ABSTRACT
Wind tunnel experiments and detailed predictions are combined in order to evaluate the performance of a new family of low-drag airfoils, designed for wind turbines. Wind tunnel tests were conducted to determine the aerodynamic characteristics of a 14% thick airfoil member of the family. The numerical predictions were based on three models: i) the XFOIL viscous-inviscid interaction model, ii) a Navier-Stokes solver equipped with a specific aerodynamic turbulence model and iii) the 2WAKE_DS viscous-inviscid model. The evaluation of the procedure confirmed the original design. Also, all computational methods were found reliable at least for angles of attack up to maximum CL.
