Probabilistic Design of Airfoils for Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine

This work follows the wind energy airfoil probabilistic design approach that allows to derive a probability density function which gives an estimation of how much the angle of attack is likely to fluctuate, according to the considered non-uniform perturbations in the wind speed. Several combinations of the perturbation sources are possible in practice as well as several extents of each perturbation source. A probabilistic design space mapping will be carried out to evaluate what wind situations are possible in practice and how much each specific wind situation is likely to occur. The proposed model will also be validated by employing the aero-elastic simulation tool: FAST. Finally, the probabilistic approach will be used to design airfoils and in particular it will be used to optimize the airfoil aerodynamic performance over the operational range of angles of attack. The airfoil optimization will be performed with the genetic multi-objective optimization tool: Optiflow, for different relative thicknesses as well as using different cost functions.Electrical Engineering | Sustainable Energy Technolog