Applied Energy 87 (2010) 22782292

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Applied Energy
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/apenergy

Analysis of the furling behavior of small wind turbines

Etienne Audierne a, Jorge Elizondo b, Leonardo Bergami a, Humberto Ibarra a, Oliver Probst a,*
a
Department of Physics, Instituto Tecnolgico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, Eugenio Garza Sada 2501 Sur, Monterrey, NL, CP 64849, Mexico
b
Diseo Elico y Solar, Monterrey, NL, Mexico

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Furling is the dominant mechanism for over speed and power control of small wind turbines. In this
Received 20 May 2009 paper we present a consistent model of the dynamics of gravity-controlled furling systems based on a
Received in revised form 29 October 2009 Lagrangian formalism. The aerodynamic forces acting on tail vane and rotor have been modeled using
Accepted 13 November 2009
Xfoil and blade element momentum (BEM) theory, respectively. Due to the proximity of tail vane and
Available online 24 December 2009
rotor a model of the near-wake generated by the rotor was incorporated into the model, assuming a par-
abolic wake shape. The different design parameters, such as lever lengths and axis tilt angles, have been
Keywords:
studied in a systematic manner and their impact on the wind speed values for entering and leaving the
Small wind turbine
Furling
furling regime have been assessed. In the rst part of the study the free-stream in-ow wind speed was
Xfoil xed at a given value and the system was allowed to reach stable conditions. The steady-state values of
BEM the yaw and furling angle were recorded as a function of wind speed both for increasing and decreasing
Lagrangian formalism wind speed and the consequences for design choices have been discussed. In the second part, a slow var-
Wake iation of input wind speed was superimposed on the constant wind speed signal and the dynamic
response of the system was analyzed. The results of the study are thought to provide an initial roadmap
for the design of furling systems.
2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Most small horizontal-axis wind turbines, both stand-alone [1]
and grid-connected [2], depend on some version of a furling mech-
anism for over speed and output power control. Furling control is
based on an eccentric positioning of the turbine rotor with respect
to its vertical rotation axis (yaw axis) in combination with a tail
vane. While the tail vane tends to stay aligned with the wind direc-
tion, allowing to properly orient the turbine in low and medium
wind speeds, at higher wind speeds the axial force acting on the ro-
tor (thrust), leveraged by the lateral offset from the vertical rota-
tion axis, causes a yawing moment which tends to turn the rotor
out of the wind. Recovery from this position and therefore realign-
ment with the wind direction once the wind speed has fallen be-
low a critical value is enabled by a restoring moment which is
generally provided by gravity, though spring-based mechanism
have been used also. In either case, upon the onset of furling the
system folds and the tail vane remains approximately aligned with
the wind direction while the rotor turns out of the wind, generally
until a stop position is reached or a dynamic equilibrium occurs. In
case gravity is chosen as the restoring force, such as in the system
studied below, an increase in potential energy is created by the
folding action through an inclination of the tail vane rotation axis
* Corresponding author. Tel./fax: +52 8183582000.
E-mail address: oprobst@itesm.mx (O. Probst).
(termed the furling axis in the following), causing the tail vane to
rise. The equilibrium conguration of the system, as expressed
by its two coordinates, the yaw and the furl angles, is established
under stationary conditions if the total torque for movement
around both the yaw and the furling axes vanish.
While furling is the dominant mechanism for over speed and
power control of small wind turbines, relatively little work has
been published on the subject so far, given the importance of this
control strategy for small wind turbines. Bowen et al. [3] report on
eld experiences with a commercial (Bergey Excel) 10 kW wind
turbine and attribute a second branch of the power curve occurring
over a wide range of wind speeds (about 1020 m/s) to the inu-
ence of furling, even though the nominal onset of the wind turbine
is given as 16 m/s. Arifujjaman et al. [4] performed simulations on
a small furling wind turbine equipped with a load controller and
discussed optimal energy capture strategies. Davis and Hansen
[5] performed extensive eld measurements on another commer-
cial wind turbine (Southwest Windpower H40, rated at 525 W by
the authors) and compared a series of measured parameters
including the furl and the yaw angle to the predictions of an
ADAMS model of turbine, nding good agreements between the
two. In another work [6] the same authors studied the furling
behavior of a 40 kW Bergey prototype turbine, nding signicant
dependence of the simulated rotor thrust and the yaw moment
on the aerodynamic model used, with tail vane mass and area
showing less inuence on the simulated yaw and furl angles. A

