imulation of the flow around a Vertical Axis Wind Turbine : LS-DYNA v980

The future 980 version of LS-DYNA® will include Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) solvers. The main objective of these new solvers will be to perform fluid structure interactions by directly solving the Navier-Stokes equations and by using any LS-DYNA® Lagrangian model for the solid part. In the process of evaluating the new possibilities offered by these new solvers, in particular concerning fluid structure interaction, AS+ has worked in partnership with both industrial and academic clients on the case of a vertical axe wind turbine which was used in the French around the world boat race “Vendée Globe”. The final objective of these simulations is to test various turbine shapes and airfoils in order to determine which one would offer the best aerodynamic behavior without any compromise to its structural behavior. Tests were therefore first conducted on static or oscillating airfoils. Then, 2D simulations of various turbine shapes were performed before aiming for the complete 3D simulation of the problem. This paper aims to highlight the main features of the new incompressible solver by presenting the results obtained on one of the first industrial cases that use the new v980 version.