Fluid Mechanics

Fluid Mechanics
Mechanical Engineering Science 9 Fluid Mechanics
Fluid Mechanics Propellers & Rotors Fluid Mechanics

INTRODUCTION TO PROPELLERS
1. Aircraft propellers:
 Diameter up to 2m approximately
 Rotation rate up to a few 1000rpm
 2 to circa 7 slender blades
2. Ship propellers:
 Diameter up to 4m approximately
 Rotation rate up to a few 100rpm
 2 to circa 5 chunky blades
3. Helicopter rotors
 Diameter ranges from approximately 10 to 20m
 Rotation rate of a few 100rpm
 2 to circa 5 slender blades

The dimensional parameters that apply to propellers include:

Size: Rotor diameter, D [m] or radius, R [m]
Speed: Rotation rate, Ω [rad/s] or N [rev/s]
Fluid properties: Density, ρ [kg/m3]
Viscocity, μ [kg/ms] 1
Speed of sound, a [m/s]
Input: Power, P [kgm2/s3]
Output: Thrust, F [kgm/s2]
Speed, u [m/s]

The corresponding non-dimensional parameters can therefore be found to be:

Reynolds number
uD
Re 

Thrust parameter
F
CT 
0.5 2 D 4
Power parameter
P
CP 
0.5 3 D 5
Efficiency
Fu

P
 Fluid Mechanics
Fluid Mechanics
Mechanical Engineering Science 9 Fluid Mechanics
Fluid Mechanics Propellers & Rotors Fluid Mechanics

Tip speed ratio

R

u
Advance ratio
u 1
J 
R 
Mach number
R
Ma 
a
Aircraft propeller: Ma < 0.6
Helicopter rotors: Ma < 0.8

ACTUATOR DISK THEORY

By deriving an ideal expression for the efficiency of a rotor it can be found that the efficiency is a
function of the advance ratio only. This is done by using:
• Lots of simplifying assumptions
• A control volume, defined by a stream tube
• Continuity between flow into the control volume and flow out of it
• Momentum equation to balance the difference in momentum flux entering and leaving
2
the control volume with a pressure force on the rotor
• Bernoulli to calculate the pressure force on the rotor

A1 A A4

U0 U2 U4

p0=0 p2 p3 p0=0
 Fluid Mechanics
Fluid Mechanics
Mechanical Engineering Science 9 Fluid Mechanics
Fluid Mechanics Propellers & Rotors Fluid Mechanics

The following approach and assumptions must be taken to simplify the problem so it can be
solved using the governing equations:
1. Treat the rotor as a flat disk
2. Assume that nothing happens outside the disk
3. Treat the fluid as ideal fluid (i.e. viscosity is negligible or zero and therefore there are no
losses; the flow is incompressible)
4. Assume the air goes through the disk in perpendicular direction
5. Assume the pressure far upstream and far downstream of the rotor is atmospheric
6. Build a control volume with front facing the wind and sides along stream tube just
enclosing the disk
7. Use Bernoulli on that stream tube

The following equations can therefore be applied:

Momentum Equation
F  Qu4  u1   Au 2 u4  u0 

Pressure Force

F  0.5A u42  u02 
Equating both Forces gives:
3
Au 2 u4  u0   0.5Au42  u02 

 u2  0.5u0  u4 

Flow Acceleration Factor:

u4

u0

 u2  0.51   u0

Pressure Force:

F  0.5Au 02 1   2 
Power Output:
Pout  Fu 0
 Fluid Mechanics
Fluid Mechanics
Mechanical Engineering Science 9 Fluid Mechanics
Fluid Mechanics Propellers & Rotors Fluid Mechanics

Power Input:
Pin  Fu 2  Fu 0  0.51   

Actuator Disk Efficiency:

Pout 2
 
Pin 1   

u4
 1
u0

The efficiency starts at 100% for no acceleration at all and reduces to 75% when the velocity
leaving the system is twice the upstream velocity. The efficiency continues to fall towards zero
as the ratio between the two velocities increases. More and more energy is put into moving the
air instead of propeller. Good aircraft may have an efficiency of up to 80%; ship’s propellers are
much worse.

