Page | i

DESIGN, BULIDING AND

TESTING A VERTICAL
AXIS WIND TURBINE
by
Tan Chee Kwang
A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of
the requirements for the degree of
Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering
University of Newcastle
2012
Approved by ___________________________________________________
Project Supervisory Committee
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
Program Authorized
to Offer Degree _________________________________________________
Date 09-APR-2012

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UNIVERSITY OF NEWCASTLE
ABSTRACT
DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF VERTICAL AXIS WIND TURBINE
by Tan Chee Kwang
Project Supervisory Committee: Dr William Yeung

This report is continue from the previous report, which list out the objective and
introduction of the project.
Previously the report mainly focuses on the objective of the project and research
on various vertical axis wind turbine.
The first phase of the Part B, will be study on the aerodynamics of the vertical
axis wind turbine and how does the design parameter developed from it. After
acquire the parameter, the design of the wind turbine is proceed on. It consist of
mechanical design and fatigue analysis using computational FEA.


Page | ii

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This project was assisted and guided by Dr. William Yeung and some guidance by
Dr. Arezki. Appreciation to them for provide useful information and inject some
idea into the project, to make the project run smoothly.



Page | 1

TABLE OF CONTENTS
List of Figures ....................................................................................................................... ii
List of Tables ........................................................................................................................2
Chapter II: Literature Review ............................................................................................3
2.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................3
2.2 Aerodynamics of aerofoil ..............................................................................4
2.3 Geometry of Aerofoil...2
2.4 Bernoullis principle .......................................................................................5
2.5 Angle of attack vs Coefficient of Lift/Drag .............................................6
2.6 Single stream tube model ..............................................................................9
2.7 Aerodyanmics of Vertical Axis Wind Turbine.......11
2.8 Design Parameter of Vertical Axis Wind Turbine.14
Chapter III: Wind energy review.....15
3.1 Introduction ..15
3.2 Type of VAWT Selection.15
3.3 Scaling of VAWT....16
3.4 Input of Design Parameter..16
3.5 Shaft Design....18
3.6 Shaft Stress and Fatigue Analysis.19
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LIST OF FIGURES
Number Page
Fig 1 ................................................................................................................................1
Fig 2.1 ............................................................................................................................9
Fig 2.2 ............................................................................................................................9
Fig 2.3 ......................................................................................................................... 10
Fig 2.4 ......................................................................................................................... 11
Fig 2.5 ......................................................................................................................... 11
Fig 2.6 ......................................................................................................................... 12
Fig 2.7 ......................................................................................................................... 12
Fig 3.1 ......................................................................................................................... 14
Fig 3.2 . ........................................................................................................................ 15
Fig 3.3 ..16
Fig 3.4 ..17
Fig 3.5 ..17
Fig 3.6 ..19
Fig 3.7 ..20
Fig 3.8 ..20
Fig 3.9 ..21





















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Chapter 2: Literature Review

2.1 Introduction
To successfully design the vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT), it needs a basic understanding of the
aerodynamics between the blades and the wind. The performance of the VAWT is based on how
efficient it can extract the wind energy.

The fundamental principle of the extraction of wind energy is based on two force acting on the wind
turbine blade which is: lift force and drag force. These two forces determine the performance rating of
the wind turbine, and the shape and size of the blade also influence how much force will acting on the
blade.

Hence the relation between blade and the two forces is an important parameter, to understand better how
it will develop a steady state aerodynamics equation to predict the problem and performance of the wind
turbine.

So firstly is to understand the basic fundamental of the lift and drag force, then the aerodynamics of the
VAWT.


2.2 Geometry of aerofoil




In fig 2.1, show the geometry of aerofoil. It basically have following key feature:


The leading edge is the point at the front of the aerofoil that has maximum curvature;
The trailing edge is the point of maximum curvature at the rear of the aerofoil;
The chord length, or simply chord, c, is the length of the chord line and is the
characteristic dimension of the aerofoil;
Thechord line is a straight line between the leading and trailing edges of the aerofoil.




