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Aiaa 2003 0352 PDF
Aiaa 2003 0352 PDF
The airfoils, ranging from 15% to 40% relative In practice most wind turbine manufacturers tune the
thickness, have been developed in a number of projects, blades of stall-regulated machines with vortex
funded by the European Union in the framework of the generators and stall strips. Furthermore the application
of Gurney flaps has been considered. In the Delft wind
tunnel, tests were performed mostly on airfoil DU 93-
Copyright 2003 by Delft University of Technology. Published by W-210 to answer the resulting quest for data concerning
the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc. and the the effect on airfoil performance and to give guidelines
American Society of Mechanical Engineers with permission
for locations and sizes of the various tuning devices.
1
With the growing knowledge of the mechanism behind Around 90 to 100 pressure orifices with a diameter of
wind turbine blade noise and the effect of rotation, 0.4 mm. were installed in staggered formation. The
although not yet fully understood, during the second polyester gelcoat surface of the models was sanded and
halve of the nineties a number of airfoils was designed polished. The contour of these particular models was
using an 18% thick tip airfoil with low maximum lift
(DU 95-W-180) and a 30% thick inboard airfoil (DU
97-W-300) as base lines.
2
Wind tunnel wall corrections the equilibrium flow has been coupled to the shape
factor of the boundary layer [9].
To the measured data the standard wind tunnel wall
1.5
corrections for lift-interference and model solid and 1.5
cO cO
wake blockage as given by Allen & Vincenti [7] were
applied. Corrections have also been made for the effect 1.0 1.0
chord length downstream from the model trailing edge. -0.5 -0.5 XFOIL v5.4
RFOIL
Wind tunnel
Effects of roughness -1.0 -1.0
As a standard way to check the sensitivity of the Figure 3: The prediction of DU 91-W2-250
designs to contamination of the leading edge, 0.35mm characteristics with XFOIL and RFOIL
thick zigzag tape was used. The tape leading edge was
located at the model upper surface 5% chord station. In figure 3 a comparison is made between the “old”
On average for the airfoils tested, at angles around the XFOIL version 5.4 and the RFOIL code. The RFOIL
maximum lift-to-drag ratio, the critical height of result still not matches the measurements perfectly, but
distributed roughness as calculated by the method of the trend in post stall (time-averaged) lift is fairly well
Braslow [8] on the 5% chord location is in the order of predicted.
0.15 mm. For zigzag tape, having a critical Reynolds
number based on roughness height of about 200 instead
of 600 for grit roughness, the critical height would be GENERAL DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS
about 0.10 mm. Although not being a roughness
simulation of the worst kind, the zigzag tape of 0.35 Although eventually the characteristics of a wind
mm thickness can therefore be considered as a rather turbine airfoil are a trade-off between several
severe means of tripping. conflicting requirements, some properties can be
identified as being generally desirable. The wish to
keep the sensitivity of the airfoil to contamination and
PREDICTION OF THE TWO-DIMENSIONAL contour imperfections of the nose as low as possible has
AIRFOIL CHARACTERISTICS been the primary design driver for the Delft airfoils. In
this light the maximum lift capacity of the designs has
been held at a moderate level, to keep the loss in lift
For the design of the Delft airfoils the XFOIL code was due to surface contamination as small as possible.
used. First in the basic version 5.4, after 1996 in a Although the design Reynolds number is in the range of
modified version called RFOIL. The RFOIL code 2x106 to 4x106, this opens the possibility to use the
resulted from a NOVEM funded project called TIDIS airfoils in larger blades and consequently at higher
(Three Dimensional effects in Stall), carried out by the Reynolds numbers as well. There is another reason to
Netherlands Energy Research Foundation ECN, the pursue moderate lift coefficients. Blades will seldom be
National Aerospace Laboratory NLR and Delft clean and it may be questioned if the high-lift potential
University. The aim of the project was to develop a of blade airfoils will be addressed frequently.
method on basis of the existing XFOIL code to
calculate the effect of rotation on airfoil performance.
