This chapter describes the method of airfoil optimization considering boundary layer for aerodynamic efficiency increment. The advantages of laminar boundary layer expansion in airfoil of horizontal axis wind turbine (HAWT) blades are presented as well. The genetic algorithm (GA) optimization interfaced with the flow solver XFOIL was used with multi-objective function. The power performance of turbine with optimized airfoil was calculated by using blade element method (BEM) in software QBlade. The CFD simulation from OpenFOAM® with Spalart-Allmaras turbulence model showed the visualized airflow. The optimized airfoil shows enlarged laminar boundary layer region in all flow regime with a higher aerodynamic efficiency and the increased gliding ratio (GR). The power velocity and annual energy production (AEP) curves show the performance improvement of wind turbine with the optimized airfoil. The boundary layer thickness and skin-friction coefficient values support the decreased drag of the optimized airfoil. The smaller laminar separation bubbles and reduced stall regime of CFD simulations illustrate the desirable aerodynamics of the resulted airfoil.
Part of the book: Flight Physics