Aerodynamic Evaluation of Gottingen

and Joukowski Airfoils for Use in Rotors

of Small Wind Turbines

Thiago Canale, Kamal A. R. Ismail(&), and Fatima A. M. Lino

Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Energy Department,

State University of Campinas, Mendeleiev street, 200, Cidade Universitária
“Zeferino Vaz”, Barão Geraldo, Campinas, SP 13083-860, Brazil
kamal@fem.unicamp.br

Abstract. Climatic changes and global warming resulting from production and
utilization of fossil fuels and other human activities accelerated research to
replace effectively fossil fuels. Wind energy appears at the top of the list of the
viable candidates to reduce dependence on fossil fuels. The technology for large
and medium wind turbines is well dominated and usually installed to supply
electricity for distribution grids. Small wind turbines are usually installed in
remote and isolated areas. This work investigates alternative airfoils, Gottingen
and Joukowski, for application in small wind turbines capable to operate effi-
ciently at small wind velocities. The investigation includes aerodynamic anal-
ysis of the effects of varying airfoil, the chord distribution and number of blades
on the torque and power coefficients. A home-built numerical code based on the
Blade Element Momentum (BEM) theory validated against available experi-
mental and numerical results is used. The numerical code and the Xfoil software
were used to adjust the aerodynamic data of the airfoils. The elliptic chord
distribution and the linearly tapered blades are found to be viable and efficient.
The increase of the number of blades increases the torque at low velocities but
not enough to achieve the maximum power. Friction losses and limitations
imposed by the rotational speed due to high solidity ratios reduce the gains in
efficiency of rotors with more than four blades. The airfoils J9.513 and GO447
are found more efficient than the reference airfoil S832 at small velocities but
show inferior performance at speed ratios more than 7.

Keywords: Gottingen airfoils
Joukowski airfoils
Small wind turbine

BEM theory
Isolated areas

1 Introduction

Small wind turbines are usually expected to work within a wide range of wind speeds
with no pitching control. These characteristics make them suitable for generating
electricity for isolated areas, regions with adverse geographic conditions and regions
with dense forests and huge extensions of water bodies, as in the north and Amazon
areas of Brazil and neighboring Latin American countries. Small wind turbines must

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019

K. L. Cavalca and H. I. Weber (Eds.): IFToMM 2018, MMS 63, pp. 531–543, 2019.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-99272-3_37
532 T. Canale et al.

have airfoils, which allows self-start, operate and produce energy efficiently at low
wind speeds with small maintenance costs.
Kanya and Visser [1] investigated numerically the effects of airfoil section on the
design of small wind turbines and concluded that an airfoil with a high lift to drag ratio
operates better at a high tip speed ratios, while airfoils with low lift to drag ratio
perform better at a low tip speed ratios.
Since small wind turbines should be able to operate at small wind velocities, the
airfoils for the blades must have relatively good aerodynamic performance under low
Reynolds number conditions, Wata et al. [2].
The BEM theory for modeling the performance of a small rotor proved to be
computationally efficient and precise, Refan and Hangan [3]. Bavanish and Thya-
garajan [4] investigated the effect of the blade angle, tip speed ratio, the drag to lift ratio
and blade solidity on the power coefficient.
Singh and Ahmed [5] designed a new airfoil for a 2-bladed rotor to operate at low
Reynolds number and concluded that the new airfoil produced more electrical power at
the same wind velocity. Effects of the operational Reynolds number on wake expansion
and on thrust coefficient were also investigated experimentally by McTavish et al. [6].
Karthikeyan et al. [7] published a detailed review of various blade profiles and aerofoil
geometry for small wind turbines operating below Reynolds number of 500,000.
The choice of the airfoil and its chord and twist distributions affect the rotor
aerodynamic performance. Numerical studies to optimize the chord and twist distri-
butions were conducted using conventional blade element theory as in Hassanzadeh
et al. [8] and the lifting surface theory as in Shen et al. [9].
This paper investigates alternative airfoils, Gottingen and Joukowski, for small
wind turbines applications. The investigation includes aerodynamic analysis of the
effects of the airfoil section, the chord distribution and number of blades on the torque
and power coefficients. For this study, validated home-built numerical codes based on
the Blade Element Momentum (BEM) theory together with the Xfoil software are used
in the numerical calculations.