0306-2619/$ - see front matter 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2009.11.019
 E. Audierne et al. / Applied Energy 87 (2010) 22782292
mathematical framework for the modeling of small wind turbine
furling and its application to the Bergey 40 kW turbine was pre-
sented by Bikdash [7], drawing on earlier work on a hybrid model
of a furling wind turbine equipped with a linear motor published
by Bikdash et al. [8]. The authors also combined their model with
the software package Yawdyn and proposed a fuzzy-network ap-
proach to reduce Yawdyn calculation times. One of the major nd-
ings was that the moment caused by the nacelle dominated the
yaw moment in most cases leading to the suggestion that the
nacelle be reshaped. Jonkman and Hansen [9] reported on the
development of an updated version of the FAST (Fatigue, Aerody-
namics, Structures, and Turbulence) design code to include to ef-
fect of furling and its comparison with the ADAMS (Automatic
Dynamic Analysis of Mechanical Systems) code and the eld re-
sults obtained with an instrumented research turbine based on
the Bergey Excel 10 kW. In related work, Bechly et al. [10] studied,
both theoretically and experimentally, the yawing behavior of a
non-furling 5 kW research wind turbine with particular emphasis
on the damping of the yaw oscillations and its relationship with
the aerodynamic model of the tail vane. Good agreement between
the model and the experimental results were found in the case of
slow shaft rotation where no power was produced by the turbine
when in addition to the steady-state lift on the tail vane aerody-
namic damping terms were taken into account; an increase in
damping in the case of a power-producing turbine, however, was
not modeled satisfactorily. This work drew in part on earlier work
of Ebert and Woods on the dynamics of tail ns and vanes [11].
While a signicant body of experience exists with both the
modeling and experimental characterization of furling systems
[12], few recommendations can be inferred from the current bibli-
ography regarding the design of such systems. The current study is
intended to ll this gap, providing a mathematical framework
which can be conveniently implemented by the interested de-
signer in a programming language of his/her choice, sketching a
roadmap for furling design by conducting sensibility analyses for
the different design parameters, and providing some initial in-
sights into the response of the system to a slowing varying free-
stream wind speed. An in-depth study of the dynamic system
behavior in response to stochastic wind speeds will be published
in a follow-up paper.
2. Dynamic model
2.1. Geometry of the system
Before introducing the geometry of the system some nomencla-
ture will be established. The nacelle with its rotor will be referred
to as the turbine, the boom and the attached tail vane as the tail,
and the sum of all parts as the wind system. The turbine is assumed
to be mounted on top of a vertical axis, termed the yaw axis, around
which it can rotate freely. The tail (boom + vane), on the other
hand, is mounted on an axis, denominated the furl axis, which is in-
clined with respect to the vertical. Rotation of the tail around the
furling axis will result in an upward movement of the tails center
of gravity and therefore produce an opposing torque tending to
reestablish the equilibrium position. The geometry of a gravity-
controlled furling system is characterized by a several distances
and angles (Fig. 1). The distance L1 describes the lateral distance
between the yaw and the furl axis in the rotor plane, whereas L2
identies the distance between these two axes in the direction per-
pendicular to the rotor plane. L3 is the distance between the furling
axis and the center of gravity of the tail. L4 and L5, nally, are the
distances of the center of mass of the rotor from the yaw axis mea-
sured perpendicular and parallel to the rotor plane, respectively.
Additional parameters are required to allow for a displacement be-
2279
Fig. 1. Geometry of a small wind turbine with furling over speed control. Inset:
orientation of the furling axis as referenced by the Euler angles b and c.
tween the aerodynamic center of the vane and the center of gravity
of the tail (termed DL3) and a similar shift between the aerody-
namic center and center of mass of the rotor, termed DL4.
2.2. Coordinate systems and transformations
Several coordinate systems have been dened to facilitate the
formulation of the equations of motion. First, a right-handed refer-
ence system A attached to the ground (generally known as the lab-
oratory system) is dened by the axes (xA, yA, zA), where yA is
chosen to point north and zA is the local normal; it coincides with
the yaw axis (Fig. 2(a)). The wind direction is dened in this coor-
dinate system and was chosen to be northerly for the purposes of
this work, i.e. v = vyA. Changes in wind direction can be analyzed
easily with the framework presented here, but were not subject of
the study. A second (right-handed) coordinate system B, dened by
the axes (xB, yB, zB) is attached to the turbine, where yB is aligned
with the rotor axis and zB = zA (Fig. 2(b)). Frame B can therefore
be obtained simply by rotating frame A around the vertical axis,
where the rotation angle, the yaw angle, will be termed h. Note that
for the present convention h is the angle between the wind direc-
tion and the turbine rotor. A third coordinate system C is used to
facilitate the description of the tail rotation and is dened by the
axes (xC, yC, zC), where zC is parallel to the furl axis pointing up-
wards, and yC is parallel to the tail boom for zero furl angle
(Fig. 2(a)). As before, the x-coordinate is obtained by the require-
ment that (xC, yC, zC) form a right-handed reference frame. Note
that the movement of the tail in the C-frame corresponds simply
to a rotation around the zC-axis.
The formulation of the equations of motion will require trans-
formations between the coordinate systems introduced above. It
is rst observed that a vector in the laboratory system A (such as
the wind velocity vector) is transformed into frame B simply by
applying a rotation matrix
0 1
cos h sin h 0
B C
Rh @  sin h cos h 0 A 1
0 0 1
The transformation from frame B to C, on the other hand, involves
both a translation between the yaw and the furl axes and a general
rotation accounting for the inclination of the furl axis. A convenient
way of expressing this rotation is by means of the Euler angles b, c,
and d using the following transformation matrixes:
2280 E. Audierne et al. / Applied Energy 87 (2010) 22782292

0 1 0 1
1 0 0 cos c 0  sin c Table 2
B C B C Relevant model distances.
Rb @ 0 cos b sin b A; Rc @ 0 1 0 A;
0  sin b cos b sin c 0 cos c Distance Interpretation
0 1 L1 Distance between yaw and furl axes in direction ^xB
1 0 0
B C L2 Distance between yaw and furling axes in direction y^B
Rd @ 0 cos d sin d A 2 L3 Distance between the furling axis and the center of mass of the
0  sin d cos d vane in the plane formed by ^
xC and y^C
L4 Distance between the yaw axis and the center of mass of the
It can be seen that the b-rotation is around the xB-axis and if applied ^B
generator in direction y
to the furling axis corresponds to a tilt of the axis, with positive b- L5 Distance between the yaw axis and the center of mass of the
generator in direction ^xB
values indicating a backwards tilt. The c-rotation, on the other
DL3 Distance between the center of mass of the tail vane and its
hand, is around the yC-axis and corresponds to a lateral tilt of the aerodynamic center
furling axis. The d-rotation, nally, is around the xC-axis and is gen- DL4 Distance between the center of mass of the rotor and its
erally not used in furling systems. For the remainder of this work aerodynamic center
we will assume that d = 0. The denitions of the three Euler angles
and their use for the specication of the furling axis are summa-
rized in Table 1.
The result of a general rotation is now obtained as nal forces corresponding the coordinates h and w, respectively, and
represent the torques generated by the aerodynamic forces on the
R Rb Rc Rd 3 rotor and tail vane, respectively.
In case a variable wind direction is considered it may be useful to
2.3.1. Potential and kinetic energy
introduce an additional coordinate system, termed the D-system,
Since the aerodynamic forces are explicitly accounted for by the
the y-axis of which is pointing in the wind direction. The rotation
torque expressions Qh and Qw the only interaction to be considered
matrix transforming from the A or laboratory frame to D is given by
0 1 for potential energy is the gravity acting on the tail vane. All other
cos n sin n 0 components of the system, specically the rotor and generator,
B C ideally remain in an horizontal plane and therefore have a constant
Rn @  sin n cos n 0 A 4
0 0 1 potential energy. No contributions from elastic deformations of the
system parts have been considered. Moreover, the superposition is
The rest of the geometry of the furling system is specied by the assumed to hold for the torques. All equations will be formulated
distances between the furling and yawing axes on the one hand in the inertial frame A, applying all necessary transformations from
and the aerodynamic and mass centers of rotor and tail vane. An local frames to A.
illustration of the main parameters is given in the birds eyes view First the potential energy of the tail vane can be expressed in
in Fig. 1; a description of each of the parameters is provided in Ta- the rotor-attached (turbine) B frame as
ble 2. The variables of the dynamic model are given by n, the angle  
B
between the geographic North and the wind direction, h, the angle V M T g rT  zB 7
between the rotor axis and the North, and w, the angle between the
tail vane and yC. In the following, we will refer to h as the yaw an- where MT is the mass of the tail vane, g the gravitational accelera-
gle, whereas w will be termed the furl angle. tion of the earth, and the position of the center of mass of the tail
B
vane rT is given by
2.3. Equations of motion B
rT L1 xB  L2 cos byB  L2 sin bzB L3 sin wR1 xC L3 cos wR1 yC
8
In order to formulate our dynamic model we will use the La-
1
grange formalism to derive equations of motion for the free vari- where the inverse rotation matrix R has been applied to the unit
ables h and /, identifying the rotation of the generator around vectors of the C-system in order to describe the movement of the
the yaw axis and the rotation of the tail vane around the furling tail vane in the B-system. Please note that the expression for V is va-
axis, as before. The equations are obtained from the general lid in the A-system, since the transformation from A to B leaves the
expressions [13] vertical coordinate invariant and therefore does not modify the po-
  tential energy. The kinetic energy, on the other hand, expressed in
d @L @L
 Qh 5 the inertial frame A, is given by the expression [8]
dt @ h_ @h
  1   1   1
d @L @L T
A A A A
M T v T  v T J ot xT  xT J gy h_ 2 9
 Qw 6 2 2 2
dt @ w_ @w
where the rst two terms account for the kinetic energy of the tail
where L = TV is the Lagrange function, T the kinetic energy of the
vane and the last one for the rotational kinetic energy of the rotor-
system, V the potential energy, and Qh and Qw the generalized exter-
generator. The rst term in Eq. (9) describes the kinetic energy re-
lated to the movement of the center of mass of the tail vane,
Table 1 whereas the second one refers to the (rotational) movement of vane
Euler angles specifying the orientation of the furl axis.
around its center of mass. Consequently, Jot is the moment of inertia
Euler Denition Interpretation for the rotation of the tail vane around the furling axis. The third
angle term accounts for the rotation of the generator around the yaw axis,
b Rotation around the Backward tilt of the furling axis (for where Jgy represents the corresponding moment of inertia.
^
xB -axis positive b values) The velocity vector of the tail vanes center of mass can be cal-
c Rotation around the Lateral tilt of the furling axis culated according to
^C -axis
y
d Rotation around the Not used (d = 0) A A A
drT @r @r
^
xC -axis vT T w_ T h_ 10
dt @w @h
 E. Audierne et al. / Applied Energy 87 (2010) 22782292 2281

