Design of the LRP airfoil series using 2D CFD

Abstract

This paper describes the design and wind tunnel testing of a high-Reynolds number, high lift airfoil series designed for wind turbines. The airfoils were designed using direct gradient- based numerical multi-point optimization based on a Bezier parameterization of the shape, coupled to the 2D Navier-Stokes flow solver EllipSys2D. The resulting airfoils, the LRP2-30 and LRP2-36, achieve both higher operational lift coefficients and higher lift to drag ratios compared to the equivalent FFA-W3 airfoils.