Design, implementation, and power estimation of a lab-scale flapping-type turbine

Abstract

A lab-scale flapping-type turbine with a semi-passive activation mode has been designed and implemented. A non-linear dynamic model, developed in our previous work, is validated by a series of experiments along with computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. Previously, the dynamic model was used only to estimate the dynamic response of a flapping-type turbine. In this work, the applicability of the dynamic model is extended to estimate the hydrodynamic forces, extracted power, and efficiency. It was demonstrated from a comparison of the CFD results and measured values that the dynamic model based on a quasi-steady approach estimates the aforementioned performance parameters of measurements well in cases particularly with a low effective angle of attack, thus demonstrating the usefulness of the dynamic model for a flapping-type turbine at an early stage.