To this end, first the code’s prediction of the airfoil DU 91-W2-250
performance around the two-dimensional maximum lift
was enhanced. Improvement of the numerical stability The design of airfoil DU 91-W2-250 followed wind
was effectuated by using the Schlichting velocity tunnel tests on a 25% thick NACA airfoil from the 63-
profiles for the turbulent boundary layer instead of 4xx series, linearly scaled from 21% [10]. These tests
Swafford’s. Furthermore, the shear lag coefficient in showed a reduction in the maximum lift coefficient of
Green’s lag entrainment equation of the turbulent 35% due to a tripped boundary layer on the 5% upper
boundary layer model was adjusted and deviation from surface chord station. The poor performance of thick
3
NACA-airfoils with leading edge contamination can be 1.5 1.5
cO
traced to the high upper surface velocities and resulting cO
high adverse pressure gradients due to the larger upper 1.0 1.0
-4.0
Cp
6
R=3x10
-3.0 Figure 6: The airfoil shapes of DU 91-W2-250
o
α = 6.7 , L/D-max (128) and DU 93-W-210
α = 9.2o, Cl-max (1.37)
-2.0 as NACA 633-618, the 21% thick DU 93-W-210 was
α = 15.2o, post stall
designed. The airfoil exhibits a maximum lift-to-drag
-1.0 ratio of 143 at R=3x106 and a maximum lift coefficient
of 1.35. The airfoil model was extensively used to
0.0
experimentally verify the effect of vortex generators,
Gurney flaps and trip wires. Further on in this paper the
results of this investigation will be highlighted. Figure 6
1.0
150 1.5
Maximum lift-to-drag ratio
Cl,max
Figure 4: Measured pressure distributions 140 1.4
4
depicts the difference between the contours of DU 91 airfoils. To prevent excessive boundary layer noise the
and DU 93. The upper surface thickness of the DU 91 airfoil has a sharp trailing edge.
airfoil was generally maintained and the airfoil was
made more laminar by shifting the location of
Wind tunnel results
maximum thickness a few percent backwards in favor
of a high lift-to-drag ratio. Based on the fact that in earlier designs the Cl,max was
In figure 7 the maximum l/d and the maximum lift over predicted, the wind tunnel model was equipped
coefficient of DU 93 are depicted. Although the value with a 20% chord trailing edge flap to tune the lift
of Cl,max at a Reynolds number of 3x106 was a little performance.
disappointing (1.35 instead of the predicted 1.45) the The measured lift coefficients and accompanying lift-
overall performance of the airfoil, however, certainly in drag ratio’s of the model with flap deflections of 0o, 2o
terms of lift-to-drag ratio, was satisfying. and 4o for a Reynolds number of 3x106 are shown in
figure 8. The base airfoil (zero flap deflection) appeared
to have a maximum lift coefficient of 1.20, instead of
DU 95-W-180 the predicted value of 1.25, which however could be
reached with a 2o flap deflection. The latter
Design considerations configuration was later designated DU 96-W-180 and
also tested at large angles-of-attack in a different test
For a pitch controlled wind turbine a high lift-drag ratio
set-up [6] and in the low-speed wind tunnel of the
of the outboard airfoils is required. From the
Institut für Aero- und Gasdynamik of Stuttgart
performance perspective the height of the Cl for
University, Germany. In figure 9 measured pressure
maximum lift-drag ratio (the design-Cl) is relatively
distribution of DU 96-W-180 from the present test are
unimportant. The difference in terms of units Cl
given at angles specific to the airfoil performance. For
between the design-Cl and the Cl,max must not be too
much to prevent excessive loads in case of gusts and -4.0
not too little to prevent the rotor from stalling when the α = 0.4o, minimum drag
Cp o
α = 6.6 , L/D-max (=145)
pitch system is not fast enough. A difference between o
-3.0 α = 9.9 , Cl-max (=1.26)
the two Cl’s of about 0.2 is expected to be sufficient.
1.5 1.5
o
cO cO
-2.0 DU 95-W-180, flap 2
(DU 96-W-180)
1.0 1.0 R=3x106
-1.0
0.5 0.5 Flap 0 degr.
