Passive and active flow augmentation: From diffusers to multi-rotor machines

Flow augmentation consists in modifying mass flow across the actuation plane of a rotor to enhance energy extraction or propulsive efficiency. The talk sketches the distinction between passive and active rotor augmentation strategies. Power coefficient trends are compared analytically while numerical results illustrate differences in flow...

Gazing at clouds to understand turbulence on wind turbine airfoils

There are many ways to learn from data. Our first experiment consisted in reproducing the way aerodynamicists work [2] with a genetic optimizer. The data pool was too narrow and asymptotic tendencies were unreliable. Our 2nd Experiment, a simple version of [4], had a virtually unlimited data pool and used neural networks. Results were better,...

How does the presence of a body affect the performance of an actuator disk?

The article seeks to unify the treatment of conservative force interactions between axi-symmetric bodies and actuators in inviscid ow. Applications include the study of hub interference, di_user augmented wind turbines and boundary layer ingestion propeller con_gurations. The conservation equations are integrated over in_nitesimal streamtubes to...