A 0 10 _ 1 0 1
The w-dependence of rT in Eq. (10) is explicit; however, the h- 1 0 0 0 h1 h2
A
dependence requires the transformation of rT into the inertial B0 1 0 0C B w_ C B B w C
C
B CB 1 C B 2
C
frame A by applying the inverse rotation B CB C B 0 _ _ 0 _2C 21
@ 0 0 J1 J 3 A@ h_ 2 A @ Q h  J 1 w2 h2  J 3 w2 A
A B
rT R1
h rT 11 0 0 J3 J2 w_ 2 Q w 12 J 01 h_ 22  @V
@w

The h-derivative can now be carried out considering

With this formulation the system can be viewed as a locally linear
A
@R1 @R1
B B rst-order system with an inhomogeneity given both by the aero-
@rT h rT B @rT
h
r R1 12 dynamic moments Qh and Q/ and the non-linear kinetic energy
@h @h @h T h
@h
terms. For a more realistic description additional terms accounting
From the denition of Rh we can see that the derivative of the in- for the friction of the bearings of both yawing and furling axes have
verse rotation matrix corresponds to the inverse rotation shifted to be included. The equation of motion then reads:
by 90:
0 10 _ 1 0 h2
1 0 1
1 0 0 0 h1 f1
@R1 B0 1 0 B C B C
R1 0C B C
h
hp=2 13 B CB w_ 1 C B w2 C B f2 C
@h B CB C B CB C
J 3 A@ h_ 2 A B C
0 _ _ 0 _2
B
@ 0 0 J1 @ Q h  J 1 w2 h2  J 3 w2  b1 h2 A @ f3 A
rT , by denition, has no dependence on h and therefore its partial 1 0 _2
w_ 2
@V
0 0 J3 J2 Q w 2 J 1 h2  @w  b2 w2 f4
derivative vanishes. We therefore have
A
22
@rT B B
R1
hp=2 rT zB  rT 14 Using the GaussSeidel method we can explicitly state the solution
@h
of the system for a given time step t:
where we have conveniently expressed the p/2-rotation around the 0 1
zB-axis as a cross-product. Using this result we have 0_ 1 f1
h1 B C
" # B w_ C B f
 2  2 C
@rT _  B 1C Bf C
B
v A
v
A

B _
w ^zB  rT h 15 B C B 3  J3 J1 f4 J32f3 C 23
T T
@w @ h_ 2 A B J1 J1 J 1 J 2 J 3 C
@ A
w_ 2 J1 f4 J 3 f3
2
J 1 J 2 J 3
In order to nd an expression for the second term in Eq. (15), refer-
ring to the relative movement of the tail vane around an axis pass- The four angular variables appearing on the left-hand side of Eq.
ing through its center of mass it is observed that the rotation vector (23) can now be calculated in an iterative manner.
can be expressed as a combination of the furling and yawing
motion: 2.3.2. Calculation of the aerodynamic moments
A _ C hz
_ B 2.3.2.1. Yaw moments. First the torque created by the rotor thrust
xT wz 16
will be considered. While a calculation of the thrust on the rotor
Combining the expressions discussed an expression is obtained for in the case of perfect alignment with the wind direction can be
the kinetic energy of the furling system: done relatively easily using blade element momentum (BEM) the-
ory, its calculation for the case of a yawed rotor is less straightfor-
1 _2 1 _ 2
T J h J 2 w J 3 h_ w_ 17 ward (see e.g. [14]). For the sake of the present work a simple
2 1 2 model will used which is described below.
where the following abbreviations have been introduced First, we will assume that the axial force varies with the square
 2 of the cosine of the angle between the wind and the rotor direction
B
J 1 M T  z B  rT J ot J gy 18a [14]:
!2
@rT
B
FA 0
r v ; h Fr v cos n  hcos hy A sin hxA
2
24
J2 MT J ot 18b
@w where F0
is the thrust in the case of a rotor perfectly aligned with
" # r

@rT   wind speed, and h and n are the yaw angle and the wind direction in
B
B
J3 MT  z B  rT J ot zC zB  18c the laboratory frame A as before. Please note that the thrust has
@w
been dened as to be aligned with the normal to the rotor plane.
It should be noted that J1, J2, and J3 have to be calculated in the rotor F0
r can be calculated using BEM models and is a function of the
frame B. After these preparation we can now formulate the equa- free-stream wind speed as indicated above.
tions of motion using the Lagrange Eqs. (4) and (5). After a few steps The torque for rotation around the yaw axis created by the rotor
the following matrix expression for the two variables h and w is thrust can now be calculated as [8]
obtained:  
B
! ! MhR rrotor  FB
r  zB 25
 