2 Calculation Procedure

The wind turbine rotor under study is of the horizontal type similar to that shown in
Fig. 1. The numerical treatment is initiated by choosing the Joukowski and the refer-
ence SERI airfoils which will be used for comparison, since to the best of our
knowledge there is no available information on the use of Joukowski airfoils for
windmill applications. The basic data of the SERI airfoil is available in Somers [10]
and adjustments due to variation of the Reynolds number will be determined by Xfoil
software. The geometry of the Joukowski airfoil can be calculated while the adjustment
and estimate of drag coefficient can be obtained by using Xfoil software. The aero-
dynamic characteristics such as C‘ , Cd and C‘ =Cd will be used in a home-built
numerical code based on the Blade Element Momentum (BEM) theory and Prandtl’s
root and tip corrections. The calculation procedure follows broadly Wood [11, 12],
Manwell, McGowan, and Rogers [13] and permits calculating the general dimensions
 Aerodynamic Evaluation of Gottingen and Joukowski Airfoils 533

of the rotor of the wind turbine, including its aerodynamic characteristics and annual
wind energy yield.

Fig. 1. General layout of the wind turbine rotor.

Several assumptions and simplifications were adopted in the calculations and are
listed below:
• radial velocity components are neglected;
• the transmission and generator mechanical efficiency were considered as 90%, a
value declared by most manufacturers;
• incompressible flow;
• the aerodynamic interference of the supporting structure is neglected;
• the first 10% of the blade span are for mechanical fixation of the blade and don’t
contribute to energy generation;
• uniform wind velocity over the rotor disc;
• rotor blades do not deform as a result of the axial force on the rotor; and,
• rotor blades do not suffer deformation due to aerodynamic loading.
To start the calculations, the external radius of the rotor of wind turbine can be
estimated from knowledge of the effective power P and the area A swept by the rotor,
A ¼ pR2 as below,
sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
2P
R¼ ð1Þ
q : p : V03 : CP : gm

Where q is the local air density, Vo is the wind speed, CP is the power coefficient
and gm is the mechanical efficiency (gm = 0.9, transmission and generator mechanical
losses). The power coefficient can be calculated from Eq. (2) as in Jansen and Smulders
[14],
534 T. Canale et al.

  2   
16 1:386 / Cd
CP ¼ 1 sen expð0:35k1;29 Þ  k ð2Þ
27 B 2 Cl

where B is the number of blades, k is the tip speed ratio, Cd =Cl is the ratio of the drag
coefficient to the lift coefficient and / is the flow angle calculated from Eq. (3). This
angle is determined by assuming a ¼ 1=3, a0 ¼ 0 and no rotor wake,
 
2 1
/ ¼ arctan ð3Þ
3 k

The blade length is subdivided into radial segments whose number was determined
by numerical tests. In the present study the number of segments along the blade was
varied from 20 to 100 segments in steps of 10. The final values of the power and torque
coefficients were compared for each number of segments. For values of 50 and more
segments the variations of the torque and power coefficients were below the preset
convergence limit of 10−4. Hence, the number of segments adopted in the present study
is 50 segments.
With the rotor blade divided into 50 radial segments each of length dr localized at
radius r, the values of a and a0 (referring to the axial and tangential interference factors)
were initially assumed to start the calculation procedure as shown in Fig. 2. The values
of the inflow angle /, the local chord c of the blade element at r and the solidity r are
calculated according to the procedure set up in the block diagram. By iteration, it is
possible to determine the axial interference factor a and the tangential interference
factor a0 for the blade element.
The calculated values of the interference factors a and a0 are compared with the
values obtained from the previous calculation step. If the differences are within the pre-
established limit (10−4) proceed to calculate the blade angle b, otherwise use the
present values of a and a0 , repeat the calculations until achieving convergence.
The blade angle b is calculated from the angle of attack and the inflow angle.
Using the converged values of the interference coefficients it is possible to calculate
the tangential and axial velocity components as well as the resultant velocity.
These values are different for each blade element as a result of the variation of the
tangential velocity and the interference factors. The tangential and axial forces on the
element are calculated based on the Blade Element Momentum Theory as in the block
diagram.
The losses at the blade tip and root are estimated by using Prandtl correction factor
in terms of the non-dimensional element position.
The net tangential and axial forces are determined by multiplying the respective
correction factor by the tangential and axial forces on the blade element. The contri-
bution of each blade element to the torque is determined by multiplying the respective
tangential force by its radial position measured from the center of rotation of the rotor.
The power generated by the rotor is the product of the total torque (which is the sum of
the elements individual contributions) times the rotor rotational speed. The power and
torque coefficients can be calculated from the above values.
 Aerodynamic Evaluation of Gottingen and Joukowski Airfoils 535

