Impact of Blade Icing on Aerodynamic and Aeroacoustic Performance of a Vertical Axis Wind Turbine: Full-Scale IDDES Simulation

This study aims to numerically investigate the effect of blade icing on the aerodynamic and aeroacoustic performance of an H-Darrieus type Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT). The advanced Improved Delayed Detached Eddy Simulation (IDDES) turbulence model is employed to simulate transient flow, while the Ffowcs Williams–Hawkings (FW-H) acoustic analogy is used to predict far-field noise propagation. The turbine model consists of three blades with an NACA ۰۰۱۸ airfoil profile and a diameter of ۰.۲ m, operating under a wind speed of ۲۱.۲۸ m/s and a rotational speed of ۸۰۰ rpm. The full three-dimensional simulation captures the complete flow interactions along the entire blade span. The results indicate that ice formation on the blade leading edge, despite causing a slight increase in power output due to the augmented chord length, leads to a reduction in the overall Sound Pressure Level (SPL), particularly at low frequencies (below ۲۰ Hz). Flow structure analysis using the Q-criterion reveals that icing breaks down coherent, large-scale vortices into smaller, more fragmented structures, thereby mitigating low-frequency noise generation. Furthermore, static pressure contours confirm weakened flow separation and vortex shedding intensity for iced blades. These findings suggest that, counterintuitively, blade icing can unexpectedly improve certain aspects of the turbine's aeroacoustic performance, offering novel insights for the design of low-noise urban wind turbines.

کلیدواژه ها:

Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT) ، Aeroacoustics ، Blade Icing ، Vortex Shedding