Flap 2 degr.
Flap 4 degr.
0.0
0.0 0.0
-50 0 50 100 150 -10 0 10 20
cO /cG α ( R)
-1.0 -1.0
Figure 8: The effect of a flap deflection on the Figure 9: Measured pressure distributions of
performance of DU 95-W-180 at R=3x106. airfoil DU 96-W-180 at R=3x106.
From the loads viewpoint a high design-Cl should clarity of the graph half of the pressure information has
be aimed at because this leads to smaller chords and been omitted. The airfoil exhibits a high lift-to-drag
consequently to lower storm loads. This, however, is ratio of 145 at R=3x106. Measurements in the Stuttgart
contradictory to the wish to keep the airfoil’s sensitivity low-speed wind tunnel at R=4x106 gave a (Cl/Cd)max of
to leading edge contamination low. In general outboard 149 and a Cl,max of 1.32. The sensitivity of the airfoil to
airfoils will not have maximum lift coefficients higher leading edge roughness is low, as can be deduced from
than 1.4 to 1.5. To have the possibility to use the airfoil figure 10 in which the effect of zigzag tape is shown.
in stall regulated rotors as well the Cl,max was chosen to The loss in Cl,max due to the increased momentum loss
be 1.25. The required maximum lift to drag ratio was thickness is .09.
set at 140 at 3x106 to compete with existing NACA-
5
1.5 1.5 terms in the 3D boundary layer equations are driven by
cO cO the local solidity c/r, which is used as input parameter.
1.0 1.0 The predictive value of RFOIL calculations has among
others been verified against measurements performed
DU 95-W-180
0.5
R = 3.0x10
0.5 by FFA on a 5.35 m diameter model rotor in the
flap 2o 12x16m. low-speed wind tunnel of the Chinese
0.0 0.0 Aerodynamics Research and Development Center,
0.00 0.01 0.02 0.03 -10 0 10 20
cG α ( R) CARDC. For the rotor blades the NACA 44 series of
-0.5 -0.5 airfoils was used. Pressure distributions at various span
zigzag tape off
zigzag tape on
locations were measured and integrated to normal force
-1.0 -1.0 and tangential force coefficients Cn and Ct.
Figure 10: The effect of zigzag tape at x/c=0.05 Because the angle-of-attack during the experiments was
on the performance of DU 96-W-180. not known a match has been made between the
measured Cn-Ct curves and those calculated by RFOIL.
It was established that RFOIL tends to overestimate the
rotational effect for a specific c/r value. Nevertheless, if
THICK AIRFOILS 2/3 of the geometrical c/r value was used, it appeared
that RFOIL was capable of predicting the pressure
For structural reasons significant section thickness is distribution on the rotating blade quite well. In figure
required in the root of the blade. Small root chords and 11 an example is given of the measured and calculated
restricted blade weight help to overcome problems of pressure distributions for a matched point in the Cn-Ct
transportation of large blades and keep down structural curve of the 30% span section at a Reynolds number of
loads on the shaft and bearings. This calls for airfoils 420,000. The Cn and Ct values originate from a
with a high relative thickness, typically 30% to 40% calculation of airfoil NACA 4424 at an angle-of-attack
chord. The inboard segment of the blade requires a high of 18o. The same trend emerged from comparisons with
maximum lift coefficient to deliver sufficient torque at
the lower wind speeds. To achieve high lift, the inner -5.0
50% span of the blades of stall controlled wind turbines Cp
effects of rotation cannot be quantified in some way. Figure 11: The predicted and measured effect of
rotation on the pressure distribution of the 30%
RFOIL span section of a rotating blade
As already mentioned the goal of the 1996 Dutch pressure distributions measured on the blades of the
project TIDIS was to generate a code to calculate the 10m. diameter two-bladed rotor of the Delft University
effect of rotation using the strong viscous/inviscid field test installation. The blades incorporate the
interaction scheme of XFOIL. The integral boundary NLF(1)-0416 airfoil. It was felt that RFOIL could be
layer equations in XFOIL have been extended for radial used to generate airfoils for the inner 40% of the blade
flow based on the Snel-Houwink model for blade span and predict trends in roughness sensitivity and
rotation. [11]. A Johnston cross flow velocity profile height of Cl,max with airfoil thickness to a reasonable
and additional closure relations were added. degree.
