DOI: https://doi.org/10.61435/ijred.2025.61437

Enhancement of aerodynamic performance of H-Darrieus rotor using wraparound fairing system: A 2D CFD study

1Physics Department, Thermodynamics and Energy Research Team, Energy Research Centre, Faculty of Science, Mohammed V University, 4 Avenue Ibn Batouta, Address, BP 1014, Rabat 10000, Morocco

2Physics Department, Team of Modeling and Simulation in Mechanics and Energetics (MSME), Faculty of Science, Mohammed V University, 4 Avenue Ibn Batouta Address, BP 1014, Rabat 10000, Morocco

Received: 3 Jun 2025; Revised: 29 Jul 2025; Accepted: 15 Aug 2025; Available online: 25 Aug 2025; Published: 1 Sep 2025.
Editor(s): H Hadiyanto
Open Access Copyright (c) 2025 The Author(s). Published by Centre of Biomass and Renewable Energy (CBIORE)
Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Abstract

The aim of this article is to improve the aerodynamic performance of a three-bladed vertical axis H-Darrieus wind turbine, which is equipped with different types of fairings. To this end, a 2D CFD simulation combined with calculations based on the resolution of the Steady Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes equations (RANS) and the SST  turbulence model was used. In addition, the multiple reference frame (MRF) method was applied for the simulation. The simulation results show that the power coefficient () reaches maximum values equal to 0.561, 0.580 and 0.607 for the NACA2412, Eppler 423 and DAE-11 profiles respectively, for a chord length C = 3 and a tip speed ratio (TSR) equal to 2.5. Then, the torque coefficient () reaches the highest value of  = 0.354 at  = 20° for the DAE-11 fairing, which means that this profile performs better, particularly at higher angles of attack. These results confirm that the DAE-11 fairing surpassed the Eppler 423 and NACA2412 profiles. Unstable vortex field formation has been observed between the turbine and the fairing, at the leading and trailing edges, for both low and high fairing chord lengths. This phenomenon can increase torque and disrupt flow direction at low velocity. On the other hand, when the chord length reaches a medium value, a more stable flow zone appears. It can therefore be concluded that the addition of a fairing to the H-Darrieus rotor with a suitable chord length improves the turbine aerodynamic performance, particularly in terms of flow stabilization and reduction of the stagnation zone.

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Keywords: CFD; H-Darrieus; MRF; Power coefficient; Torque coefficient; Fairing; Performance assessment; NACA0018

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Section: Original Research Article
Language : EN
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