Dynamic analysis of a vertical axis wind turbine using a new windload estimation technique

A new aerodynamic model for obtaining the performance characteristics of a vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) developed by the authors has been used to obtain estimates of aerodynamic loading, which are subsequently used for the dynamic analysis of a VAWT. The model incorporates gyroscopic effects, structural damping and also power generation through an induction or synchronous-type generator. A computer code written in MS-DOS FORTRAN has been developed for the dynamic analysis of a vertical axis wind turbine, and has been implemented on an IBM compatible 386 AT, for studying the dynamic characteristics of a VAWT. The results obtained from this analysis compare fairly well with other published theoretical and experimental data, and demonstrate that the incorporation of the new wind loading estimation model leads to a definite qualitative improvement in the theoretical predictions of the dynamic characteristics of vertical axis wind turbines. (C) 1997 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.