Use of calculus of variations to determine the shape of hovering rotors of minimum power and its application to micro air vehicles

In this paper, calculus of variations and combined blade element and momentum theory (BEMT) are used to demonstrate that, in hover, when neither root nor tip losses are considered; the rotor, which minimizes the total power (MPR), generates an induced velocity that varies linearly along the blade span. The angle of attack of every blade element is constant and equal to its optimum value. The traditional ideal twist (ITR) and optimum (OR) rotors are revisited in the context of this variational framework. Two more optimum rotors are obtained considering root and tip losses, the ORL, and the MPRL. A comparison between these five rotors is presented and discussed. The MPR and MPRL present a remarkable saving of power for low values of both thrust coefficient and maximum aerodynamic efficiency. The result obtained can be exploited to improve the aerodynamic behaviour of rotary wing micro air vehicles (MAV). A comparison with experimental results obtained from the literature is presented

Relativistic fluid dynamics: physics for many different scales

The relativistic fluid is a highly successful model used to describe the dynamics of many-particle, relativistic systems. It takes as input basic physics from microscopic scales and yields as output predictions of bulk, macroscopic motion. By inverting the process, an understanding of bulk features can lead to insight into physics on the microscopic scale. Relativistic fluids have been used to model systems as “small” as heavy ions in collisions, and as large as the Universe itself, with “intermediate” sized objects like neutron stars being considered along the way. The purpose of this review is to discuss the mathematical and theoretical physics underpinnings of the relativistic (multiple) fluid model. We focus on the variational principle approach championed by Brandon Carter and his collaborators, in which a crucial element is to distinguish the momenta that are conjugate to the particle number density currents. This approach differs from the “standard” text-book derivation of the equations of motion from the divergence of the stress-energy tensor in that one explicitly obtains the relativistic Euler equation as an “integrability” condition on the relativistic vorticity. We discuss the conservation laws and the equations of motion in detail, and provide a number of (in our opinion) interesting and relevant applications of the general theory