Convergence of the calculation restricted the
adjustments to first and second order terms. The cross
6
2.0 2.0
DU 97-W-300
cO cO
1.5 1.5
As a base airfoil for the development of thick airfoils
DU 97-W-300 was designed. Design goals were: 1.0 1.0
A Cl,max of 1.5 to 1.6 at R=3x106 DU 97-W-300
Location of maximum thickness around 30%c 0.5 R = 3.0x10 0.5
DU 97-W-300
R = 3.0x10 0.5
0.5
RFOIL
-0.5 -0.5
wind tunnel, smooth
transition free and fixed conditions is shown in figure wind tunnel, zz tape
13, for a Reynolds number of 3x106. -1.0 -1.0
7
effect on lift is more pronounced. THE EFFECT OF AERODYNAMIC DEVICES
This behavior at negative angles is an indication that
the thickness of the lower surface is pushed to the edge Depending on the type of airfoil tested, during the wind
of what still is acceptable in terms of two-dimensional tunnel measurements the effect of various aerodynamic
airfoil performance. devices such as Gurney flaps, wedges, trip wires and
The problem of lower surface separation could be vortex generators (vg’s) was evaluated.
slightly alleviated by shifting the maximum thickness
more forward. This, however, is unfavorable for the Gurney flaps
location of the beam as well as for transition to the hub.
Airfoil DU 93-W-210 was used to investigate the effect
Fortunately, thick airfoils generally do their work at the
of Gurney flaps of 1%c (6 mm) and 2%c (12 mm), the
effect of isosceles wedges of 1%, 1.5% and 2% height
2.0
cO
2.0
RFOIL, c/r=0.12 and of upstream length of the 1%c high wedges.
cO free transition
fixed transition Figure 16 presents the effect of Gurney flaps of 1%c
1.5 1.5
and 2%c on the characteristics of DU 93. The Gurney
1.0 1.0
2,0 2,0
RFOIL, 2d, (c/r=0) cO cO
DU 97-W-300 fixed transition
0.5 0.5 1,5 1,5
R = 3.0x10
1,0
0.0 0.0 1,0
0.000 0.015 0.030 cG 0.045 -10 0 10 20
α (R ) no Gurney flap
0,5
-0.5 -0.5 0,5 Gurney flap 1%c
wind tunnel, zz tape DU 93-W-210
Re = 2.0x10 Gurney flap 2%c
RFOIL 0,0
0,0 -10 0 10 α ( R ) 20
-1.0 -1.0
0,00 0,01 0,02 0,03
cG -0,5
Figure 15: The RFOIL predicted effect of -0,5
rotation on DU 97-W-300 in the transition -1,0
8
figure 17, giving a divergent trailing edge. The test stall strips, small metal strips glued to the blade nose to
results showed that there was virtually no difference top off the lift performance of the outboard portion of
between the characteristics for the 6x6 mm. wedge and the blade. In many cases a strip with limited length is
enough to trigger the entire blade segment between the
strip location and the tip. There was however some
uncertainty about the proper location and the effect of
thickness of the strip. DU 93 was used to do a wind
tunnel test with trip wires on the nose of the model.
Wires with 1.2 and 2 mm. diameter respectively were
located at the apex (0%c) and at 0.25%c, 0.5% and 1%
on the pressure side. Some results are presented in
figure 19.
Figure 17: Sketch of the Gurney flap and
some wedges applied to the trailing edge of 1.5 1.5
DU 93-W-210 cO cO
1.0 1.0
the 6 mm high Gurney flap. Apparently the 6x6mm 2 mm wire at 0.25%c
Cl,max
130 1.5
length 0 = Gurney flap The measurements show that the 2 mm thick wire at
0.25%c efficiently tops off the maximum lift capacity
(Cl/Cd)max of the airfoil, since the maximum lift coefficient drops
120 1.4
from 1.34 to 1.12. The drag bucket is narrowed
Cl,max of base airfoil DU 93-W-210 significantly. The thinner wire at the same location is
6
R=2x10
not so effective and results in a wider bucket. If the 1.2
110
0 5 10 15 20 25
1.3 mm wire is located at 0.5%c the bucket width remains
Wedge upstream length (mm) the same as at 0.25%c but it shifts upward to higher lift
coefficients along the drag curve of the base line airfoil.
