag coefficient [1]

2. Turbine blade design

After choosing the airfoil, some parameters of the turbine and its blades are defined in the
following table.
Table 1. Parameters of turbine (1)
Parameter Value
Number of blade, 𝐵 3
Radius of tip, 𝑅 [m] 6
Tip speed ratio, 𝜆 10
And table 2 gives the chord length of blades at different location along the span.
Table 2. Parameters of turbine (2)
Radius, r [m] Chord, c [m] Twist angle,  𝜸 [º] Coefficient of lift, CL
0.2 0.785 60 0.790
1 0.9 70 1.040
2 0.62 75 1.410
3 0.37 90.8 1.340
4 0.27 92.8 1.325
5 0.21 93.9 1.300
6 0.15 103 1.450

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MAE 598 HW#5 Tianze Peng

Based on table.2, the top view of the blade is as follow without considering twist angle.

Figure 2 Top view of design

Momentum theory
Before carrying out BEM method to analyze divided elements for a single blade, it is
necessary to investigate general behaviors of turbine. From Manwell [3], the axial tube is plotted
is plotted, where indices 1, 2, 3, and 4 respectively represent for far field upstream, upstream near
blades, downstream near blades, and far field downstream.

Figure 3 Axial Stream tube around a Wind Turbine

Based on derivations, the axial induction factor, 𝑎, as defined as:

! !!
𝑎 = !!! !
and axial force, 𝑑𝐹! , is defined as:
!
𝑑𝐹! = ! 𝜌𝑉!! 4𝑎 1 − 𝑎 2𝜋𝑟𝑑𝑟
Blade Element Momentum Method
Blade Element Momentum Theory equates two methods of examining how a wind
turbine operates. The first method is to use a momentum balance on a rotating annular stream
tube passing through a turbine. The second is to examine the forces generated by the airfoil lift
and drag coefficients at various sections along the blade. These two methods then give a series of
equations that can be solved iteratively. [2]
Two key assumptions are stated as follow to conduct Blade element theory:
• There are no aerodynamic interactions between different blade elements
• The forces on the blade elements are solely determined by the lift and drag coefficients

Figure 4 Flow onto the turbine blade

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MAE 598 HW#5 Tianze Peng

In Figure 4, animation of flow onto the turbine blade are plotted where 𝛺 is angular
velocity of blade, 𝜔 is angular velocity of wake, 𝛾 is twist angle of blade, 𝛽 is relative velocity
angle, and 𝑖 is angle of attack.
A slight rotation occurs in practice when air passes over the airfoil. At the inlet of the
blade, the flow is not rotational. Thus the inlet tangential velocity is Ωr. The flow rotates at
rotational speed ω at the outlet of the blade, so the tangential velocity is Ωr + ωr. Thus the
average tangential velocity can be calculated as:
!!!!!!!" !"
!
= Ω𝑟 + !
Then we can define 𝑎′ as angular induction factor:
𝜔
𝑎=
2Ω
As shown in the velocity triangle, relation of relative velocity angle and other parameters can be
found, and the local tip speed ratio is defined as:
!! !!! ! !!
𝑡𝑎𝑛𝛽 = !(!!!)
λ! = !
!! !!!! !
Thus,  𝑡𝑎𝑛𝛽 = .
(!!!)
Considering force, in Figure 4, the forces on each element can be calculated as:
dF! = 𝑑𝐿𝑐𝑜𝑠𝛽 − 𝑑𝐷𝑠𝑖𝑛𝛽 dF! = 𝑑𝐿𝑠𝑖𝑛𝛽 + 𝑑𝐷𝑐𝑜𝑠𝛽
where 𝑑𝐿 and 𝑑𝐷 is defined as :
! !
dL = C! ! 𝜌𝑊 ! 𝑐𝑑𝑟 dD = C! ! 𝜌𝑊 ! 𝑐𝑑𝑟
Finally, the torque can be difined as:
!
dT = 𝐵 ! 𝜌𝑊 ! 𝐶! 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝛽 − 𝐶! 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝛽 𝑐𝑟𝑑𝑟
!"
By introducing local solidity,  σ! = , axial force and torque can be expressed as:
!!"
! ! (!!!)!
dF! = 𝜎′𝜋𝜌 !"# ! !
𝐶! 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝛽 + 𝐶! 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝛽 𝑟𝑑𝑟
! ! (!!!)!
d𝑇 = 𝜎′𝜋𝜌 !"# ! !
𝐶! 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝛽 + 𝐶! 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝛽 𝑟 ! 𝑑𝑟
Power output
The contribution to the total power from each annulus is: 𝑑𝑃 = 𝛺𝑑𝑇
Then the power coefficient is given by:
! !
𝐶! = !! ! 𝜆!! 𝑎! 1 − 𝑎 𝑑𝜆!  
!
Boundary Conditions and Analysis Procedures:
Boundary condition: Turbine with three blades and inlet speed of wind as V = 8m/s. The turbine
rotates at 𝛺 = 10.
Based on previous information, the analysis is conducted as follow.
For example, 6m blade calculation:
!" !∗!.!"
Angular speed ratio at r = 6m is σ! = = = 0.0119
!!" !!∗!
1. Guess a and a’
𝑎 = 0.3562  ,  𝑎 ! = −0.6979
2. Calculate 𝝀𝒓 and 𝜷
!! !"∗! ! !
λ! = = = 7.5, β = 90 − 𝑡𝑎𝑛!! = 84.9369º
! ! ! !!
3. Look up CL for the appropriate incidence angle (AOA).
i = γ − β = 18.0631º, C! = 1.450

