Flexible blades for wind turbine design
AssigneeCalifornia Institute of Technology
InventorsMorteza Gharib, Julia Cosse, Daegyoum Kim
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Flag-type wind and/or water power generation features are described. Fluid-filled embodiments are described. The fluid may be employed for pumping effect and/or dynamic physical property change. Leading-edge and trailing-edge mounted flag architectures are described with various applications including flapping flag arrays and Vertical Axis Wind Turbines (VAWTs).
Claims24
A vertical axis wind turbine comprising:
- at least two support arms adapted to rotate about an axis in a cycle under fluid flow;
- and
- a plurality of blades coupled to the support arms,
- wherein each blade is coupled along one edge so that in at least one point in the cycle, one blade is in a trailing flag arrangement and one blade is in an inverted flag arrangement, and
- wherein each blade is flexible to a degree that it will deflect in flow in order to generate a net positive average torque around the axis during the cycle.
A method of vertical axis turbine rotation in fluid flow wherein the turbine includes a plurality of flexible blades, the method comprising for each blade during turbine rotation:
- a large flapping event of at least one blade in an inverted arrangement providing a large power boost;
- a high rotation speed for the turbine with a low relative flow velocity;
- a small flapping event corresponding to a standard flag arrangement providing a small power boost;
- and
- a low rotation speed for the turbine with a high relative flow velocity.
A method of turbine manufacture, the method comprising:
- positioning a plurality of support arms to rotate around a shaft;
- and
- attaching a plurality of blades to the support arms such that they will deflect during turbine rotation,
- wherein the blades are adapted to operate with at least one of the following:
- a Ca of at least about 1, a β of between about 0.1 and about 0.4, an A/L of between about 1 and about 2, an F of between about 0.4 and about 0.6, and an R of between about 0.2 and about 0.4.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.