Wind-tunnel experiments on a large-scale Flettner rotor

Abstract

Experiments on a large-scale Flettner rotor were carried out in the boundary-layer test section of Politecnico di Milano wind tunnel. The rotating cylinder used in the experimental campaign (referred to as Delft Rotor) had a diameter of 1.0 m and span of 3.73 m. The Delft Rotor was equipped with two purpose-built force balances and two different systems to measure the pressure on the rotor’s outer skin. The goal of the experiments was to study the influence of different Reynolds numbers on the aerodynamic forces generated by the spinning cylinder. The highest Reynolds number achieved during the experiments was.