WIND TURBINES
Wind turbine range in size from about 50 Watts to 5 Mega-Watts. The table below gives some
idea of the scale, cost and price of wind energy production. Please note that this is a very
dynamic market place and research, innovation and economies of scale continue to drive down
the cost of installation and increase the yield.
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Fluid Mechanics
Mechanical Engineering Science 9 Fluid Mechanics
Fluid Mechanics Propellers & Rotors Fluid Mechanics

Size/Power 50 W 1 kW 800 kW 5 MW
Rated Wind Speed, m/s 20 13 12 13
Rotor Diameter, m 0.5 1.75 53 112
Hub Height, m ≈ 10 ≈ 15 60 to 73 ≈ 100
Total Height, m ≈ 10 ≈ 16 85 to 100 ≈ 160
Rotation Rate, rpm 100 – 900 12 – 29 7 - 12
Capital Cost, £ ≈ £250 £2,000 £1,000,000 £5m (on-shore)
£10m (off-shore)
Capital Cost (£/W) 5 2 1.2 1–2

The dimensional parameters that apply to wind turbines include:

Size: Rotor diameter, D [m] or radius, R [m]
(Mean) Chord Length, c [m]
Number of Blades, N [-]
Speed: Rotation rate, Ω [rad/s] or N [rev/s]
Fluid properties: Density, ρ [kg/m3]
Viscocity, μ [kg/ms]
Input: Wind Speed, u [m/s]
Output: Power, P [kgm2/s3]
5

The corresponding non-dimensional parameters can therefore be found to be:

Solidity
NRc Nc
B 
R 2 R

Tip Speed Ratio

R

u

Reynolds number
uD
Re 

R 2
Re  …using tip speed

Rc
Re  …using tip speed and chord

 Fluid Mechanics
Fluid Mechanics
Mechanical Engineering Science 9 Fluid Mechanics
Fluid Mechanics Propellers & Rotors Fluid Mechanics

Drag parameter
F
CD 
0.52 R 4

Torque parameter
T
CT 
0.52 R5

Power parameter
P
CP 
0.53 D5

Efficiency
P

0.5Au 3

ACTUATOR DISK THEORY FOR WIND TURBINES

Propellers inject energy into a fluid; conversely turbines extract energy from a flow. Therefore
actuator disk applies in the same way, except that the downstream velocity is less than the 6
upstream velocity and the slipstream expands.

A1 A A4

ρQU 0 ρQU 2 ρQU 4

U0 U2 U4

p2= ½ ρ (U02 – U22) p3= ½ ρ (U42 – U22)

 Fluid Mechanics
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Mechanical Engineering Science 9 Fluid Mechanics
Fluid Mechanics Propellers & Rotors Fluid Mechanics

The following equations can therefore be applied:

Momentum Equation
F  Qu0  u4   Au2 u0  u4 

Pressure Force

F  0.5A u02  u42 
Equating both Forces gives:
Au2 u0  u4   0.5Au02  u42 

 u2  0.5u0  u4 

Flow Acceleration Factor:

u4

u0

 u2  0.51   u0
7
Pressure Force:

F  0.5Au 02 1   2 
Power Output:
 
Pout  Fu2  Fu0  0.51     0.5Au03  0.5 1   2 1   

Power Input:
Pin  0.5Au03

Actuator Disk Efficiency:


Pout
Pin
 
 0.5 1   2 1   
 Fluid Mechanics
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Mechanical Engineering Science 9 Fluid Mechanics
Fluid Mechanics Propellers & Rotors Fluid Mechanics

u4
 1
u0

At χ=0, the air behind the rotor is stagnant (solid plate?) and in theory the turbine can be 50%
efficient, but this is unrealistic. At χ=1, the air behind the rotor is the same as in front so there
has been no effect on the flow and therefore no power output. Between these two limiting
cases, the efficiency rises to a maximum (approximately 60%) near χ ≈ 0.3. Then it drops off as 8
the wind is affected less and less by the rotor.