Figure 18: The effect of wedge upstream length The effect on maximum lift has become smaller. In
on the (l/d)max and Cl,max of DU 93-W-210. general terms the effect of a trip wire can be
A general conclusion from the tests with Gurney flaps summarized as follows:
on DU 93 and DU91 and from the wedge test on DU 93 No effect as long as the wire is in or very near the
is that Gurney flaps can be used to significantly stagnation point
increase Cl,max at the cost of a fairly large drag increase. The thicker the wire, the narrower the drag bucket
To minimize the negative effect on the maximum lift- The more aft located, the smaller the effect on the
to-drag ratio the flap height must be well under 1% maximum lift coefficient.
chord. The result can be fine tuned by taking a wedge The range in chord positions for effective
of the same height as the Gurney flap with increased application of the trip wire is very small
upstream length.
Vortex generators
Stall strips Blades for stall-controlled machines with moderate
Some wind turbine manufacturers tune the blades of twist are generally equipped with vortex generators
stall machines producing too much peak power with (vg’s). For the prediction of power curves the effect of
9
vortex generators was studied on all airfoils tested triggered by zigzag tape at 5%c, has little effect on the
except DU 95 and DU 96 since these airfoils were maximum lift. Apparently the boundary layer thickness
meant to be in the outboard section of the blade. The did not grow fast enough to make the vg’s work less
efficient. The effect of rotation at the very inboard
stations has a similar effect on the boundary layer. This
is also an indication that in the design of thick inboard
airfoils roughness (in)sensitivity requirements can be
alleviated considerably.
Figure 20: Sketch of the vortex generators used At positions around 70% to 80% radius the flow over
during most wind tunnel tests. Dimensions in mm the blade behaves more or less two-dimensional.
Dynamic effects may cause leading edge separation,
type of the vg has always been the same and resulted which by some researchers is linked to multiple-stall
from a literature study and wind tunnel test in the late levels of a rotor. In this light it was investigated if -with
eighties. The type is sketched in figure 20 and is the available test data- the angle of attack at which
optimized for the 20%c and 30%c chord positions of leading edge separation would occur in the static
0.6 m chord models. It closely resembles one of the situation could be predicted.
types investigated by Wentz [13]. Vg’s are known to Figure 22 presents the measured lift curves of DU 96-
energize the boundary layer, helping it to overcome W-180 and DU 97-W-300 at a Reynolds number of
adverse pressure gradients. The result is suppression of 1x106. The sudden drop in lift at 23.4o (DU 96-W-180)
trailing edge separation and consequently the delay of and 35o (DU 97-W-300) is associated with the collapse
the stalling process of the airfoil. The type shown above of the negative pressure peak at the leading edge of the
proved to be very effective, and has been applied in airfoil as a result of the separation process. The angle
for leading edge separation (deep-stall) and the length
2.0 2.0
cO cO
of the hysteresis loop of the two airfoils differ
considerably. In figure 23 the available data have been
1.5 1.5 correlated with the thickness of the airfoil nose, defined
1.0 1.6
1.0
'8:
Lift coefficient
no vg’s 1.2
0.5 DU 97-W-300 0.5
vg’s at 20%c
Re = 2.0x10
vg’s + zztape
'8:
0.8
0.0 0.0 Leading edge
0.000 0.015 0.030 0.045 -10 0 10 20 30
cG α (R) separation
0.4
-0.5 -0.5 R=1.0x106
10
match the Delft lift curve. Negative values in x/c denote 2 A. Björck, “Coordinates and calculations for the FFA-
lower surface ordinates. There seems to be a linear W1-xxx, FFA-W2-xxx and FFA-W3-xxx series of
relation between the thickness of the nose and the deep- airfoils for horizontal axis wind turbines” report FFA
TN 1990-15, Stockholm, Sweden 1990
40
DU 97-W-300 3 W.A. Timmer, R. van Rooij, “DU 94-W-280, a thick
30
DU 91-W2-250
airfoil with a divergent trailing edge”. Proceedings
NLF(1)-0416 DU 93-W-210
DU 96-W-180 European Union Wind Energy Conference 1996,
α at onset of deep-stall (degr.)
