Mechanical Engineering Commons^™

Field Testing The Effects Of Low Reynolds Number On The Power Performance Of The Cal Poly Wind Power Research Center Small Wind Turbine, John B. Cunningham

Master's Theses

This thesis report investigates the effects of low Reynolds number on the power performance of a 3.74 m diameter horizontal axis wind turbine. The small wind turbine was field tested at the Cal Poly Wind Power Research Center to acquire its coefficient of performance, C­_p, vs. tip speed ratio, λ, characteristics. A description of both the wind turbine and test setup are provided. Data filtration and processing techniques were developed to ensure a valid method to analyze and characterize wind power measurements taken in a highly variable environment. The test results demonstrated a significant drop in the …

Design Of Shape-Conforming Nosecone For Optimal Fluid Flow From Transonic To Supersonic Range, Anna Tombazzi

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Modern flight vehicles, such as rockets, missiles, and airplanes, experience a force caused by forebody wave drag during the flight. This drag force is induced when the frontal point of each vehicle breaks the pressure wave during flight. Efforts to reduce this wave drag force to improve flight efficiency include modifying the nosecone profile of the flight vehicles to lower the drag force.

This project revolved around creating a design to make the transformation of nosecone shapes from a ¾ Parabolic profile to a ½ Power Series profile possible, mid-flight. Using a novel nosecone assembly, shape memory alloys (SMAs) and …