J1 J3 h Q h  J 01 w_ h_  J 03 w_ 2
19 where ~ F r has to be expressed in B-coordinates by applying the in-
J3 J2 w Q w 1 J 0 h_ 2  @V
2 1 @w
verse rotation matrix R1 h to the A-frame unit vectors and rrotor(B)
where the following abbreviations have been used: is a vector pointing from the yaw axis to the aerodynamic center
of the rotor. It should be noted that the latter generally does not
@J 1 @J
J 01 and J 03 3 20 coincide with the center of mass, but will change as a function of
@w @h
the angular difference between wind direction and yaw angle. To
It should be noted that the matrix Eq. (19) is non-linear since the account for this, we model the rotor as a at plate with an equiva-
right-hand side depends on the square of the angular velocities. lent length equal to the rotor diameter 2R, the aerodynamic center
The matrix equation can be more conveniently written as a rst-or- of which varies sinusoidally with the angle of attack:
der system if we introduce the new variables h1 h; h2 h_ 1 ; w1
B
w, and w2 w_ 1 . rrotor L5 aR sin n  hxB L4 DL4 yB 26
2282 E. Audierne et al. / Applied Energy 87 (2010) 22782292

The distances and angles in Eq. (26) have the meanings introduced The angle of attack at the vane can be expressed in terms of the
before (Tables 1 and 2). The at-plate value of the parameter a is angles already introduced:
0.5; however, given the crude nature of the model of the rotor it
cannot be expected that the at-plate value will be exact. Instead,
anhw 34
it has to be tuned to reproduce the experimentally observed onset B
The vector rf
points from the furling axis to the aerodynamic cen-
value for furling. In the present case, a = 0.15 has led to a satisfac- ter of the vane and can be written as
tory agreement of simulated and observed results. In addition to
B
the torque generated by the aerodynamic thrust on the rotor the lift rf R1 L3 DL cos wyC  L3 DL sin wxC : 35
and drag forces on the tail vane also generate a torque for rotation
around the yaw axis. This torque can be calculated from [8] As mentioned before, the rotation of the tail vane is restricted by
  two stops which create a very high force once the contact has been
B B
M hT rT;2  FT  zB 27 established. While these stops could in principle be considered
boundary conditions, dynamic modeling is simplied considerably
*
where FT is the net aerodynamic force on the tail vane and r tail;2
is a if these boundary conditions are translated into nite expressions
vector pointing from the yaw axis to the aerodynamic center of the for contact forces as a function of the angular distance between
vane and can be related to the vector pointing to the center of mass by the tail vane and the stop position. Following Bikdash [8] the mo-
B B
ment provided by the stops was modeled by
rT;2 rT R1 DL3 sin wxC  DL3 cos wyC 28 8  
>
< K l w  wupper w P wupper
where DL3 is the distance between the center of mass and the aero-
M wlim 0 wupper P w P wlower 36
dynamic center of the tail vane as before. The total torque for rota- >
:
tion around the yaw axis is now given by K l w  wlower w 6 wlower

Q h M hT M hR 29
2.3.2.3. Wake model. As mentioned before, the position of the tail
vane behind the rotor strongly impacts on the effective wind speed
2.3.2.2. Furling moments. Two external moments have to be consid- seen by the vane, requiring a model for the near-wake of the rotor.
ered for the rotation of the tail vane: the torque created by the As shown by Magnusson [15] the wake directly after the rotor can
aerodynamic lift and drag forces on the vane and the torque acting be characterized by a double-hump distribution with a maximum
on the vane in one of the stop positions restraining the rotational velocity decit at a distance of about half a radius from the rotor
movement of the vane. The aerodynamic torque is given by [8] hub, apart from a complete blockage of the wind ow by the hub
  itself. At a distance of one rotor diameter, however, the velocity
B B
M wT rf  FT  zC ; 30 decit curve has transformed itself into a parabolic distribution
B with a maximum decit at the center of the rotor. For the purposes
where FT is the total aerodynamic force on the vane expressed in
of this work will assume that wind eld at the tail vane position
the B reference system. ~
F T can be expressed in the A system by
has already converged to this parabolic distribution (see Fig. 3).
A The geometry of the wake model used in this work is illustrated
FT F L cos n F D sin nxA F L sin n  F D cos nyA ; 31
in Fig. 3. It will be assumed that wake-induced wind speed losses
and is then transformed into the B system by applying the Rh rota- occur inside a paraboloid with an elliptical base inscribed in a slant
tion matrix. FD and FL are the drag and lift forces on the vane given cylinder the principal axis of which is aligned with the wind direc-
by tion. In order to calculate the wind speed at the vane position it is
1 rst observed that the coordinates of the vane can be expressed as
FL qU 2tail At C L a 32  
2 1 B
X D
vane R n R h rT;2  xD 37
1
F D qU 2tail At C D a: 33  
2 Z D 1 B
vane R n R h rT;2  zD ; 38
Utail is the effective wind speed experienced by the vane, At the pro-
jected area of the vane and CL and CD are the angle-of-attack depen- In order to dene the limits and the horizontal center line position
dent 2D lift and drag coefcients, respectively, which have been of the slant cylinder in we calculate the x-positions of the blade tips
calculated using Xfoil. As we will discuss below, Utail is subject to and the rotor center C as follows:
strong variation due to the wake effect of the rotor. While under nor-
X R1 Rn R1
h R  L5 xB L4 yB   xD 39
mal (aligned) conditions the vane experiences a strongly reduced
wind speed in the near wake of the rotor, upon the onset of the yaw- X R2 Rn R1
h R  L5 xB L4 y B   xD 40
ing movement of the rotor the near wake of the rotor mixes with the XC Rn R1
h L5 xB L4 yB  xD 41
free-stream wind eld passing by the rotor, leading to a signicant
increase in effective wind speed. As discussed by Bechtly et al. [10], The wind speed experiences by the tail vane can now be expressed
the aerodynamic forces acting on the tail vane are generally unstea- as
dy, leading to damping terms in addition to the steady-state lift and 
V 1 1  bX vane ; Z vane vane in rotor wake
drag forces. In the framework of unsteady slender body (USB) theory v vane 42
Bechtley et al. obtain an expression for the total tail moment which V1 vane outside rotor wake
includes a damping term proportional to the derivative h_ of the yaw where we have introduced the decit function b(x, z) based on a par-
angle, as well as contributions from higher derivatives of h and terms abolic wake shape [15] by
proportional to rst and second derivative of the wind direction an- !
gle. Due to the assumption of constant wind direction in the present x  X C 2  z 2
bx; z K 1   43
work the latter terms vanish. Regarding the other damping terms, we X R1  X C 2 R
only retain only the term proportional to h_ (see Eq. (22)); additional
damping terms can be easily incorporated into the model but this The vane will be located within the rotor wake if the following con-
was not the subject of this study. dition holds:
 E. Audierne et al. / Applied Energy 87 (2010) 22782292 2283

3. Results and discussion

In the following the results obtained with the dynamic model of

the furling system will be discussed. In all cases the dynamic evolu-
tion of the yaw and furling angles has been calculated as a function
of time. In the rst set of simulations the free-stream in-ow wind
speed was set to be constant over time, whereas in the second set a
sinusoidal time variation of wind speed was used to explore the dy-
namic response of the system. In all cases the wind speed values re-
quired for the onset of furling have been studied, as well as the
values required to return to normal operation. The effect of the dif-
ferent design parameters has been studied (Table 3), allowing to
draw general conclusions as to the design of furling systems.

