•The maximum value of torque and power coefficients appear for thinner airfoils in comparison to thicker airfoils.•A novel parameter for checking the actual obtainable performance of HATCT is proposed.•The superiority of the maximum power coefficient for thicker airfoils stands on maximum value in comparison to thinner airfoils.•Airfoils with rapid changes in curvature are predisposed to reduce the value of torque and power coefficients.•Airfoils which include a higher average of thickness on the pressure side, the probability of fatigue hazard reduces. One of the most essential parameters contributing to the performance of hydrokinetic tidal current turbine is its geometry. In this study, the effect of curvature, thickness, and blade pitch angle (BPA0) with a glimpse at the turbine performance considering the probability of fatigue loading presence are investigated. Six different airfoils based on possessing the acceptable lift to drag ratio were selected and used to design turbine blades using the blade element momentum theory. Computational fluid dynamic was employed for simulation the performance of turbines at diverse tip speed ratios (TSR)s and BPA0s so that the condition for obtaining the maximum performance was determined. An experimental setup was fabricated to validate the computational results. The question is: To what extent this maximum performance condition is possible to be implemented in practice? To answer this question, a parameter called superiority of maximum power coefficient (SCPmax) was introduced to assess the usefulness of employment of each airfoil based on maximum power coefficient (CPmax), thrust coefficient (CTh), and the percentage of airfoil thickness (%t) and exhibit the utility of maximum performance against the probability of fatigue hazard. Results indicated that at higher values of BPA0s, by increasing the thickness, the maximum amount of torque enhances. Furthermore, the augmentation in the TSR leads to increase in CPmax at the lower value of BPA0 so that the difference between the lowest (for NACA 65(3)-618) and highest (for NACA 4412) CPmax is around 66%. In contrast, the maximum value of SCPmax belonged to the NACA65(3)-618 due to lower CTh and more %t, while the minimum amount of SCPmax appertained to the NACA2410 which has the minimum %t.