Wind loading on large-scale floating rotor of recently suggested Wind Energy Marine Unit (WEMU) with vertical axis and rotary blades is investigated in the paper. Blades have promising concave-convex airfoil with leading-edge and trailing-edge flaps. Calculations are carried out by finite volume method according to Navier-Stokes equations in the 3-D domain. Angles of blades" rotation are determined by numerical tests by the criterion of maximum power efficiency of the WEMU. Plots of aerodynamic forces acting on the blades along the WEMU turbine" s perimeter are presented. Influences of the turbine" s solidity, turbine velocity, and wind velocity on the total aerodynamic force are found out.
Main trends of wind energy development in the last few years were analysed by Cheboxarov et al (2004a, 2004b). It was shown that gradual transition from on-land wind power plants to powerful offshore ones has strong economical and ecological validity. At the same time, all present offshore turbines and those under construction have principally the same design as on-land ones. Offshore power plants have several inherent shortcomings inherited from that design, for instance, limited unit power capacity, emission of infrasound, and hitting birds mortally. The alternative design called the Wind Energy Marine Unit (WEMU) has been suggested instead of the common turbines (Cheboxarov et al, 2002a, 2002b). The WEMU does not have shortcomings mentioned above but at the same time it closely follows modern trends of wind energy. If the Dutch design of wind power plants came from on-land windmills, the novel design is the development of sea sailing. The slowly rotating turbine with many blades is similar to a sail ship. The energy of the slow turbine's hub rotation is converted efficiently to the rapid rotation of a generator shaft by means of a hydraulic drive which has impulse high head turbines (Pelton type).
