4,091 research outputs found
Skin bank viability analysis
http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/96881/1/MBA_Araya_Arturo_Fall_1999final.pd
Business plan : University of Michigan Hospital, skin bank
http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/96882/1/MBA_Araya_Arturo_Spring_1999Final.pd
Vertical axis wind turbine in a falling soap film
Vertical axis wind turbines (VAWTs) have demonstrated a potential to significantly enhance the efficiency of energy harvesting within a wind farm. One mechanism that contributes to this enhancement is a VAWT’s inherent insensitivity to wind direction coupled with blockage within an array of turbines. Much like the flow around a bluff body, turbine blockage can locally accelerate the flow near one turbine, providing faster inflow conditions for a well-placed neighboring turbine. Since the power produced by a VAWT typically scales as the cube of the incoming wind speed, even a modest acceleration of the flow can have a significant impact on the overall turbine array performance
Turbulence in vertical axis wind turbine canopies
Experimental results from three different full scale arrays of vertical-axis wind turbines (VAWTs) under natural wind conditions are presented. The wind velocities throughout the turbine arrays are measured using a portable meteorological tower with seven, vertically staggered, three-component ultrasonic anemometers. The power output of each turbine is recorded simultaneously. The comparison between the horizontal and vertical energy transport for the different turbine array sizes shows the importance of vertical transport for large array configurations. Quadrant-hole analysis is employed to gain a better understanding of the vertical energy transport at the top of the VAWT arrays. The results show a striking similarity between the flows in the VAWT arrays and the adjustment region of canopies. Namely, an increase in ejections and sweeps and decrease in inward and outward interactions occur inside the turbine array. Ejections are the strongest contributor, which is in agreement with the literature on evolving and sparse canopy flows. The influence of the turbine array size on the power output of the downstream turbines is examined by comparing a streamwise row of four single turbines with square arrays of nine turbine pairs. The results suggest that a new boundary layer forms on top of the larger turbine arrays as the flow adjusts to the new roughness length. This increases the turbulent energy transport over the whole planform area of the turbine array. By contrast, for the four single turbines, the vertical energy transport due to turbulent fluctuations is only increased in the near wake of the turbines. These findings add to the knowledge of energy transport in turbine arrays and therefore the optimization of the turbine spacing in wind farms
Low-order modeling of wind farm aerodynamics using leaky Rankine bodies
We develop and characterize a low-order model of the mean flow through an array of vertical-axis wind turbines (VAWTs), consisting of a uniform flow and pairs of potential sources and sinks to represent each VAWT. The source and sink in each pair are of unequal strength, thereby forming a “leaky Rankine body” (LRB). In contrast to a classical Rankine body, which forms closed streamlines around a bluff body in potential flow, the LRB streamlines have a qualitatively similar appearance to a separated bluff body wake; hence, the LRB concept is used presently to model the VAWT wake. The relative strengths of the source and sink are determined from first principles analysis of an actuator disk model of the VAWTs. The LRB model is compared with field measurements of various VAWT array configurations measured over a 3-yr campaign. It is found that the LRB model correctly predicts the ranking of array performances to within statistical certainty. Furthermore, by using the LRB model to predict the flow around two-turbine and three-turbine arrays, we show that there are two competing fluid dynamic mechanisms that contribute to the overall array performance: turbine blockage, which locally accelerates the flow; and turbine wake formation, which locally decelerates the flow as energy is extracted. A key advantage of the LRB model is that optimal turbine array configurations can be found with significantly less computational expense than higher fidelity numerical simulations of the flow and much more rapidly than in experiments
Recommended from our members
SLM Microscopy: Scanless Two-Photon Imaging and Photostimulation with Spatial Light Modulators
Laser microscopy has generally poor temporal resolution, caused by the serial scanning of each pixel. This is a significant problem for imaging or optically manipulating neural circuits, since neuronal activity is fast. To help surmount this limitation, we have developed a “scanless” microscope that does not contain mechanically moving parts. This microscope uses a diffractive spatial light modulator (SLM) to shape an incoming two-photon laser beam into any arbitrary light pattern. This allows the simultaneous imaging or photostimulation of different regions of a sample with three-dimensional precision. To demonstrate the usefulness of this microscope, we perform two-photon uncaging of glutamate to activate dendritic spines and cortical neurons in brain slices. We also use it to carry out fast (60 Hz) two-photon calcium imaging of action potentials in neuronal populations. Thus, SLM microscopy appears to be a powerful tool for imaging and optically manipulating neurons and neuronal circuits. Moreover, the use of SLMs expands the flexibility of laser microscopy, as it can substitute traditional simple fixed lenses with any calculated lens function
- …