Blade shape optimization of Savonius wind turbine using radial based function model and marine predator algorithm

• Published in: Energy reports Vol. 8; pp. 12366 - 12378
• Main Authors: Xia, Huaijie, Zhang, Song, Jia, Rongyuan, Qiu, Huadong, Xu, Shuhui
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.11.2022; Elsevier
• Subjects: Bezier curve; Blade optimization; CFD; Latin hypercube sampling; Marine predator algorithm; Radial basis function model; Savonius turbine; CFD; Savonius turbine; Latin hypercube sampling; Bezier curve; Marine predator algorithm; Radial basis function model; Blade optimization
• ISSN: 2352-4847; 2352-4847
• DOI: 10.1016/j.egyr.2022.09.062

In order to overcome the problems of low efficiency and poor results of classical optimization methods, an efficient, intelligent, and reliable method for optimizing the shape of the blades of the Savonius wind turbine is proposed in this paper. Firstly, the shape of the blade is parameterized by the third-order Bezier curve, and then a certain number of design schemes in the design space are obtained by the Latin hypercube sampling method and the torque coefficient of each design scheme is evaluated based on CFD simulation, and next a radial basis function surrogate model is constructed based on these design schemes and their torque coefficients, and finally the optimal design scheme is obtained by solving the surrogate model using the marine predator algorithm, and is verified using the CFD simulation. The results show that when the tip speed ratio is 1, the average torque coefficient of the optimized blade obtained by the above method is about 7% higher than that of the classical semicircular blade, and under other tip speed ratios, the average torque coefficients of the optimized blade is also significantly higher than that of the classical blade. Furthermore, compared with the classical semicircular blade, about 11% materials can be saved in the manufacturing of the optimized blade. •The shape of the blade is described using the 3rd-order Bezier curve.•The relationship between the shape and performance is fitted by the RBF model.•The optimal blade is got based on marine predators algorithm and the RBF model.•The performance of the optimized blade is improved by about 7% at TSR = 1.