Page | 4

2.3 Aerodynamics of aerofoil
In aerodynamics, it is a study of force and moment acting on an object when a motion of air flows
through it. It classified into two categories which is external flow and internal flow. In this chapter, will
be focus mainly on external flow around an object. In an external flow, the object surrounded by motion
of air can be varies. But the aerofoil will be the only object that will be subjected to discuss.

An aerofoil is a shape of wings or blade, when it moved through a fluid a aerodynamics force will
produce. This aerodynamics force which is perpendicular to the motion of the fluid is classified into two
part which is lift force and drag force. How this two force produce, in the next point a series of
illustration and explanation will show how the aerofoil form this two important force that produce the
power in wind turbine.







In Fig 3.1 it show an air flow pass through a aerofoil. The stream line is a path line of the mass air
particle moving on the flow. The curvature of the stream line is caused by the shape of the aerofoil,
which force the stream line to curve around the surface of the geometry. And this curvature is a pressure
gradient of fluid act around the aerofoil, which can describe as a mathematical term,

=

2

.





Where is the wind speed and is the curvature of the stream line. This pressure gradient act as a
centripetal force of the air particle at the air atmosphere. When the air particle flow pass the aerofoil, the
pressure gradient occur at leading edge of the aerofoil which cause a pressure difference. This happen
due to the air particle is separate into upper part and lower part at the leading edge. As the distance
across the curved top surface is longer than the bottom surface. The air flow faster at the top surface than

Fig 2.2 Air flow pass through a air flow
Fig 2.3 High pressure and low pressure occur at the
leading edge of aerofoil
Low pressure
High pressure

Page | 5

the bottom surface in order the two side air particle to meet at the trailing edge at the same time. The
increase velocity of the air created low pressure region at the upper surface, at the lower surface which
had a lower velocity had higher pressure. Thus cause a pressure difference around the aerofoil. This
difference is stated by Bernoullis principle. Fig 3.2 explain the process.


2.4 Bernoullis principle
In fluid dynamics, Bernoullis principle stated that in a inviscid flow of the fluid, an increase speed of
the fluid will cause a decrease of pressure. Thus the principle explains why there is a pressure difference
occurs around the aerofoil.







As the pressure at the lower surface is greater than the upper surface, the air particle is tend to move
from high pressure to low pressure. This motion produce a lift force from the air particles. When the
speed of the air particles flow across the upper surface increase further, the lift force exceed the weight
of the aerofoil and push it upward. Fig 3.3 illustrate the motion of the air particle.

In order to maintain the constant speed, a propulsion force need to balance the another force which is
drag force. Thus all the above force acting on the aerofoil create a force diagram on fig 3.4 which shown
below.



Where L is define as lift force, D is drag force, and N and A is define as normal force and axial force
which is not required in this chapter. The is define as angle of attack which will explain later how does
it affect the motion and force acting on the aerofoil.
Low pressure
High pressure
Fig 2.4 Bernoullis principle of motion of air particle
Fig 3.5 Force diagram of the aerofoil
Page | 6


From the force diagram, the force of lift and drag is defined as:



=

1
2

2
(2-1)

=

1
2

2
(2-2)

Where

is lift coefficient,

is drag coefficient, is air density,

is the wind speed and is the

chord length of the aerofoil.

The equation above indicates the amount of the lift/drag force:

Chord length of aerofoil
This related to the shape and surface of the aerofoil. A symmetrical aerofoil which has
no camber has shorter chord length then an unsymmetrical aerofoil. A aerofoil with no
camber has rougher surface which create turbulence and decrease lift force and increase
drag force.

Wind speed
Increase of wind speed will also increase the lift force, but in contrast the drag force
also increases as while.

Lift/Drag coefficient
The coefficient is co-related to the angle of attack, which the valve is collected during
the test. When the angle of attack increase the lift force also increase. But when the
angle of attack increase too great, the turbulence will occur at the aerofoil and decrease
the lift force.

