Fluid structure interaction analysis of the operating Savonius wind turbine

In the last few decades the vertical axis wind turbines (VAWTs) gains higher interest among researchers worldwide. This is mainly connected with inherent advantages over horizontal axis wind turbines (HAWTs): lower noise emission, higher cut off wind speed, lower minimal operational wind speed, extremely low susceptibility on the turbulence level of the wind, omnidirectionality, more compact construction. However, the VAWT constructions have also drawbacks comparing to HAWTs, mainly the lower efficiency and issues arising due to material strength. The paper aims to present advanced two-way Fluid Structure Interaction (FSI) model of the Savonius type VAWT. The simulations were carried out using the commercial ANSYS Fluent and ANSYS Mechanical software. The developed methodology couples Unsteady Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes Equations (URANS) methodology coupled with dynamic mesh method and two-way FSI to simulate operation of the analysed VAWT. The carried out calculations provide wide information on the instantaneous turbine operation described by the value of turbine momentum and predicted deformations and strains in turbine structure. Moreover, it allowed us to analyse influence of the structure deformation on the performance of the wind turbine.