Fig. 2. Calculation procedure.

The above calculation procedure is used to build up the numerical code. The rotor
blade was divided into 50 radial segments as mentioned before. The values of the
interference factors were initially assumed to start the calculation procedure and by
using iteration scheme their values were recalculated until achieving the pre-established
convergence limit of 10−4. Under this condition the value of the blade angle b was
determined. With the determination of the value of b the calculations were continued to
determine the rest of the rotor parameters. This procedure was implemented in a PC to
calculate the proposed rotors and evaluate their aerodynamic characteristics as is shown
in the next section.
536 T. Canale et al.

3 Validation of the Numerical Code

To validate the method used for the calculation and the home-built numerical code we
used the experimental results of Hand et al. [15] and the numerical results of the same
rotor obtained from PHATAS software based on BEM theory, as reported by Lin-
denburg [16]. The rotor has two blades of 10 m in diameter and uses S809 airfoil
section extending from 1.257 m from the rotor axis to the tip of the blade. The chord is
linearly distributed along the blade length starting from 0.737 m at the root to 0.358 m
at the tip. The distribution of the blade angle b is nonlinear and changes from b = 20°
at the root to b = −1.775° at the tip. The parameters used in the simulations include the
rotational speed of 71.63 rpm, wind speed varying from 6 to 25 m/s and the corre-
sponding Reynolds number varying from 0.75  106 at 6 m/s until 1.1  106 at
25 m/s.
Since the rotational speed is constant the torque and power distribution curves will
have similar tendencies. Figure 3 shows the predicted torque curve compared with the
available experimental and numerical calculations due to Hand et al. [15] and Lin-
denburg [16], respectively. As can be seen our predicted results agree well with the
experiments in the velocity range from 6 m/s to 18 m/s and with the available
numerical results up to wind velocity of 14 m/s. The good agreement validates the
adopted method of calculation and the home-built numerical code. For high wind
speeds the flow losses at the tip are big and the Prandtl correction does not account
totally for theselosses. The performance of the blade depends on the aerodynamic
parameters of the airfoil section as Cl,Cd and/or Cl/Cd. as well as the span of the blade.
The fact that the blade is of finite length also affects its performance at the tip and root
regions where the induction effects are strong at the tip region.
The predictions from the BEM theory show good agreement with the experimental
and numerical results available in the literature as in Hernández and Crespo [17] and
more recently in Gur and Rosen [18]. Hernández and Crespo [17] compared the BEM
theory predictions with vortex theory and experimental results while Gur and Rosen
[18] compared the BEM theory results with lifting line and vortex theory predictions.
The authors found that the results from the BEM theory are as good as any of the
sophisticated computational methods beside being a lot simpler and more economic.

Fig. 3. Variation of the torque with wind speed: comparison between present predicted results
and available experimental results of Hand et al. [15] and numerical results of Lindenburg [16].
 Aerodynamic Evaluation of Gottingen and Joukowski Airfoils 537