3.1. Constant free-stream wind speed

The steady-state yaw and furling angles as a function of wind

speed have been calculated both for a rotor initially aligned with
the wind direction, studying the onset of the yawing/furling re-
gime and an initially furled wind turbine, assessing the return to
normal operation. A general characteristic that will be become con-
spicuous from the subsequent discussion is the fact that in all cases
a hysteresis occurs between onset of the furling regime and return
to normal operation, even though the details of this hysterias may
change substantially depending on the design parameter studied.
Apart from studying the threshold values for entering and leaving
the furling regime we have evaluated the characteristic time scales
involved.
Fig. 2. Coordinate systems used in the present work. (a) Laboratory system A and
rotor-attached system B and (b) system attached to the furling axis.
3.1.1. Inuence of the mass of the tail vane
From the general considerations of the characteristics of the
furling system it has become clear that mass of the tail vane has
R1 a considerable inuence on the onset of the yawing/furling regime,
W IND YA
since it directly controls the gravity-induced restoring torque
around the furling axis. This can be observed from Fig. 4 where
both the yaw and the furl angle have been plotted as a function
XB of wind speed for both increasing and decreasing wind speed.
YB It is conspicuous that in all cases a marked transition of the yaw
Y AW angle from the equilibrium position to about 45 occurs at the
threshold wind speed; afterwards the angle increases somewhat
XA more slowly until reaching the stop position at 68. As expected,
for low values of the mass of the tail vane the turbines starts to
yaw at low wind speed values with linearly increasing onset wind
speed values for increasing tail masses. The value of the tail mass is
F UR therefore a convenient parameter for controlling the transition to
L the furling regime. It can also be observed from Fig. 4 that the re-
turn to normal (unfolded) operation requires the wind speed to be
R2 lowered below the onset wind speed value. For a tail mass of 8 kg,
e.g., the return occurs at about 9.5 m/s, as opposed to the value of
VV AN 10.5 m/s required for the transition to the furling regime. This hys-
E teresis, i.e. the difference between the onset and return values, is
approximately constant for all tail mass values studied. From
Fig. 4c and d it can be seen that the situation for the furl angles
is analogous to the yaw angle.
It is interesting to study the characteristic time Tc (dened as
the time required for the yaw angle to reach 90% of the nal posi-
Fig. 3. Geometry of the parabolic wake loss model used to describe the wind speed
experienced by the tail vane.
tion) required for the onset of furling; Fig. 5a shows Tc as a function
of wind speed for different values of the tail mass, in Fig. 5b the
curves have been overlapped by shifting them according the min-
X R1 < X vane < X R2 and 44 imum wind speed value v0(MT) for entering the furling regime. It
v becomes clear from Fig. 5b that the dynamics on the threshold of
u0 1
u furling is not affected by the tail mass, since all situations are de-
uB X 2
C
Z vane < Ru vane
t@1  q2 A 45 scribed by a universal curve. From the inset of Fig. 5b it can be seen
2
R  X R2  X C that the offset v0(MT) scales linearly with the mass MT. Close to the
threshold, a relatively long characteristic time (about 10 s) is re-
2284 E. Audierne et al. / Applied Energy 87 (2010) 22782292

Fig. 4. Graphs showing the equilibrium value of the yaw and the furl angles as a function of wind speed for different values of the mass of the tail vane. (a) Yaw angle for onset
of furling, (b) yaw angle for return from furling to normal operation, (c) furl angle for onset, and (d) furl angle for return.

quired to reach the new position, while for wind speed values well
above the threshold the system dynamics is much faster (about 2 s
for the highest wind speed differences studied). From the fact that
the tail mass does not affect Tc it can be concluded that the dynam-
ics of the transition is mostly determined by the yaw moment
caused by the rotor thrust.
3.1.2. Inuence of the tilt angle b
Whereas the value of the tail mass has a linear effect on the on-
set of the furling regime and the return to normal operation, the
appropriate choice of the tilt angle is more critical to the design
of a furling system; Fig. 6 illustrates this point. The rst thing to
be noted is the fact that now there is a marked asymmetry be-
tween the onset and the return situation. While there is a well-de-
ned wind speed value for the onset of yawing (14.014.2 m/s for
the situation in Fig. 6), the return to aligned operation is critically
dependent on the precise value of b. Furthermore, it is conspicuous
that for negative values of b, corresponding to an inclination of the
furling axis towards the rotor, the rotor practically jumps to the
stop position at 68, leaving little room for a continuous adjust-
ment of the turbine output power. On the other hand, once the tur-
bine has reached its yawed/furled position it is very difcult for it
to return to unfurled operation. This can be illustrated by the case
of b = 2 where the turbine jumps to the stop position when a
wind speed of 14.1 m/s is reached and remains under furling con-
ditions until the wind speed has dropped below some 11 m/s.
Clearly, such a large hysteresis is detrimental to energy capture.
A slightly positive value of the tilt angle, on the other hand, corre-
sponding to a backwards leaning furling axis, not only reduces the
hysterias between the onset of furling and return to normal oper-
ation, but also allows for a smoother transition between the two
regimes, thereby allowing to consider the furling mechanism for
continuous output power control.
3.1.3. Inuence of the lateral inclination angle c
While the tilt angle b is critically important for the transition to
and from the furling regime, the lateral inclination of the furling
axis has a less dramatic inuence on the system behavior under
stationary wind speed conditions. As it can be seen from Fig. 7,
the impact of c is similar to the one caused by a varying tail mass,
since a variation of c leads to an almost linear response of thresh-
old values, with low values causing an earlier onset of yawing/furl-
ing and a smoother transition. As before, an hysteresis occurs for
switching between the two regimes, but this hysteresis depends
little on the value of c chosen.
 E. Audierne et al. / Applied Energy 87 (2010) 22782292 2285

Fig. 5. Characteristic time for the onset of furling as a function of wind speed and tail mass. (a) Individual curves for different tail masses, (b) overlapped curves accounting for
the mass-dependent shift on the wind speed axis. Inset: wind speed v0 required for the onset of furling as a function of the tail mass.

