Regression Models for Predicting Force Coefficients of Aerofoils

Renewable sources of energy are attractive and advantageous in a lot of different ways. Among the renewable energy sources, wind energy is the fastest growing type. Among wind energy converters, Vertical axis wind turbines (VAWTs) have received renewed interest in the past decade due to some of the advantages they possess over their horizontal axis counterparts. VAWTs have evolved into complex 3-D shapes. A key component in predicting the output of VAWTs through analytical studies is obtaining the values of lift and drag coefficients which is a function of shape of the aerofoil, ‘angle of attack’ of wind and Reynolds’s number of flow. Sandia National Laboratories have carried out extensive experiments on aerofoils for the Reynolds number in the range of those experienced by VAWTs. The volume of experimental data thus obtained is huge. The current paper discusses three Regression analysis models developed wherein lift and drag coefficients can be found out using simple formula without having to deal with the bulk of the data. Drag coefficients and Lift coefficients were being successfully estimated by regression models with R2 values as high as 0.98