Comparative Aerodynamic Analysis and Parallel Performance of 2D CFD Simulations of a VAWT Using Sliding Mesh Interface Method

Abstract

With rapid advancements in computer hardware and numerical modeling methods, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) has gained prominence in simulating complex flows. As parallel computation becomes an industry standard, the computational efficiency of simulations has become critical. The flow around a Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT), characterized by complex dynamics and challenging rotating geometry, serves as an intriguing case for CFD studies. This study employs the open-source CFD solvers SU2 and OpenFOAM to simulate the incompressible, unsteady, and turbulent flow around an H-type Darrieus VAWT in two dimensions. Spatial and temporal discretization parameters are examined to balance computational cost and accuracy, revealing notable effects on power predictions. Simulations conducted under identical conditions allow for a comparison of the predictions and parallel performances of SU2 and OpenFOAM across three distinct tip speed ratios (TSRs). The findings show that discretization parameters behave differently at various TSRs. While power predictions from SU2 and OpenFOAM generally align with experimental data and with each other, discrepancies arise at lower TSRs, with thrust predictions showing better consistency. Although OpenFOAM provides a faster solution across all parallel configurations, SU2 demonstrates superior parallel scalability, achieving higher speedup and efficiency.