Examinations of power extraction and structural integrity of a nature inspired dual-axis wind turbine under diverse operational conditions

• This work focuses on designing and developing Bionic Dual-Axis Wind Turbine (BDAWT) which was inspired by butterfly feathers. • Experimental and computational analysis were performed on the conventional helical vertical axis wind turbine for validation. After validation, the computational fluid dynamic and Fluid structure interaction investigations were conducted on the BDAWT. • The comparative analysis performed between conventional helical Vertical axis wind turbine and proposed BDAWT, where the proposed Biaxial wind turbine provides better outcomes. • In FSI analysis, GY 70 epoxy and AS carbon based composites shows better structural integrity than other lightweight materials under static and dynamic loads on BDAWT. The objective of this study is the computational development of a bionic-inspired dual-axis wind turbine (BDVAWT) through multi-perspective simulation approaches. The innovative design of the BDVAWT is inspired by the structural and aerodynamic configurations of butterfly feathers. Various design profiles are analyzed during the computational phase to determine the optimal BDVAWT configuration. Advanced aerodynamic principles are employed to define essential design parameters such as blade length, diameter, and pitch angle. The turbine features two distinct blade profiles: an inverted tapered blade in the upper region and a diamond-shaped blade in the lower region. From a set of ten airfoils evaluated, NACA 6412 is selected for both the inverted tapered and diamond-shaped sections due to its high lift-to-drag ratio and relatively thin profile. For enhanced bending stiffness at the root chord of the inverted tapered blade, NACA 4412 is employed, as confirmed using XFOIL analysis. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and Fluid-Structure Interaction (FSI) simulations are performed in ANSYS Fluent to evaluate aerodynamic and structural performance. A conventional helical vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) is also analyzed experimentally and computationally for validation. The comparative analysis showed that the proposed BDVAWT achieved a 22.5% increase in torque and an 89.63% improvement in power coefficient (Cp) over the conventional VAWT. FSI analysis revealed that GY-70-epoxy material offers superior structural integrity, with a 53% enhancement compared to other evaluated materials, making it suitable for real-time applications of BDVAWTs.