Effect of velocity shear on the performance and structural response of a small-scale horizontal axis tidal turbine

The focus of this paper is to investigate the effect of velocity shear on the performance and structural response of a turbine using ANSYS Workbench. CFD simulations are performed for a small-scale threebladed horizontal axis turbine in a uniform and velocity shear environment. The turbine diameter is 0.28 m and operates in a free stream velocity of 0.5 m/s. The steady state and transient CFD analysis results are validated with published data. Results for the turbine performance coefficients from the steady state and transient CFD analysis differed by 3% and 1.2%, respectively, from the previously published data. One-way FSI analysis is carried out in ANSYS Workbench by connecting ANSYS CFX and ANSYS static structural analysis systems to evaluate the effect of velocity shear on blades’ equivalent stress and deformation. For the FSI analysis, the steady state solution data are transferred and mapped at FEA mesh locations using ANSYS CFD-Post mapping. Results from the FSI analysis show that deformation of the turbine blades increases in a velocity shear environment compared to uniform flow.