Also: wind turbines, turbine blades, humpback whale tubercles
Wind turbines turn moving air into electricity. Their blades are huge composite structures, and some designs borrow from humpback whale flippers.
Only what the cited papers report.
Values as stated in the cited paper's abstract.
| Property | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Stall delay from tubercles (model flipper) | ~40% | Miklosovic 2004 |
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Veers and colleagues outlined three research challenges for wind energy: atmospheric flow physics, the engineering of very large rotating machines, and controlling fleets of wind plants within the grid.
As reported in: Veers, Dykes, Lantz et al. (2019). Grand challenges in the science of wind energy. Science. doi:10.1126/science.aau2027
Fish and Battle found the humpback whale flipper has a wing-like cross-section with rounded tubercles along its leading edge, which they suggested act as lift-enhancing devices at high angles of attack.
As reported in: Fish, Battle (1995). Hydrodynamic design of the humpback whale flipper. Journal of Morphology. doi:10.1002/jmor.1052250105
Abstract only
Miklosovic and colleagues showed in wind-tunnel tests that leading-edge tubercles on a model humpback flipper delayed stall by about 40% while increasing lift and reducing drag.
As reported in: Miklosovic, Murray, Howle et al. (2004). Leading-edge tubercles delay stall on humpback whale (<i>Megaptera novaeangliae</i>) flippers. Physics of Fluids. doi:10.1063/1.1688341
Abstract only
Mishnaevsky and colleagues reviewed wind turbine blade materials, from standard glass-fibre/epoxy composites to natural, hybrid and nanoengineered composites.
As reported in: Mishnaevsky, Branner, Petersen et al. (2017). Materials for Wind Turbine Blades: An Overview. Materials. doi:10.3390/ma10111285