Air density
Density of the air plays an important role to the lift force of the aerofoil. The air near to
the earth surface is much more dense then the air at a higher altitude. Hence there will
be more lift force acting on the aerofoil. When the aerofoil at a higher altitude, the lift
force will also decrease.




2.5 Angle of attack VS Lift/Drag coefficient
When the angle of attack reached a certain angle, stall occur at the aerofoil and separation on the
upper surface take place. This cause a wake to form at the upper surface which reduce lift force and
increase drag force. This explain in fig 2.6.

Page | 7






An example of the lift/drag coefficient vs angle of attack relationship shown in fig 3.6 and fig
3.7 had tabulate by Sandia National Labs, which they use NACA 0015 aerofoil as an
experiment object. The result had shown that it fulfill the above explanation that lift force
decrease when angle of attack reached certain angles.

Fig 2.6 Stall and separation occur at aerofoil at the peak of
the lift coefficient
Page | 8







This had summaries well on the aerodynamics of the aerofoil. As it apply to the vertical axis
wind turbine, the lift force will cause the aerofoil move in circular motion instead of moving
forward. Since the aerofoils had fixed to the rotor shaft of the turbine. A simple model which is
calculate the power coefficient and various parameter will discuss in the next points.



Fig 2.7 Coefficient of lift vs angle of attack
Fig 2.8 Coefficient of drag vs angle of attack
Page | 9

2.6 Single Stream tube model

The performance of the wind turbine can be determine by a simple model which created by
Betz (1926), it generally used to determine the power of an idea turbine and the thrust force
acting on the turbine. This model is based on the linear momentum principle to predict the
ship propellers performance.

This model assumes that the control volume boundaries surface is a stream tube and the
turbine is a actuator disk which create a discontinuity of the pressure in the stream tube.
In fig 3.8, it show example of the single stream tube model.



This model has following assumption [1]:

Homogeneous, incompressible, steady state fluid flow;
No frictional drag;
An infinite number of blade;
Uniform thrust over the disk or rotor area;
An non-rotating wake;
The static pressure far upstream and far downstream of the rotor is equal to the
undisturbed ambient static pressure;
Applying the conservation of linear momentum to the control volume enclosing the whole system, it
is possible to find the net force on the contents of the control volume. That force is equal and opposite
to the thrust, T, which is the force of the wind on the wind turbine. From the conservation of linear
momentum for a one-dimensional, incompressible, time-invariant flow, the thrust is equal and
opposite to the change in momentum of air stream:

4 4 1 1
) ( ) ( AU U AU U T =
(2-3)


where is the air density, A is the cross sectional area, V is the air velocity and the subscripts indicate
values at numbered cross sections in Fig 3.9 .For steady-state flow, m AU AU =
4 1
) ( ) ( , where
m is the mass flow rate. Therefore:

) (
4 1
U U m T =
(2-4)


Fig 2.9 Single stream tube model [1]
Page | 10

The thrust is positive so the velocity behind the rotor, U
4
, is less than the free stream velocity, U
1
. No
work is done on either side of the turbine rotor. Thus the Bernoulli function can be used in the two
control volumes on either side of the actuator disk. In the stream tube upstream of the disk,

2
2 2
2
1 1
2
1
2
1
pv p pv p + = +
(2-5)


where it is assumed that the far upstream and far down-stream pressures are equal (p
1
=p
4
) and that the
velocity across the disk remains the same (U
2
=U
3
). The thrust can also be expressed as the net sum of
the forces on each side of the actuator disc as:

) (
3 2 2
P P A T =
(2-6)


Solving for ) (
3 2
p p using Equations (3) and (4) and substituting into (5), it is possible to obtain:

) (
2
1
2
4
2
1
2
U U A T =
(2-7)


Equating the thrust values from (2) and (6) and recognizing that the mass flow rate is A
2
V
2
,

2
4 1
2
U U
U
+
=
(2-8)