4 Results and Discussion

4.1 Variation of the Chord Distribution Along the Blade
The blades of Wind turbine rotor can be divided into three regions: root, intermediate
and tip. The intermediate region contributes more to the total torque and power and
does not suffer induced losses as in the case of the tip and root regions. The span wise
chord distribution strongly affects the generation of lift and drag forces and conse-
quently the torque and power for all the velocity range. The change of chord length
changes the rotor solidity resulting in changing the aerodynamic efficiency of the rotor.
High solidity rotors works relatively well at low speeds but at high speeds the high
solidity provokes intense interference and reduce significantly the rotor efficiency.
Small wind turbines are usually installed in altitudes where the wind velocity normally
is not constant, hence they need a blade with geometry which facilitates startup and
allows electricity generation on a wide velocity range.
To investigate the effect of chord geometry on the aerodynamic performance of
wind turbine we considered three types of distribution: elliptic, linearly tapered and the
profile obtained from the calculation scheme. In the elliptic chord distribution, the root
chord was kept unchanged as obtained from the calculation scheme and zero length is
imposed at the tip and this increased the solidity at the intermediate region. In the case
of the linear distribution the values of the chord length at the root and tip were kept
unchanged as obtained from the calculation scheme (chord distribution based on uni-
form lift force distribution) and a linear variation was imposed between the two values.
This resulted in a solidity ratio less than the elliptic case but smaller than that obtained
from the calculation scheme.
For rotors of smaller diameter, the rotational speed necessary to achieve the
velocity range for maximum efficiency is more than that for rotors of bigger diameter
and hence the chord lengths are smaller leading to smaller Reynolds numbers and
consequently aerodynamically less efficient.
The airfoil S832 shows a lift coefficient less than those of Airfoils Gottingen and
Joukowski for Reynolds number Re = 1  105, hence needs increase of its solidity to
achieve the same efficiency as the other two rotors. The chord length of the S832 airfoil is
17% longer than the other two rotors for power of 10 kW. The chord distribution for the
SERI blade is shown in Fig. 4. The Gottingen and Joukowski rotors shows nearly the
same chord distribution with an average difference of 0.3% as can be seen in Figs. 5 and 6.

Fig. 4. Chord distribution along the blade with SERI airfoil.

538 T. Canale et al.

Fig. 5. Chord distribution along the blade with Joukowski airfoil.

Fig. 6. Chord distribution along the blade with Gottingen airfoil.

4.2 Effect of the Chord Distribution on the Torque Coefficient

The torque from the rotors is maximum within the velocity range when the combi-
nation of Cl of all the blade sections reaches its maximum value. The value of k where
the rotor reaches maximum value of toque depends on the solidity ratio and on the
polar diagram of the airfoils used in the blade (not presented here due to lack of space).
Figure 7 shows the effect of varying the chord distribution on the torque coefficient.
As can be seen the elliptic chord distribution is severely reduced for k < 3.5 This is due
to the fact that at these velocities the angle of attack is about 20° in the intermediate
region of the blade. In this region the value of Cl is reduced by about 27.5% in most of
the intermediate sections as can be seen from the Xfoil results (not included for
brevity). The linear distribution of chord shows a maximum value of torque coefficient
at k = 5 while distribution as obtained from the calculation scheme (chord distribution
based on uniform lift force distribution) shows a maximum value at k = 6. Figures 7, 8
and 9 show the effect of the chord distribution on the torque coefficient and as can be
seen the maximum values occur at k = 5.
 Aerodynamic Evaluation of Gottingen and Joukowski Airfoils 539

Fig. 7. Variation of the torque coefficient with the chord distribution of the SERI airfoil.

Fig. 8. Variation of the torque coefficient with the chord distribution of the Joukowski airfoil.

Fig. 9. Variation of the torque coefficient with the chord distribution of the Gottingen airfoil.

4.3 Effect of the Chord Distribution on the Power Coefficient

The maximum generated power for these three bladed rotors is obtained when k = 7–8
and for angles of attack a where Cl =Cd is maximum for chord distribution based on
uniform lift force distribution as in the calculation scheme, as can be seen in Figs. 10
and 11. The maximum torque is obtained at lower tip speed ratio than maximum power
due to the fact that the flow the angle / increases at small velocity ratios and this
increases the angle of attack and the lift coefficient of the airfoils of the blade.
The elliptic chord distribution shows a maximum value of power coefficient at
k ¼ 5 for the three airfoil sections. This is due to the fact that at small tip speed ratios
540 T. Canale et al.

the maximum generated power is smaller than that for the case of linear tapered blade
since most of the intermediate sections will produce reduced lift forces.
The rotor with the chord of the airfoil linearly tapered shows less power coefficient
about 3% less than that calculated by the calculation scheme assuming chord distri-
bution based on uniform lift force distribution. Big generated power at low velocities
facilitates startup of the rotor and allows more power generation at low wind velocities.
For k [ 6 the linear tapered chord provokes reduction of generated power at low
velocities.

