Abstract
Friction Stir Welding (FSW) is a solid-state welding process that usesIn this study, the aerodynamic coefficients of NERL S826 airfoil, used for small-scale wind turbines, are numerically computed. To account for high skewness at a high angle of attack, an unstructured mesh with two different turbulence models, namely The k- SSt and Spalert-Allmaras was implemented using the OpenFOAM-2206 tool. The simulation results are validated against wind tunnel experimental data obtained in the same flow conditions. Moreover, the results also are compared with other numerical simulations conducted for the same type of airfoil using an OpenFOAM-06 with a structured mesh. Additionally, blade element theory (BET) was considered in the comparison of the aerodynamic characteristics. It was found that the results for the drag coefficients achieved by OpenFOAM-2206 simulation for both turbulence models are in less agreement with the experiment in comparison with those obtained by …