Thus, the wind velocity at the rotor plane, using this simple model, is the average of the upstream and
down-stream wind speeds. If one defines the axial induction factor a, as the fractional decrease in
wind velocity between the free stream and the rotor plane, then

1
2 1
U
U U
a

=
(2-9)

) 1 (
1 2
a U U =
(2-10)

) 2 1 (
1 4
a U U =
(2-11)


From (6), (9) and (10), the axial thrust on the disk is:

[ ] ) 1 ( 4
2
1
2
1
a a AU T =
(2-12)


The thrust on a wind turbine can be characterized by a non-dimensional thrust coefficient as:

) 1 ( 4

2
1
2
a a
Force Dynamics
Force Thrust
AU
T
C
T
= = =

(2-13)

The power, P, is equal to the thrust times the velocity at the discs:

) )( (
2
1
) (
2
1
4 1 4 1 2 2 2
2
4
2
1 2
U U U U U A U U U A P + = =
(2-14)


Page | 11

Substituting for U
2
and U
4
from equation (2) and (6) gives:
( ) [ ]
2 3
2
1 4
2
1
a a U A P =
(2-15)


The power on a wind turbine can be characterized by a non-dimensional power coefficient as:

) 1 ( 4


2
1
3
a a
Power Wind
Power Rotor
AU
P
C
P
= = =

(2-16)


The maximum C
P
is then determined by the derivative of the power coefficient with respect to a and
setting equal to zero yielding
3
1
= a . Thus,

593 . 0
27
16
max ,
= =
P
C
(2-17)


For this case, the flow through the disc corresponds to a stream tube with an upstream cross-sectional
area of 2=3 the disc area that expands to twice the disc area downstream. This result indicates that, if
an ideal rotor were designed and operated such that the wind speeds at the rotor were 2=3 of the free
stream wind speed, then it would be operating at the point of maximum power production.
Furthermore, given the basic laws of physics, this is the maximum power possible.

The Betz limit, C
P,max
=16/27, is the maximum theoretically possible rotor power coefficient. In
practice, three effects lead to a decrease in the maximum achievable power coefficient:

rotation of the wake behind the rotor;
finite number of blades and associated tip losses;
non-zero aerodynamic drag

2.7 Aerodynamics of Vertical Axis Wind Turbine
In VAWT, the analysis of the stream tube model has been a established technique to predict the
performance of the VAWT. Although it can be complex as the flow velocity is not constant between
upstream and downstream.

An illustration of the VAWT of the top view is shown below. In this diagram, the wind flow from up to
down, and the turbine is rotating in counter-clockwise direction. As can be seen, a component due to
rotation is tangential to the circle of rotation, and thus parallel to the chord line of the aerofoil. One
component of the wind also acts tangentially. Another wind component is normal to the circle, and so
perpendicular to the aerofoil. An induction factor, a , accounts for the deceleration in the wind as it
passes through the rotor.

The relative velocity ,
R
V can be obtain from the cordial velocity component and the normal velocity
component by Pythagoras Theorem as follows:


( ) ( )
2 2
cos sin R V V V
a a R
+ + =
(2-18)

Page | 12

























where
a
V is the axial induction flow ( ( ) a V

1 ) through the rotor, is the rotational velocity, R is

the radius of the turbine, is the angle of attack, and is the azimuth angle.

Normalizing the relative velocity by using free stream velocity,

V can obtain as follow,

2 2
cos sin

+ +

=

R
V
V
V
V
V
V
a a R

(2-19)


Referring to the previous point where
a
V can be express as ( ) a V

1 , the expression can be as follow,

( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
2 2
cos 1 sin 1 + + =

a a
V
V
R
(2-20)


where is the tip-speed ratio of the wind turbine.