The maximum efficiency can be found by setting:

d
0
d

  0.51   2 1   

d 1  2   3 2
  0
d 2

1
 or    1
3
1
At   :
3
  59.3%
 Fluid Mechanics
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Mechanical Engineering Science 9 Fluid Mechanics
Fluid Mechanics Propellers & Rotors Fluid Mechanics

Therefore the maximum ideal efficiency for wind turbines of 59.3% and is known as the Betz
Limit. Good real turbines reach a best efficiency of about 50%.
The performance of “real” wind turbine can be quite different from this theoretical model.
There is no operation below a certain “cut-in” speed which is typically about 4m/s. The output
power then increase roughly proportional to the cube of the free-stream wind velocity. The
rated power output will be reached as a rated wind speed of approximately 10 t0 15 m/s.
Control mechanisms (pitch or stall control) ensures constant output until cut-out, typically
between 25 to 35 m/s. An performance curve for a 1.5MW wind turbine below compares the
Ideal
Ideal Output with the Real Output and and real
Efficiency output
Curves:
and efficiency
2500
1.2

2000 1

0.8
1500
P (kW)

0.6

1000
0.4

500
0.2
9
0 0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

U (m/s)
P0 (kW) eta P (kW)

The best tip-speed ratio for standard HAWT (Horizontal-Axis Wind Turbine) is λ ≈ 7 to 9. With
fewer and more slender blades, a higher tip speed ratio can be obtained. Aerodynamically, a
better performance is achieved with fewer as the solidity and drag of the system reduces. An
even blade number results in stronger cyclic forcing (torque and axial bending moment). When
one blade experiences the minimum force, the opposite blade has a maximum force. However a
one-bladed system is visually very disruptive and also results in an awkward force balance. The
optimum number of blades in a HAWT is 3.
 Fluid Mechanics
Fluid Mechanics
Mechanical Engineering Science 9 Fluid Mechanics
Fluid Mechanics Propellers & Rotors Fluid Mechanics

WIND ENERGY
The power carried by the wind can be calculated from:
1 D 2u 3
P0  Au 3 
2 8

The power is proportional to the cube of the wind speed. Therefore even small fluctuations in
the wind varies will result in large fluctuations in the power. Importantly, averaging the wind
gives a different power output from averaging the power.
The generation potential of the wind can be assessed by analysing a histogram of the number of
hours (or days) during which the wind speed was at a particular value. This can be used to work
out how much a particular turbine would have generated at that time. Adding up all these hours
(or days) of calculated power output gives you the electricity generated over that period.
The amount of electricity generated in a period compared to that amount generated if the
turbine operated constantly at its rated output is called the capacity factor:

CC 
 Pu T i

PRT
where
 P(u) is the power output at the measured wind speed during period Ti
 PR is the rated output of that turbine
 T   Ti is the overall period 10

The wind is usually measured only at a given height. The British Metrological Office data are
normally given at a reference level of 10m above ground. However, the wind speed increases
with height. This increase depends on the weather conditions as well as the ground features. In
many cases, an appropriate extrapolation from the reference level to other levels is given by a
logarithmic function:
 z
ln  
u  z   uref  z0 
z 
ln  ref 
 z0 

where uref is the reference velocity measured at the reference height zref.
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Mechanical Engineering Science 9 Fluid Mechanics
Fluid Mechanics Propellers & Rotors Fluid Mechanics

z0 is a surface roughness length which depends on the surface:

 Open Sea: 0.2 – 0.5 mm
 Grass Fields: 8 – 50 mm
 A Few Trees: 100 mm
 Forests: 500 mm
 Suburbs: 1500 mm
 City centres: 3000 mm

Others use a power law function:

m
 z 
u z   rref  
z 
 ref 
where m depends on atmospheric stability.

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