Visualization and PIV measurement of unsteady flow around a darrieus wind turbine in dynamic stall

Flow around a Darrieus wind turbine in dynamic stall is studied by flow visualization and PIV (particle image velocimeter) measurement in a rotating frame of reference, which allows the successive observation of the dynamic stall over the blade. The qualitative features of the flow field in dynamic stall observed by the flow visualization, such as the formation and shedding of the stall vortices, are quantitatively reproduced in the instantaneous velocity distributions near the blade by using PIV. These results indicate that two pairs of stall vortices are generated from the blade during one rotation of the blade and that the size and the generating blade angle of the stall vortices are enlarged as the tip-speed ratio decreases. These stall vortices are produced by the in-flow motion from the outer surface to the inner surface through the trailing edge of the blade and the flow separation over the inner surface of the blade. (author)