Enhancing the performance of a modified Savonius rotor design

Abstract

The Savonius rotor represents a category of vertical-axis wind turbines designed to transform wind energy into mechanical power. This study introduces a new blade configuration for the Savonius rotor to improve its aerodynamic efficiency. The redesigned rotor was assessed using two-dimensional computational fluid dynamics simulations performed in ANSYS Fluent. Turbulence was modeled using the shear stress transport k–ω model, and unsteady simulations included a sliding mesh technique to accurately replicate the rotor's rotational behavior. To ensure model accuracy, simulation outcomes were benchmarked against experimental findings from existing literature. A parametric investigation was conducted by altering critical geometric features, such as the blade's curvature and geometry modification angle, to pinpoint the most effective design. Findings revealed that all proposed configurations showed improved power coefficients over the standard design. The results showed that minimizing the geometry modification angle enhances the power coefficient. Additionally, reducing the blade's curvature was found to increase the power coefficient. Notably, configuration 7 achieved a 14.9% increase in power coefficient at a tip-speed ratio of 1.1. These findings highlight the promise of geometric refinement as a method to enhance the efficiency of Savonius rotors.