This work introduces a new biomimetic design for the well-known Wells turbine to enhance its efficiency for harvesting energy. In this paper, a biomimetic Wells turbine inspired by the geometry of hawkmoth wings is presented. Aerodynamics of both the bio-inspired design and the conventional design are investigated through computational fluid dynamics. Non-dimensional performance indicators of the bio-inspired design are compared to those of the conventional turbine, including the torque coefficient, the pressure drop coefficient, the turbine efficiency. The velocity and pressure distribution as well as the vortices shed from the blades are illustrated to understand the differences in flow phenomena. The results indicate that the biomimetic design changes the flow field and can attain a higher peak efficiency, especially at high angle of attack. Finally, the performance of blades with various aspect ratios is investigated to better understand the biomimetic design.

中文翻译：

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Wells 涡轮机的空气动力学特性，采用受鹰蛾启发的叶片设计。

这项工作为著名的 Wells 涡轮机引入了一种新的仿生设计，以提高其收集能量的效率。在本文中，提出了一种受天蛾翅膀几何形状启发的仿生 Wells 涡轮机。通过计算流体动力学研究仿生设计和传统设计的空气动力学。将仿生设计的无量纲性能指标与传统涡轮机进行了比较，包括扭矩系数、压降系数、涡轮效率。说明了速度和压力分布以及从叶片脱落的涡流，以了解流动现象的差异。结果表明，仿生设计改变了流场，可以获得更高的峰值效率，尤其是在大迎角下。