20 DU 95-W-180
S809 Götenborg, Sweden
10 4 W.A. Timmer, R. van Rooij, “The performance of
0
new wind turbine blade tip and root airfoils up to high
-0.04 -0.03 -0.02 -0.01 0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 angles-of-attack". EWEC 1997, Dublin, Ireland
DU 95-W-180
-10 y/c at x/c=0.0125 5 W.A. Timmer, R. van Rooij, “measured section
DU 96-W-180
-20
performance of rotating blades as input to the design of
inboard airfoils”. EWEC 1999, Nice, France
-30
R=1x10
6 6 W.A. Timmer, R. van Rooij, “Some aspects of high
DU 97-W-300 R=700,000
-40 angle-of-attack flow on airfoils for wind turbine
application”. EWEC 2001,Copenhagen, Denmark
Figure 23: Correlation of deep-stall angle with 7 H.J. Allen, W.G. Vincenti, “Wall interference in a
leading edge thickness for a number of wind two-dimensional wind tunnel, with consideration of the
turbine airfoils effect of compressibility.” NACA Report no. 782, 1947.
stall angle. Since the relation should also apply to 8 A.L. Braslow, E.C. Knox, “Simplified method for the
symmetrical airfoils the curve essentially goes through determination of critical height of distributed roughness
the origin: particles for boundary-layer transition at Mach numbers
from 0 to 5”. NACA Technical Note 4363, 1958
= 1114*(y/c)x/c=.0125 (2) 9 R. van Rooij, “Modification of the boundary layer
deep-stall
calculation in RFOIL for improved airfoil stall
prediction”. Report IW-96087R, TU-Delft, the
Netherlands
10 R. van Rooij, W.A. Timmer, “Roughness sensitivity
CONCLUDING REMARKS
considerations for thick rotor blade airfoils”. 41st
Aerospace Sciences Meeting, January 2003, Reno,
The results of wind tunnel tests on 5 Delft University
USA.. Paper no. AIAA-2003-0350
airfoils for wind turbines with thickness ranging from
11 J. Bosschers, B. Montgomery, A. Brand, R. van
18%c to 30%c have been presented. Primary design
Rooij, “Influence of blade rotation on the sectional
driver was low sensitivity to roughness. The effects on aerodynamics of rotational blades”, 22nd European
airfoil performance of Gurney flaps of 1%c and 2%c, of Rotorcraft Forum, 1996 England.
trailing edge wedges with various upstream lengths, of 12 P. Giguère, J. Lemay, G. Dumas, “Gurney flap
trip wires of 1.2 mm and 2mm thickness at various effects and scaling for low speed airfoils”, AIAA Paper
leading edge locations and of vortex generators was 95-1881, 13th AIAA Applied Aerodynamics Conference
evaluated. The code XFOIL was modified to ameliorate San Diego, June 1995.
lift predictions around stall and to calculate the effect of 13 W.H. Wentz, jr. “Effectiveness of spoilers on the
rotation on airfoil performance. The modified version is GA(W)-1 airfoil with a high performance Fowler flap”
called RFOIL. It was used to design thick inboard NASA CR-2538, May 1975
airfoils with 30% and 40% relative thickness. The data 14 D.E. Gault, A correlation of low-speed airfoil-
base of wind tunnel results enabled the correlation of section stalling characteristics with Reynolds number
the angle for leading edge separation with the leading and airfoil geometry. NACA Technical Note 3963,
edge thickness in terms of y/c at x/c=0.0125. This Washington, March 1957
relation appears to be a straight line.
REFERENCES
11