Application of Kawada–Hardin helical vortex model for NREL phase VI wind turbine performance prediction

The analysis of horizontal axis wind turbines has been subject to investigation to improve their efficiency. However, the rotor performance evaluation has been a challenge since each method has its limitations. CFD approach has shown itself robust and able to provide the flow behavior throughout the domain but with a significant computational effort. Blade element-momentum theory is light, and fast but has issues due to several approximations and simplifications. This paper proposes the application of Kawada–Hardin’s helical vortex model as an alternative to power curve estimation. It was applied for NREL phase VI rotor experiments in NASA/AMES wind tunnel and compared with CFD RANS k– ω SST turbulence model. The predicted power generation and blade load distribution were compared with experimental data. The present method was more accurate and faster at the design point and performed at the same level of precision for all the freestream velocity range. The method could predict power with good agreement with the experiment, with errors in between 1.0 and + 15%.