Influence of Blade Number on the Performance of a Vertical Axis Wind Turbine
Zeeshan A. RANA, Chris S. BANG, Mouhammad El HASSAN, Enio P. B. FILHO
Abstract. This research focuses on the aerodynamic performance of a Farrah Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT), where the influence of the number of blades and the turbulence models is investigated for efficient energy conversion. A thorough grid convergence analysis has been performed where the k–ω SST turbulence model demonstrated better accuracy as compared to the Transition SST model for this case. In terms of VAWT configuration, a comparison of 4, 6 and 8 blade configurations are presented for identical freestream conditions which demonstrated a distinct advantage for the 8-blade design that consistently produced positive and stable power output with a clear peak in its power coefficient. Furthermore, the 8-blade turbine provides smoother periodicity and reduced fluctuations in torque and is demonstrated by strong vortices, intensified wake development, and improved internal recirculation in the flow field. This study indicates that blade count is one of the major factors in the design of a VAWT for efficient energy conversion. Furthermore, the reduced blade spacing provide more effective flow interaction and enhanced aerodynamics performance.
Keywords
Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT), Aerodynamics, CFD, Turbulent Flow, Blade Performance, Incompressible Flow
Published online 4/25/2026, 8 pages
Copyright © 2026 by the author(s)
Published under license by Materials Research Forum LLC., Millersville PA, USA
Citation: Zeeshan A. RANA, Chris S. BANG, Mouhammad El HASSAN, Enio P. B. FILHO, Influence of Blade Number on the Performance of a Vertical Axis Wind Turbine, Materials Research Proceedings, Vol. 64, pp 44-51, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.21741/9781644904091-6
The article was published as article 6 of the book Energy Futures
Content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.
References
[1] Khare, V.; Nema, S.; Baredar, P. Solar-wind hybrid renewable energy system: A review. Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev. 2016, 58, 23-33. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2015.12.223
[2] Sahu, A.; Gupta, S.; Singh, V.K.; Bhoi, A.K.; Garg, A.; Sherpa, K.S. Design of permanent magnet synchronous generator for wind energy conversion system. Adv. smart grid Renew. energy 23-32. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-4286-7_3
[3] Ghodsi, M.; Ziaiefar, H.; Mohammadzaheri, M.; Al-Yahmedi, A. Modeling and characterization of permendur cantilever beam for energy harvesting. Energy 2019, 176, 561-569. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2019.04.019
[4] Archer, C.L. and Jacobson, M. Z., “Evaluation of global wind power”, J. Geophysical Research, vol. 110, D12110. https://doi.org/10.1029/2004JD005462
[5] Charabi, Y.; Hinai, A. al; Al-Yahyai, S.; Awadhi, T. al; Choudri, B.S. Offshore wind potential and wind atlas over the Oman Maritime Zone. Energy 2019, 4, 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40974-019-00108-7
[6] Wang, X.; Guo, P.; Huang, X. A review of wind power forecasting models. In Proceedings of the Energy Procedia; 2011; pp. 770-778. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.egypro.2011.10.103
[7] Yang, B.; Yu, T.; Shu, H.; Dong, J.; Jiang, L. Robust sliding-mode control of wind energy conversion systems for optimal power extraction via nonlinear perturbation observers. Appl. Energy 2018, 210, 711-723. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2017.08.027
[8] Charabi, Y.; Abdul-Wahab, S. Wind turbine performance analysis for energy cost minimization. Renewables Wind. Water, Sol. 2020, 7, 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40807-020-00062-7
[9] Baker, J.R. Features to aid or enable self starting of fixed pitch low solidity vertical axis wind turbines. J. Wind Eng. Ind. Aerodyn. 1983, 15, 369-380. https://doi.org/10.1016/0167-6105(83)90206-4
[10] Posa, A.; Parker, C.M.; Leftwich, M.C.; Balaras, E. Wake structure of a single vertical axis wind turbine. Int. J. Heat Fluid Flow 2016, 61, 75-84. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheatfluidflow.2016.02.002
[11] Peng, H.Y.; Lam, H.F.; Lee, C.F. Investigation into the wake aerodynamics of a five-straight-bladed vertical axis wind turbine by wind tunnel tests. J. Wind Eng. Ind. Aerodyn. 2016, 155. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jweia.2016.05.003
[12] Tescione, G.; Ragni, D.; He, C.; Ferreira, C.J.S.; van Bussel, G.J.W. Near wake flow analysis of a vertical axis wind turbine by stereoscopic particle image velocimetry. Renew. Energy 2014, 70. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2014.02.042
[13] Li, Q.; Maeda, T.; Kamada, Y.; Murata, J.; Yamamoto, M.; Ogasawara, T.; Shimizu, K.; Kogaki, T. Study on power performance for straight-bladed vertical axis wind turbine by field and wind tunnel test. Renew. Energy 2016, 90. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2016.01.002
[14] Prince, S.A.; Badalamenti, C.; Georgiev, D. Experimental investigation of a variable geometry vertical axis wind turbine. Wind Eng. 2021, 45, 904-920. https://doi.org/10.1177/0309524X20935134
[15] Zheng, M.; Li, Y.; Teng, H.; Hu, J.; Tian, Z.; Zhao, Y. Effect of blade number on performance of drag type vertical axis wind turbine. Appl. Sol. Energy 2016, 52, 315-320. https://doi.org/10.3103/S0003701X16040150
[16] Bang, C.S.; Rana, Z.A.; Prince, S.A. CFD Analysis on a Novel Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT). Machines 2024, 12. https://doi.org/10.3390/machines12110800
[17] Wilcox, D.C. Turbulence Modeling for CFD; 2nd ed.; DCW Industries, 1998;
[18] Bruneau, C.H.; Tancogne, S. Far field boundary conditions for incompressible flows computation. J. Appl. Anal. Comput. 2018, 8, 690-709. https://doi.org/10.11948/2018.690
