Wake characteristics of a freely rotating bioinspired swept rotor blade
Rotor blades can be found in many engineering applications, mainly associated with converting energy from fluids to work (or electricity). Rotor blade geometry is a key factor in the mechanical efficiency of the energy conversion process. For example, wind turbines' performance directly depends...
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crroyalsociety:10.1098/rsos.210779 2024-06-02T07:58:49+00:00 Wake characteristics of a freely rotating bioinspired swept rotor blade Nafi, Asif Shahriar Krishnan, Krishnamoorthy Debnath, Anup K. Hackett, Erin E. Gurka, Roi 2021 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsos.210779 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsos.210779 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rsos.210779 en eng The Royal Society https://royalsociety.org/journals/ethics-policies/data-sharing-mining/ Royal Society Open Science volume 8, issue 7, page 210779 ISSN 2054-5703 journal-article 2021 crroyalsociety https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.210779 2024-05-07T14:16:36Z Rotor blades can be found in many engineering applications, mainly associated with converting energy from fluids to work (or electricity). Rotor blade geometry is a key factor in the mechanical efficiency of the energy conversion process. For example, wind turbines' performance directly depends on the blade geometry and the wake flow formed behind them. We suggest to use a bioinspired blade based on the common swift wing. Common swift ( Apus apus ) is known to be a long-distance flyer, able to stay aloft for long periods of time by maintaining high lift and low drag. We study the near-wake flow characteristics of a freely rotating rotor with swept blades and its aerodynamic loads. These are compared with a straight-bladed rotor. The experiments were conducted in a water flume using particle image velocimetry (PIV) technique. Both blades were studied for four different flow speeds with freestream Reynolds numbers ranging from 23 000 to 41 000. Our results show that the near wake developed behind the swept-back blade was significantly different from the straight blade configuration. The near wake developed behind the swept-back blade exhibited relatively lower momentum loss and suppressed turbulent activity (mixing and production) compared with the straight blade. Comparing the aerodynamic characteristics, though the swept-back blade generated relatively less lift than the straight blade, the drag was relatively low. Thus, the swept-back blade produced two to three times higher lift-to-drag ratio than the straight blade. Based on these observations, we suggest that, with improved design optimizations, using the swept-back configuration in rotor blades (specifically used in wind turbines) can improve mechanical efficiency and reduce the energy loss during the conversion process. Article in Journal/Newspaper Apus apus The Royal Society Royal Society Open Science 8 7 210779 |
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Open Polar |
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The Royal Society |
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crroyalsociety |
language |
English |
description |
Rotor blades can be found in many engineering applications, mainly associated with converting energy from fluids to work (or electricity). Rotor blade geometry is a key factor in the mechanical efficiency of the energy conversion process. For example, wind turbines' performance directly depends on the blade geometry and the wake flow formed behind them. We suggest to use a bioinspired blade based on the common swift wing. Common swift ( Apus apus ) is known to be a long-distance flyer, able to stay aloft for long periods of time by maintaining high lift and low drag. We study the near-wake flow characteristics of a freely rotating rotor with swept blades and its aerodynamic loads. These are compared with a straight-bladed rotor. The experiments were conducted in a water flume using particle image velocimetry (PIV) technique. Both blades were studied for four different flow speeds with freestream Reynolds numbers ranging from 23 000 to 41 000. Our results show that the near wake developed behind the swept-back blade was significantly different from the straight blade configuration. The near wake developed behind the swept-back blade exhibited relatively lower momentum loss and suppressed turbulent activity (mixing and production) compared with the straight blade. Comparing the aerodynamic characteristics, though the swept-back blade generated relatively less lift than the straight blade, the drag was relatively low. Thus, the swept-back blade produced two to three times higher lift-to-drag ratio than the straight blade. Based on these observations, we suggest that, with improved design optimizations, using the swept-back configuration in rotor blades (specifically used in wind turbines) can improve mechanical efficiency and reduce the energy loss during the conversion process. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Nafi, Asif Shahriar Krishnan, Krishnamoorthy Debnath, Anup K. Hackett, Erin E. Gurka, Roi |
spellingShingle |
Nafi, Asif Shahriar Krishnan, Krishnamoorthy Debnath, Anup K. Hackett, Erin E. Gurka, Roi Wake characteristics of a freely rotating bioinspired swept rotor blade |
author_facet |
Nafi, Asif Shahriar Krishnan, Krishnamoorthy Debnath, Anup K. Hackett, Erin E. Gurka, Roi |
author_sort |
Nafi, Asif Shahriar |
title |
Wake characteristics of a freely rotating bioinspired swept rotor blade |
title_short |
Wake characteristics of a freely rotating bioinspired swept rotor blade |
title_full |
Wake characteristics of a freely rotating bioinspired swept rotor blade |
title_fullStr |
Wake characteristics of a freely rotating bioinspired swept rotor blade |
title_full_unstemmed |
Wake characteristics of a freely rotating bioinspired swept rotor blade |
title_sort |
wake characteristics of a freely rotating bioinspired swept rotor blade |
publisher |
The Royal Society |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsos.210779 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsos.210779 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rsos.210779 |
genre |
Apus apus |
genre_facet |
Apus apus |
op_source |
Royal Society Open Science volume 8, issue 7, page 210779 ISSN 2054-5703 |
op_rights |
https://royalsociety.org/journals/ethics-policies/data-sharing-mining/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.210779 |
container_title |
Royal Society Open Science |
container_volume |
8 |
container_issue |
7 |
container_start_page |
210779 |
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