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Vawt , additional DOF for rotor blades
Hi all .
Is it possible to control the overall blade geometry to keep the blade cord on a constant heading in relation to the wind direction?
I’m not sure if this is built in or if I need to bodge something like making the whole blade an active component, or is there a joint I can control with a turbine controller?
Hi,
when setting up a structural model of a VAWT “pitch actuator nodes” are added automatically. It is then possible to pitch the blades dynamically in two ways:
- Use a simulation input file to prescibe how the blade pitch angle changes as a function of time.
- Use the controller interface to load a controller library that changes the pitch angle based on the turbine operational parameters.
When you are simulating only an aerodynamic definition of a VAWT (without a structural model) controller cannot be loaded and you can only use option 1.
BR,
David
Thanks very much for the concise reply. I’ll try those methods
Quote from David on 24. September 2022, 13:43Hi,
when setting up a structural model of a VAWT “pitch actuator nodes” are added automatically. It is then possible to pitch the blades dynamically in two ways:
- Use a simulation input file to prescibe how the blade pitch angle changes as a function of time.
- Use the controller interface to load a controller library that changes the pitch angle based on the turbine operational parameters.
When you are simulating only an aerodynamic definition of a VAWT (without a structural model) controller cannot be loaded and you can only use option 1.
BR,
David
Could you upload such a simulation input file, because the link you refer to, does not appear in qblade (latest), since a VAWT doe not have a uniform pitching mechanism (unless it is only that that can be achieved with qblade), each blade should have it’s own optimum pitching. Also we don’t see those pitch actuator nodes, nor their position, mentioned?
Thx
Johan
Hi Johan,
when setting up a structural model for a VAWT, pitch nodes are automatically added at all interconnections between blades and struts. When a pitch signal is then transmitted (through a controller or a simulation input file) all pitch nodes that belong to the adressed blade are rotated to pitch the blade around its axis. This really only makes sense for straight blades, but in principal also works for curved blades. So you could try out this feature with the SANDIA 34m template thats available in the download section.
BR,
David
Dear Dr. David,
I still have no idea how to make such a simulation input file in the Turbine Simulation Module for creating an active blade pitching VAWT simulation. Can you give me a start file that I can than addapt to my turbine?
Next to that, I cannot open the file ‘SANDIA34_Main.str’ as this is not supported by my installed apps. Which app do you use to open and edit this kind of files.
Kind regards,
Brecht Timmerman
Hi Brecht,
you can search the documentation for the topics your interested in. More or less each parameter from the simulation setup is explained there, check this search:
https://docs.qblade.org/search.html?q=%22simulation+input+file%22&check_keywords=yes&area=default
You will also find an example for a simulation input file in the “Turbine Behavior” section.
Regarding the strutcural model file: This file cannot be loaded directly but has to be openend from within a turbine definition, check this part of the documentation:
https://docs.qblade.org/src/user/turbine/structure.html
BR,
David
Dear Dr. David, dear all,
Do you know software that calculates the optimal pitch angle for a variable azimuthal angle of the blades for a vertical axis wind turbine?
Kind regards,
Brecht
Hi Brecht,
Im not aware of such a software and would guess that QBlade is as close as it gets to such a tool. Just try experimenting with different pitch curves (of course taking into account the azimuthal AoA distribution of your design) until you get a good result…
BR,
David
Oke, thanks!