Fig. 6. Yaw angle as a function of steady-state wind speed for different values of the tilt angle b. (a) Onset of yawing/furling, (b) return to normal operation.

3.1.4. Inuence of the transverse displacement L1
L1 measures the transverse displacement between yaw and furl-
ing axis and can assume both positive and negative values, with
positive values corresponding to the rotor and the furling axis
being on opposite sides of the yaw axis, while negative values indi-
cate a position of the furling axis on the same side as the rotor cen-
ter of mass. As illustrated by Fig. 8 the effect of L1 on the onset of
yawing is generally small, even though the transition is somewhat
smoother for positive values of L1 as opposed to negative values. As
before, the return to normal operation is smoother than the onset
and no qualitative difference is observed for negative and positive
values of L1. The relatively small effect of L1 on the performance of
the furling system is understandable if one considers that the equi-
librium around the yaw axis if determined by the balance of tor-
ques caused by the rotor and the tail vane and that the latter
varies little with the both L1 and L2. It should be noted, however,
that negative values of L1 will allow for a restoring torque and
therefore a stable operation only if L2 is sufciently large. Other-
wise, the torque produced by the aerodynamic forces on the tail
vane will actually act in the same counterclockwise direction as
the rotor torque. Note that for rotor initially aligned with the wind
direction this actually occurs and that a small rotation of the rotor
around the yaw axis is required to take advantage of the lever dis-
tance L2 which helps invert the sense of the vane torque and stabi-
lize the system.
3.1.5. Inuence of the longitudinal displacement L2
L2 is the longitudinal distance between the yaw and the furling
axes. Under normal conditions, where the tail vane and the rotor
axis are essentially aligned, this distance basically adds to the dis-
2286 E. Audierne et al. / Applied Energy 87 (2010) 22782292

Fig. 7. Yaw angle as a function of steady-state wind speed for different values of the lateral inclination angle c. (a) Onset of yawing/furling and (b) return to normal operation.

Fig. 8. Steady-state yaw angle as a function of wind speed for different values of the distance L1 between furling axis and center of mass of the tail vane. (a) Onset of yawing
and (b) return to normal operation.

tance L3 between the furling axis and the aerodynamic center of
the tail vane, therefore causing a similar effect as L3 on the onset
of yawing/furling, which is illustrated in Fig. 9a.
3.1.6. Inuence of the tail lever L3
In order to understand the effect of varying the tail lever dis-
tance L3 it is worth remembering that the steady-state operation
requires a simultaneous balance of the torques acting on both
the yaw and the furling axis. For large values of L3 the aerodynamic
force acting on the tail vane causes a large torque for clockwise
rotation around the yaw axis, requiring a large torque for coun-
ter-clockwise rotation caused by the rotor thrust in order for furl-
ing to occur. This can be seen in Fig. 10, where for values of 0.8 m to
1.2 m a linear evolution of the threshold wind speed for the onset
of yawing/furling can be observed. For small values of L3, on the
other hand, the rotor can be seen to stabilize at positive yaw angles
even at small wind speeds. In this case, the torque formed by the
rotor thrust and the lever L1 is strong enough to overcome the pull
from the tail vane and force both tail and rotor to settle on a ro-
tated position.
3.1.7. Inuence of the lever distance L4
The lever distances L4 and L5 are directly related with the torque
caused by the aerodynamic thrust acting on the rotor. It therefore
comes as no surprise that the appropriate choice of these values is
critical to the design of a furling system. While L5 rules the torque
for rotor positions nearly aligned with the wind direction and
therefore the onset of the yawing movement, L4 largely determines
the torque under yawed conditions and therefore the return from
the furling regime. The value of L4 is important for the length of
the transition regime and therefore the softness of the onset of
yawing/furling, as it becomes conspicuous from the inspection of
Fig. 11. While for large values of L4, say, 0.3 m, an almost immedi-
ate transition to the stop position at 68 occurs, a continuous
adjustment of the yaw angle as a function of steady-state wind
speed is found for the case of smaller L4 values. This very smooth
transition can be traced back to the shift of the position of the aero-
dynamic center of the rotor as a function of the yaw angle. While
for small yaw angles the rotor thrust acts essentially at the geo-
metric center of the rotor, at larger angles the aerodynamic center
continuously shifts until it reaches its nal position at half the ro-
 E. Audierne et al. / Applied Energy 87 (2010) 22782292 2287

Fig. 9. Steady-state yaw angle as a function of wind speed for different values of the distance L2 between furling axis and center of mass of the tail vane. (a) Onset of yawing
and (b) return to normal operation.

Fig. 10. Steady-state yaw angle as a function of wind speed for different values of the distance L3 between furling axis and center of mass of the tail vane. (a) Onset of yawing
and (b) return to normal operation.

tor radius based on the at-plate assumption used. This inward
movement of the aerodynamic center partly compensates the in-
crease of the yaw torque caused by the more perpendicular align-
ment of L4 with respect to rotor thrust.
It should be noted that a signicant change in the slope dh/dv of
the yaw angle-wind speed curve occurs when the yaw angle
reaches a value of about 45 where the effect of L4 on the torque
around the yaw axis starts to prevail over L5. As before, a hysteresis
occurs for the return to normal operation, but as opposed to the ef-
fect of other design parameters the difference between the onset
and return transitions is strongly dependent on the exact value
of L4. It can be seen from Fig. 11 that in the case of L4 = 0.125 m,
e.g., almost no hysteresis occurs, since the curves for both transi-
tions are essentially identical, reaching completely yawed condi-
tions at about 19.5 m/s and a fully aligned system at about 14 m/
s. In the case of a longer lever length, say L4 = 0.3 m, an abrupt tran-
sition to the stop position takes place at about 14.25 m/s when the
wind speed is increased, while the return to aligned conditions
does not start until the wind speed is reduced to about 11 m/s,
with a complete realignment occurring at about 9.5 m/s. This crit-
ical dependence of the system behavior on the value of the design
parameter L4 can be traced back to its interaction with L5 as
pointed out above.
3.1.8. Inuence of the lever distance L5
The transverse distance of the rotor center of mass from the
yaw axis, L5, fully determines the rotor torque at zero yaw angles
and therefore the onset value of the wind speed. This is illustrated
in Fig. 12, where the hv curves have been plotted for different val-
ues of L5, illustrating the dramatic inuence of this design param-
eter on the onset of furling. As before, a hysteresis occurs for the
return to aligned conditions, where the spread of the curves as a
function of L5 can be seen to be lower than in the case of increasing
wind speeds. This asymmetry is plausible if we remember that the
rotor torque at high yaw angles is mainly determined by L4,
whereas at small angles L5 dominates. It should be noted also that
for high values of L5 an alignment error for low wind speeds occurs,
being of the order of 20 for a values of 0.2 m (see Fig. 12).
2288 E. Audierne et al. / Applied Energy 87 (2010) 22782292

Fig. 11. Steady-state yaw angle as a function of wind speed for different values of the longitudinal distance L4 between the rotor center of mass and the yaw axis. (a) Onset of
yawing, (b) return to normal operation. (c) Sketch of the geometry determining the rotor torque at small yaw angles. (d) Sketch of the geometry determining the rotor torque
at large yaw angles.