Fig. 10. Variation of the power coefficient with the chord distribution of the Joukowski airfoil.

Fig. 11. Variation of the power coefficient with the chord distribution of the Gottingen airfoil.

4.4 Effect of the Number of Blades

The increase of the number of blades increases the solidity ratio and this increases the
rotor ability to convert kinetic energy to useful work. At the same time the high solidity
ratio increases the friction forces and limits the rotor efficient generation to lower
velocity values. Figure 12 shows that increasing the number of blades beyond 4 does
not show any noticeable increase in generated power, less than 1%. Hence the addi-
tional fabrication cost is not justified by the marginal increase in power and efficiency.
The use of small number of blades requires increase in the blade chord to increase the
generated torque and power due to the increase of the lift and drag of the airfoil section.
Figure 13 shows this effect in the case of Joukowski airfoil. Similar results are obtained
for Gottingen and SERI airfoils (not presented for lack of space).
 Aerodynamic Evaluation of Gottingen and Joukowski Airfoils 541

The variation of the torque coefficient between rotors using the same airfoils is big
until k ¼ 5 after which the tendencies are inverted and with the increase of the tip speed
and number of blades the torque coefficient decreases. Below tip speed ratio of 7.5 the
increase of the tip speed ratio and number of blades increases the torque and power
coefficients, as can be seen in Figs. 14 and 15. Results of the airfoils Gottingen and
SERI were omitted due to lack of space.

Fig. 12. Variation of generated power with the number of blades.

Fig. 13. Variation of the chord distribution of the Joukowski airfoil with the number of blades.

Fig. 14. Variation of the torque coefficient of the Joukowski airfoil with the number of blades.
542 T. Canale et al.

Fig. 15. Variation of the power coefficient of the Joukowski airfoil with the number of blades.

5 Conclusions

The elliptic chord distribution along the blade length increases the local solidity in the
intermediate region and this increases the aerodynamic efficiency at low speeds. At
high velocities the increase of the chord length at the intermediate region increases the
drag losses, makes the rotor less efficient, increases the mass of the blade and hence the
inertia of the rotor making it less susceptible to instantaneous changes in wind velocity.
The linear chord distribution produces geometry close to that of the elliptic dis-
tribution. This results in a solidity ratio which leads to aerodynamic efficiency close to
that of the elliptic chord distribution at small velocities. In comparison with the dis-
tribution obtained from the calculation scheme the linear distribution shows high
energy production with high efficiency at high velocities. The chord distribution
obtained from the calculation scheme produces constant distribution of the tangential
forces along the blade length which ensures high aerodynamic efficiency over a range
of velocities.
The increase of the number of blades increases the performance of the rotor
however it also increases the friction losses at high velocities and hence limits its
efficiency. It is observed from the present study that the increase of the number of
blades increases the torque at low velocities but not enough to increase the power
production. Rotors with two, three and four blades, the increase of both torque and
power is significant and occurs at different tip speed ratios as shown before. For rotors
with number of blades more than four the friction losses and limitations of the rota-
tional speed due to high solidity ratios reduce the gains in efficiency and makes the use
of more than four blades relatively unviable.
The performance of the airfoils J9.513 and GO447 is satisfactory and exceeds the
torque and power generated by the reference airfoil S832 at small velocities. The length
of the chord of the Joukowski and Gottingen blades are smaller than the SERI blade all
over the blade length and this reduces the mass of the blade and rotor. The better
performance at small velocities associated with the smaller rotor mass make the rotor
startup easier and quicker to reach maximum power and this makes them good can-
didates for small power wind turbines.

Acknowledgement. The second author wishes to thank the National Research Council, CNPq
for the PQ Research Grant.
 Aerodynamic Evaluation of Gottingen and Joukowski Airfoils 543

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