The angle of attack can be obtain as follow,

R V
V
a
a

+
=
cos
sin
tan
(2-21)


by non-dimensionalizing the equation,

Fig 2.10 Aerodynamics of VAWT [2]
Page | 13

+
=
V
R
V
V
V
V
a
a

cos
sin
tan
(2-22)


( )
( )

+

=

cos 1
sin 1
tan
1
a
a
(2-23)


The normal and tangential coefficient can be expressed as follow,

sin cos
D L n
C C C + =
(2-24)

cos sin
D L t
C C C =
(2-25)


where
L
C is the lift coefficient and,
D
C is the drag coefficient.

The torque on one single blade can be express as,

( )( ) cos sin
2
1
2
D L R
C C hc R V T =
(2-26)


where h is height of the blade and c is the chord length of the blade.

The power produced by the rotor is found, as usual, from the product of the average torque and the
rotational speed. The torque varies with angular position, so the expression for power is:

2
0
2
1
Qd P
(2-27)


where Qis the total torque of turbine in B blade, that express as,

BT Q =
(2-28)


Hence the average power, P over one revolution can be expressed as,

( )

d C C V
Bc
Rh P
D L R
cos sin
2
1
2
2
0
2
=

(2-29)


Hence the power coefficient over the wind pass through the projected area of the turbine in 2Rh is
define as,

Power Wind
Power Rotor
RhV
P
C
P


2
2
1
2
= =

(2-30)

d
C
C
C
V
V
R
Bc
C
L
D
L
R
P

=


tan
1 sin
4
2
0
2

(2-31)
Page | 14


2.8 Design Parameter of Vertical Axis Wind Turbine
From the above power coefficient, the design parameter that affect the performance of the VAWT is
defined which is:

Rotor Solidity
The rotor solidity,
R
Bc

2
= is defined as the developed surface area of all blade
divided by the swept area and represent as one of the key parameter. For minimum cost,
the solidity should be keep as low as possible.

For maximum capture of the wind energy, the blade chord should be varying from
minimum from the mid-rotor to maximum at the ground.

Tip-Speed Ratio
The tip-speed ratio,

=
V
R
is defined as speed factor that controlled by the wind
regime, rotor solidity and power rating. It is possible to extract more energy by reduce
the blade area and increase the rotor speed. But this will cause the blade cannot
withstand the aerodynamics force and inertia load.

Aerodynamics Force and Angle of Attack
The aerodynamics force which is lift coefficient,
L
C , drag coefficient,
D
C , and angle of
attack, . All this factor is related to the shape and size of the blade and how does
position at the turbine.

Rotor Aspect Ratio
This ratio is defined by the ratio of height to diameter of the turbine. If the aspect ratio
is increased, the rotor speed also increased to maintain the same relative wind speed and
tip-speed ratio.
The optimum aspect ratio is varying between 1.3 to 1.5, with a few exception.

Above factor conclude the important design parameter to proceed on to the prototype design.
Next chapter will be discussing on the prototype design phase.













Page | 15

Chapter 3: Mechanical Design And Selection
3.1 Introduction
After acquire the design parameter, the design of the prototype will based on this factors.
Firstly select what type of VAWT is the most priority in this phase, as it will determine what
type of blade will using.

Next will be scaling the size of the turbine, which will be one of the priorities in the design.
Based on the size selected, the parameter can be input in prototype design. Hence, it can
conclude and finalize the wind turbine design.


3.2 Type of VAWT Selection
On the previous report, it mention on various type of VAWT. Considering the simplicity and
cost factor, the Lenz II wind turbine will be the best choice among all.





This VAWT is the easiest to fabricate among various type of wind turbine. Especially the
blade, it can easily make without any complicated process compare to NACA type aerofoil
which required CNC machining. All this process required a lot of funds to injected to the
project, which will be over the budget that given to this project.

Hence, the blade design needs to be as simple as possible.










Fig 3.1 Lenz II Wind Turbine [3]
Page | 16

3.3 Scaling of VAWT
Next will be scaling of the wind turbine which decides the size of the turbine and blades. The
size of the turbine is based on the wind tunnel open section size. After measured the open
section of the wind tunnel, it is measure at 0.5m x 0.5m.

With this dimension form the wind tunnel, the size of the turbine can be finalize.