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4. Calculate a and a’ again

!!"# ! ! !!!!
𝑎 = (1 + )!! = 0.3562, 𝑎 ! = = −0.6979
!!!! !"#$ !!!!
Noticed negative angular induction index is abnormal, therefore it is necessary to conduct
iteration until difference of 𝑎! in two iterations is eliminated within 𝛥𝑎! = 0.0001.
After 7 iterations, the 𝑎’ converged. The records of convergence are in the following form.
Table 3. Residuals of 𝒂’
Iteration 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
𝒂 0.3562 0.0384 0.0384 0.1815 0.2332 0.2887 0.3229 0.3416
𝒅𝒂 -0.3178 0.0000 0.1431 0.0517 0.0555 0.0342 0.0187
𝒂′ -0.6979 0.0015 0.0015 0.0028 0.0034 0.0039 0.0041 0.0041
𝒅𝒂′ 0.6994 0.0000 0.0014 0.0006 0.0005 0.0001 0.0000
For different radius, in the same procedures, it is easy to calculate variables by iterations,
which will be used in calculation of power coefficient.
! ! !!
And since C! = 𝑄𝜆!! a′(1 − a) 1 − 𝑡𝑎𝑛𝛽 𝑑𝜆!  
! ! !! !!
In this problem, Q=0 and 𝐶! = 0, then the equation above becomes:
! ! !
C! = !! 𝜆
!! !
a! 1 − a 𝑑𝜆!    
Using the trapezium rule:
!! !! !!!
!!
𝑓 𝑥 𝑑𝑥 ≈ !!
[ 𝑦! + 𝑦! + 2(𝑦! + 𝑦! + ⋯ + 𝑦!!! )]    
Table 4. Calculation results
𝝀𝟎 − 𝝀𝒏 ∫ 𝒇(𝒙)
r [m] Iterations 𝜷 [deg] 𝝀𝒓 𝒂 𝒂′ 𝝀𝟑𝒓 𝒂! 𝟏 − 𝒂
𝟐
0.2 5.00 39.28 0.25 0.2786 1.3624 0.0154 0.5 0.0892
1 5.00 65.62 1.25 0.3597 0.1304 0.1630 0.625 0.3074
2 3.00 73.27 2.5 0.2266 0.0272 0.3287 0.625 0.5200
3 5.00 81.83 3.75 0.4785 0.0183 0.5033 0.625 0.7720
4 4.00 83.16 5 0.4202 0.0101 0.7330 0.625 1.0196
5 7.00 84.61 6.25 0.4244 0.0064 0.8994 0.625 1.2739
6 7.00 84.86 7.5 0.3416 0.0041 1.1389    
Sum of ∫ 𝒇 𝒙   3.9821
𝑪𝑷   0.4978

Conclusion
This report shows the procedures of analysis of a designed turbine by using Blade
Element Momentum Method. From Betz theory it is known that the maximum energy can be
utilized is 59.3% of the total energy in wind. From Table 4, coefficient of power is 0.4978. This
means that among utilizable energy in wind, which is 59.3% of total energy, 49.78% utilizable
energy can be converted to electricity. Compared to Ingram’s example, where NACA 0012 airfoil
is used and the coefficient of power is 0.5581, the design of this turbine still need to be refined for
further development.

Reference
[1] NACA 4415 Database, http://airfoiltools.com/airfoil/details?airfoil=naca4415-il
[2] Grant Ingram, Wind Turbine Blade Analysis using the Blade Element Momentum Method,
Durham University, 2011
[3] J.F. Manwell, Wind Energy Explained: Theory, Design and Application (2nd Edition), Wiley,
2010

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Appendix

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