History of Aerodynamic Modelling

Abstract

Windmills are around us for more than 1000 years, no doubt that many technicians, engineers, and scientists have paid attention to design, build, and improve these fantastic machines that made life easier and enabled the technical development of society to a next level of well-being. The next section provides the major keywords identified in this contribution followed by an introduction section in which the research area of aerodynamic modelling of wind turbines is addressed shortly, from initial historic experimental research to the introduction of the work of some famous scientists in fluid mechanics.

The next section “Aerodynamic Modelling of Wind Turbines, an Exciting Story of Its Development and Technology” is the body of the chapter. This section is subdivided into seven subsections which describe the development of wind turbine aerodynamics in a chronological sequence starting with the historic development of windmills and the first aerodynamic theories for design and performance analysis of wind turbines. A separate subsection is dedicated to the emergence of lift-driven vertical axis wind turbines, and then two more subsections are dedicated to typical design issues such as the choice of the number of blades and the design and application of dedicated aerfoils for wind turbine application. The next section is dedicated to operational conditions that occur quite often in wind turbine operation, such as operation under yawed inflow conditions and the operation of wind turbine in wind farms. Section “Aerodynamic Modelling of Wind Turbines, an Exciting Story of Its Development and Technology” is concluded with a subsection on wind turbine augmentation principles and devices.

Section “Cross-References” contains the cross-references to other contribution of the handbook, and the final section, Section “References”, provides the references used throughout this contribution.