Fig. 12. Steady-state yaw angle as a function of wind speed for different values of the transverse distance L5 between the rotor center of mass and the yaw axis. (a) Situation
for increasing wind speed values and (b) diminishing wind speeds.

3.1.9. Roadmap for the design of furling systems fore, three of the design parameters, b, L4 and L5 have a more pro-
It is convenient to summarize the ndings presented above in a nounced effect on the overall patterns for transitioning to and from
roadmap useful for the design of furling systems. As mentioned be- the furling regime, whereas the other parameters (mT, c, L1, L2 and
 E. Audierne et al. / Applied Energy 87 (2010) 22782292 2289

L3) can be used to ne-tune the wind speed values for the onset of
furling and the return to unfolded operation, having little effect on
the transition patterns. Table 4 presents this overall picture, pro-
viding information regarding the onset values for transitioning to
and from the folded regime, the hysteresis between the two tran-
sitions and the qualitative characteristics of the transitions as a
function of each of the design parameters.
3.2. Dynamic behavior
After studying the stationary behavior of the furling system and
the inuence of the design parameters we have turned our atten-
tion to the dynamic behavior of the system. In order to model
the onset of furling and the return to unfurled conditions we have
considered a slowly varying input wind speed signal of the form

v t v 0 Dv sin xt 46

Table 3 with varying offset v0 and amplitude Dv. The period T = 2p/x was
Design values of the relevant parameters and the range of variation for the wind chosen to be long compared to the typical time scales of the system
turbine conguration studies in this work. and was maintained at a constant value of 50 s during the set of sim-
Design parameter Design value Minimum value Maximum value ulations presented below. In order to assess the dynamic behavior of
MT 13 kg 7 kg 14 kg
the system under threshold conditions an offset value of the wind
L1 0.11 m 0.13 m 0.05 m speed signal close to stationary onset value was chosen and the
L2 0.033 m 0.03 m 0.15 m amplitude of the input modulation was increased in steps of
L3 1.01 m 0.5 m 1.2 m 0.5 m/s. In the sequence of timeline graphs shown in Fig. 13 an offset
L4 0.22 m 0.1 m 0.3 m
value of 10 m/s was chosen and the modulation amplitude was var-
L5 0.11 m 0.05 m 0.2 m
DL3 0.43 m 0.43 m 0.43 m ied between 1 m/s and 3.5 m/s. From Fig. 13 it can be seen how the
DL4 0.034 m 0.034 m 0.034 m transition into the furling regime and back into normal operation oc-
b 0 6 +4 curs. For a small variation of 1 m/s around the offset value of 10 m/s
c 18.75 +5 +21
the rotor can be seen to quickly oscillate around a yaw angle equilib-
d 0 0 0
rium position of about 3 with a period of about 2 s and an amplitude

Table 4
Roadmap for the design of furling systems.

Design parameter Threshold wind speed venter
mT Linear dependence on tail
mass
Sensitivity dventer/
dmT  0.6 (m/s)/kg
b Well-dened and almost
constant venter for b < 0
Small increase of venter with
b for b > 0
c Nearly linear dependence
on c with dventer/
dc  0.5 (m/s)/
L1 Almost no inuence of L1 on
venter
L2 Nearly linear dependence
on L2 with dventer/
dL2  0.4 (m/s)/(10 cm)
L3 Nearly linear dependence
on L3 with dventer/dL3  0.82
(m/s)/(10 cm)
L4 Small values of L4 delay the
entrance of the furling
transition to high wind
speed values. Saturation at
large values
L5 High negative values of
dventer/dL3 at small values of
L3, smaller decrease of venter
with L3 at higher values of
L3
Threshold wind speed vexit
Linear dependence on tail
mass
Sensitivity dvexit/
dmT  0.6 (m/s)/kg
For b < 5 the turbine
remains trapped in the
furled state
For negative values with
b > 5, vexit increases
rapidly as a function of b
For positive values of bvexit
approaches a saturation
value
Nearly linear dependence
on c with dvexit/dc  0.5 (m/
s)/
Almost no inuence of L1 on
vexit
Nearly linear dependence
on L2 with dvexit/dL2 0.4 (m/
s)/(10 cm)
Nearly linear dependence
on L3 with dvexit/dL3  0.78
(m/s)/(10 cm)
Approximately linear
decrease with increasing L4
Approximately linear
decrease with increasing L5
Hysteresis
venterventer  1.8 m/s
independent of mT
Large hysteresis for negative
values of b
Small hysteresis for b > 0,
decreasing with b
venterventer  2.21.2 m/s for
c  721
Almost constant hysteresis with
venterventer  1.5 m/s
Almost constant hysteresis with
venterventer  1.5 m/s
venterventer  2.01.5 m/s for
L3  0.51.2 m
Complex behavior due to the
changing transition patterns.
Large hysteresis at small and
large values of L4 with a
minimum hysteresis at
L4 = 0.2 m
Complex behavior due to the
changing transition patterns.
Large hysteresis at small and
large values of L5 with a
minimum hysteresis at
L5 = 0.1 m
Yaw angle variation during transition
Similar transition pattern for all
values of the tail mass
Well-dened threshold transition for
b < 0
Slow increase of the yaw angle with
steady-state wind speed for b > 0,
both for entering and exiting the
furling regime
Similar transition pattern for all
values of c
Entrance: marked threshold behavior
for negative values of L1; more
gradual increase of h for positive
values
Exit: similar patterns for all values of
L1
Similar transition patterns, but
equilibrium angle for non-furled
conditions changes to large positive
values for small values of L3
Both the entering and the exiting
transition change dramatically as a
function of L4. Small values promote a
threshold-type transition, whereas a
continuous transition is obtained for
large values
Entrance: marked threshold behavior
for small values of L5. Equilibrium
angle for non-furled conditions
changes to large positive values for
large values of L5
Exit: similar patterns for all values
2290 E. Audierne et al. / Applied Energy 87 (2010) 22782292

