*Article* **Experimental Investigation of Finite Aspect Ratio Cylindrical Bodies for Accelerated Wind Applications**

**Michael Parker <sup>1</sup> and Douglas Bohl 2,\***


Received: 26 January 2020; Accepted: 13 February 2020; Published: 17 February 2020

**Abstract:** The placement of a cylindrical body in a flow alters the velocity and pressure fields resulting in a local increase in the flow speed near the body. This interaction is of interest as wind turbine rotor blades could be placed in the area of increased wind speed to enhance energy harvesting. In this work the aerodynamic performance of two short aspect ratio (AR = 0.93) cylindrical bodies was evaluated for potential use in "accelerated wind" applications. The first cylinder was smooth with a constant diameter. The diameter of the second cylinder varied periodically along the span forming channels, or corrugations, where wind turbine blades could be placed. Experiments were performed for Reynolds numbers ranging from 1 <sup>×</sup> <sup>10</sup><sup>5</sup> to 9 <sup>×</sup> <sup>10</sup>5. Pressure distributions showed that the smooth cylinder had lower minimum pressure coefficients and delayed separation compared to the corrugated cylinder. Velocity profiles showed that the corrugated cylinder had lower peak speeds, a less uniform profile, and lower kinetic energy flux when compared to the smooth cylinder. It was concluded that the smooth cylinder had significantly better potential performance in accelerated wind applications than the corrugated cylinder.

**Keywords:** finite aspect ratio cylinder; accelerated wind; wind energy