3.4 Input of Design Parameter
With all the information above had acquired, it can input into the design parameter and set the
specification of the turbine.

Sweep Area and Height of the Turbine
Firstly is the sweep diameter and height of the turbine, it based on the measurement of
the wind tunnel open section. Hence the diameter will be turbine will 0.5m wide and the
height will be 0.5m. The area will be 0.25m
2
.

Blade Size and Properties
The chord length and width of the blade will be according to the formula that given in
Lenz blade website which is,

m
D
nce Circumfere Chord Wing
m
Diameter Sweep Width Wing
141 . 0
09 . 0 ) 5 . 0 (
09 . 0
09 . 0
07 . 0
14 . 0 5 . 0
14 . 0
=
=
=
=
=
=
=

But for the purpose of convenience, the dimension is modified for fabricator to easily
process the fabrication. Hence the blade width will be 0.75m and chord length will be
0.170m. Below illustrate the dimension of the blade.



Page | 17

Rotor Solidity and Number of Blade
Since the chord length and the sweep diameter had acquired in previous point, the
number of blade will be next factor need to deal with. Generally the VAWT is using
three blades for among all the turbine in the commercial market. But for purpose of
increase the torque of the turbine, the number of blades will be using 4.

Hence the rotor solidity can be calculate as follow,

43 . 0
25 . 0 2
17 . 0 4
2
=

=
=

R
Bc


The above value can be considered as low solidity.


Tip-Speed Ratio
The tip-speed ratio consists of rotor speed and wind speed generated by the wind
tunnel. But currently the rotor speed is unknown, hence it need to estimate a value. To
maximize the rotor speed that turbine can be withstand, 1800 rpm or 188.5 rad/s will be
the estimated speed. The maximum wind speed that a wind tunnel can produce will be
20 m/s.

The above value will tabulate the tip-speed ratio as follow,

36 . 2
20
25 . 0 5 . 188
=

=
=

V
R

Rotor Aspect Ratio
Since the height and the sweep diameter had been defined, the rotor aspect ratio can be
tabulate as follow:

1
25 . 0 2
5 . 0
2
=

=
=
R
h
Ratio Aspect Rotor





Page | 18

3.5 Shaft Design
The shaft of the turbine is one of the most important elements in the wind turbine. It is responsible for
the wind turbine structure and transmits the power to the energy converter. To select the suitable size for
the turbine that can withstand the load of the blade and can fit into the commercial bearing in the market,
the size will be 7/8 UNC or 22.225mm diameter.

The material used on the shaft will be mild steel as it will be cheaper than and as strong as stainless
steel. As the major factor for design the shaft had defined, the overall shaft design is illustrated below
with properties table:






Material Mild Steel ASTM A36
Density of Material 7848 kg/m
3
Mass 3.92 kg









Page | 19

3.6 Shaft Stress and Fatigue Calculation
The fatigue analysis general will be using von mises theorem, as it is the most practical fatigue theorem
to use among the industry. But for the simplicity of the process, the calculation will be based on the
computational FEA. The FEA software will be using Pro/Engineer Mechanica, this software will be
based on von mises criterion to tabulate the result.

Before starting of the FEA, it needs the force acting on the shaft which is the load of the blades. The
material of the blade will be using aluminium, which the mass of each blade is 965g. After acquire the
force, the input of the force diagram and result is illustrated below,





























From the above result, it show that the maximum stress occur on the shaft is 1.814 MPa, which is lower
than the yield strength of the mild steel, 250MPa. Hence is indicate that the shaft does not failure occur
when it is in static position.












F
F
F
F
F F
F
F
Gravity Force
Maximum
Stress
Page | 20

REFERENCES

[1] J .G.McGowon Wind Energy Explain: Theory,Design, and Application . Wiley (2009)


[2] Ion Paraschivoiu. Wind Turbine Design With Emphasis on Darrieus Concept. Presses
internationales Polytechnique, 2002


[3] http://www.windstuffnow.com/main/vawt.htm