Fig. 13. Transition into the furling regime. (a) Well below threshold, (b) approaching threshold, (c) near threshold, (d) onset of yawing/furling, (e and f) complete transition to
the furling regime.

of about 23. The position of the tail vane, on the other hand, is very
stable and oscillates with an amplitude of less than 0.1.
Moreover, it can be observed that both yawing and furling oscil-
lations before the onset of furling correlate with wind speed. From
a detailed analysis which is not shown due to space limitations it
can be seen that the amplitudes of both yawing and furling oscilla-
tions correlate with wind speed, while the average values anti-cor-
relate. The anti-correlation of the means with wind speed is
intuitive, since higher wind speeds tend to turn both the rotor
and the tail vane away from their equilibrium positions. The corre-
lation of the amplitudes with wind speed, on the other hand, can
be understood in terms of an oscillator model of both tail and rotor
with aerodynamic forces scaling as v2 fueling the oscillation. Since
the oscillator energy is proportional to the square of the oscillation
amplitude, an approximate proportionality between amplitude
and wind speed should exist, which is indeed observed.
The period of the oscillation for situations below the threshold
for the onset of furling, on the other hand, was found to decrease
with the wind speed modulation amplitude, as shown in Fig. 14;
similar trends were found for both furl and yaw angle. This linear
 E. Audierne et al. / Applied Energy 87 (2010) 22782292
Fig. 14. Period of the oscillations of furl and yaw angle below threshold as a function of the average wind speed for different modulation amplitudes. (a) Furl angle and (b)
yaw angle.
relationship of frequency with wind speed can be again be under-
stood in a simple oscillator model where the effective restoring
force is given by an aerodynamic force scaling as the square of
the wind speed.
Interestingly, the yaw oscillations are very sensitive to the wind
speed value right on the threshold of the transition. From Fig. 13c it
can been that around t = 25 s where the wind speed reaches a value
of 12 m/s a dramatic reduction in amplitude (from about 2 to less
than 1) occurs for the yawing oscillations, which is not reversed
upon reduction of the wind speed, i.e. the oscillations are effectively
damped by this pre-transition. The furl angle, on the other hand,
shows a strong oscillation, combined with a movement to negative
angles, right on the threshold and then returns to its normal posi-
tion. From the following gures in the sequence of Fig. 13 it can
be seen how the transition to the furling regime occurs. It should
be observed that in all cases the return to normal operation is faster
than the onset which occurs on a typical timescale of 510 s, as op-
posed to the return transition which occurs in about one second.
Moreover, it can be noted that the yaw oscillations performed by
the rotor after returning from the furling regime increase in ampli-
tude and decrease in frequency for increasing wind speed modula-
tion amplitude. The increase in amplitude can be readily explained
in terms of the initial angle after returning from furling.
The decrease in frequency, on the other hand, is precisely oppo-
site to the situation encountered for the oscillations below thresh-
old. A plausible explanation lies with the non-linearity of the
oscillations of the physical pendulum at great angles; from ele-
mentary theory of the non-linear pendulum (see e.g. [13]) we
know that the increase in period with respect to the small-angle
period is proportional to the oscillation amplitude, so after a large
excursion (such as a full furling event reaching the stop position
such as in Fig. 13f) the period should be much larger than after a
small excursion to about 17 as shown in Fig. 13d. Clearly, for
2291
small-angle oscillations such as the ones occurring below thresh-
old the natural frequency of the pendulum is independent of
amplitude and the dominant mechanism is the wind speed-depen-
dent spring constant discussed above.
4. Summary and conclusions
In this work a mathematical framework for the modeling of
furling systems used in small wind turbines for over speed and
power control has been presented. The model is based on a
Lagrangian formulation and uses an Euler angle approach for the
representation of the different angular degrees of freedom. Several
convenient frames of reference have been dened, where transfor-
mation between frames is performed using rotation matrixes. A
wake model based on the assumption of a parabolic velocity decit
structure has been incorporated into the model to account for the
different effective wind speed experienced by the tail vane as a
function of both furl and yaw angle. In a rst set of simulations a
constant free-stream in-ow wind speed has been assumed and
the asymptotic response of the system in terms of the furl and
yaw angles has been recorded. The critical wind speed values for
the onset of the furling regime and the return to normal (unfolded)
operation have been determined as a function of the different
parameters in the system, including tail mass, longitudinal and
transverse displacements and the two angles describing the orien-
tation of the furl axis. A hysteresis between onset and return was
observed in all cases, with lower values of the wind speed required
for the return to unfolded operation. Several parameters were
found to have an approximately linear impact on the critical wind
speeds for onset and return, such as the tail mass and the lateral
inclination of the furl axis (c). These parameters are therefore use-
ful design parameters which allow to ne-tune the critical wind
2292 E. Audierne et al. / Applied Energy 87 (2010) 22782292
speed values as required by the overall system design. Other
parameters have a more dramatic impact on the furling perfor-
mance and should be varied with care, such as the tilt angle of
the furl axis (b). Other important parameters are the lateral and ax-
ial offset lengths of the rotor with respect to the vertical rotation
axis (L4 and L5) which critically impact on the wind speed for the
onset of furling and return to normal operation, respectively.
In a second set of simulations the response of the system to a
dynamic input signal has been explored by superimposing a sinu-
soidal wind speed variation on top of the average wind speed.
While the critical wind speed values for onset and return are sim-
ilar to the values obtained for the steady-state wind speed case,
some insights as to the dynamic behavior of both furl and yaw an-
gles could be obtained. In particular, oscillations of both angles
around their equilibrium positions were observed for unfurled
operation and in those cases were the system oscillated between
the unfurled and the furled state in response to the slow variation
of the input wind speed. In the case of the unfurled operation a
dependence of both attenuation and frequency on wind speed
was observed. The frequency of both furl and yaw angles oscilla-
tions was found to increase linearly with wind speed, consistent
a restoring moment proportional to the square of the wind speed,
as one would expect from both the rotor moment (caused by pres-
sure forces) and the tail moment (caused by lift). Further investiga-
tions on the subject are underway, including the effect of
stochastical wind speed signals and unsteady aerodynamics.
Acknowledgements
We gratefully acknowledge the nancial support provided by
Tecnolgico de Monterrey through the Research Chair for Wind En-
ergy (Contract No. CAT 158). We also thank Fondo Mixto Chiapas
which helped fund part of the research through Contract No. CHIS
2005 C03 022.
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