Energy Conversion and Management 186 (2019) 267–277

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Energy Conversion and Management

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/enconman

Influence of blade profiles on Savonius rotor performance: Numerical T

simulation and experimental validation
⁎
Nur Aloma, Ujjwal K. Sahab,
a
Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology Meghalaya, Shillong 793003, India
b
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati 781039, India

A R T I C LE I N FO A B S T R A C T

Keywords: In this work, some notable blade profiles of drag-based vertical axis Savonius wind turbine rotor have been
Savonius rotor investigated both numerically and experimentally to judge their performances on a common platform. At the
Semicircular profile outset, 2D unsteady simulation is performed for semicircular, Benesh, modified Bach and elliptical profiles
Benesh profile keeping the overall rotor diameter in each case to be constant. The simulation has been carried out using the
Elliptical profile
Shear Stress Transport k-ω turbulence model with the help of the finite volume solver ANSYS Fluent. The torque
Modified Bach profile
Torque coefficient
and power coefficients, in each case, are estimated as a function of tip speed ratio. The total pressure, velocity
Power coefficient magnitude, and turbulence intensity contours are obtained and analyzed. Finally, wind tunnel tests are con-
SST k-ω turbulence model ducted to validate the numerical results. From the numerical simulation, the maximum power coefficients for the
FVM solver semicircular, Benesh, modified Bach and elliptical profiles are found to be 0.272, 0.294, 0.304 and 0.34, re-
spectively. However, the wind tunnel tests with the semicircular, Benesh, modified Bach and elliptical-bladed
rotors demonstrated the maximum CP to be 0.158, 0.159, 0.162, and 0.19, respectively.

1. Introduction
The worldwide demand for electricity is expected to triple by 2050,
when the fossil fuels account for no more than 60% of all energy con-
sumed, compared to 80% of the energy consumed today. The conven-
tional fossil resources such as oil, natural gas, and coal are nonrenew-
able and they release a huge amount of pollutants into the atmosphere
[1,2]. Wind energy technology plays a significant role in providing an
environmental friendly energy for domestic and industrial applications
[3,4]. Wind provides nearly 4% of global electricity supply and it has
recently become the world’s fastest-growing source of renewables.
Overall, by the end of 2015, there were about 433 GW of wind power
spinning around the globe [5]. During the last few decades, a con-
siderable amount of research has been done on extracting the power
from wind using wind turbines.
Wind turbines are the wind energy converters which can be cate-
gorized into horizontal-axis wind turbines (HAWTs) and vertical-axis
wind turbines (VAWTs). Both the turbines have some advantages and
disadvantages. In comparison to the HAWTs, the VAWTs have the
ability to capture wind from all direction [6,7], where a yaw me-
chanism is not necessary [8,9]. The VAWTs are categorized into the
drag-based Savonius rotor and lift-based Darrieus rotor [10,11]. The
Savonius rotors have lesser efficiency as compared to Darrieus rotors
and HAWTs. However, they have many important rewards such as
structural simplicity, lesser sound level, small operational space, and
good self-starting capability [12,13]. A Savonius rotor operates pri-
marily because of the resulting drag force acting on its blades [14,15],
however, the lift force also contributes to the rotor power production
[16–18]. To augment the rotor performance, the basic structural
parameters of a Savonius rotor such as aspect ratio (AR), overlap ratio
(OR), number of blades, staging as well as blade shapes have been
optimized by several investigators both numerically and experimentally
(see Fig. 1).
The Savonius rotor performance can also be improved by using
augmentation techniques such as nozzle [21] V-shape wedge deflector
[22], deflecting plate [23], curtains [24], venting slots [25] guide vane
[26] and others. The semicircular-bladed rotor was built by cutting a
Flettner cylinder in half and touching sideways [27–34]. The wind
tunnel tests performed by Simonds and Bodek [31] in the Brace Re-
search Institute found that the CPmax is 0.14 at TSR = 0.7. In 1986,
Ushiyama et al. [32] found an improvement of CPmax in Bach type rotor
by 9% over the semicircular-bladed rotor in the range of OR = 0 to 0.3.
Rahai and Hefazi [35] conducted WTTs on semicircular and Benesh
type rotors without and with spanwise slots, and found the CPmax to be
0.27 and 0.31, respectively. Banerjee et al. [36] recognized a different
category of elliptical profile by cutting an ellipse at an angle of 50° and

⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: saha@iitg.ac.in (U.K. Saha).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2019.02.058
Received 23 October 2018; Accepted 9 February 2019
Available online 05 March 2019
0196-8904/ © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
N. Alom and U.K. Saha Energy Conversion and Management 186 (2019) 267–277

Nomenclature OR Overlap Ratio (e/d) [–]

Pturbine actual power produced by the rotor [W]
A frontal area of rotor [m2] R rotational radius of rotor [m]
AR Aspect Ratio (H/D) [–] r radius of pulley attached to the shaft [m]
BR Blockage Ratio [–] s separation gap [m]
CP power coefficient [–] SIMPLE Semi-Implicit Method for Pressure Linked equations [–]
CT torque coefficient [–] SST Shear Stress Transport [–]
CFD Computational Fluid Dynamics [–] T torque generated by the rotor [N·m]
D overall rotor diameter [m] TSR Tip Speed Ratio [–]
De end plate diameter [m] RANS Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes [–]
d chord length of blade [m] V free stream wind speed [m/s]
e overlap distance [m] VAWT Vertical Axis Wind Turbine [–]
F mechanical load applied to rotor shaft [N] WTT Wind Tunnel Test
f blockage correction factor [–] k turbulence kinetic energy [m2/s2]
FVM Finite Volume Method [–] ε energy dissipation rate [m2/s3]
g acceleration due to gravity [m/s2] θ sectional cut angle of ellipse [°]
H height of Savonius rotor [m] φ scalar variable [–]
HAWT Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine [–] ρ density of air [kg/m3]
N rotational speed of rotor [rpm] ω specific dissipation rate [1/s]
Pavailable power available in wind [W] ωs rotor rotational speed [rad/s]

found an enhancement of CP by 10.70% over the conventional semi-
circular profile. Roy and Saha [31], and Roy et al. [23] have developed
a new blade profile from the basic Bach profile, which they named as
the modified Bach profile. Considering the optimum geometric para-
meters, Song et al. [32] found the CPmax, of a fished ridge rotor to be
0.24. Thus, over the years, various rotor profiles have been developed
to improve the performance of the Savonius rotor. However, the geo-
metric and aerodynamic parameters have been different in these stu-
dies. In view of this, the present investigation attempts to analyze nu-
merically and experimentally the performance and flow physics of
Benesh, modified Bach and elliptical profiles/blades besides the semi-
circular profile/blade in a common platform.
profile with the maximum power coefficient (CP). With the goal of
improving the CP various rotor blade profiles, as stated earlier, have
been evolved. In the present investigation, the semicircular, the Benesh
and the recently evolved modified Bach and elliptical profiles have
been chosen to investigate their aerodynamic behavior both numeri-
cally and experimentally. Initially, the unsteady numerical simulations
are conducted with the various rotor profiles using SST k-ω turbulence
model with the help of commercial FVM solver ANSYS Fluent. Finally,
the wind tunnel tests (WTTs) are performed to validate the numerical
results.
1.2. Geometry details of various rotor profiles

1.1. Objective of the present study
The preceding investigation requires that an organized and a de-
tailed study needs to be performed to attain the finest rotor blade
Fig. 2 shows the dimensions of various blade profiles under in-
vestigation. These profiles include two earlier blade profiles such as a
conventional semicircular type, and a Benesh type [37,38] used in the
Savonius rotor. A recently developed elliptical profile has also been
considered in the present study. This profile is evolved from a series of
numerical studies carried out at IIT Guwahati [27,28]. Furthermore, a
profile developed from the basic Bach type rotor, named as modified
Bach profile [27], is also selected for the study. The overall diameter
(D = 210 mm) is kept constant for all the tested profiles [18].

2. Details of the mathematical model

In the present analysis, the Solid works 2016 software is used for the
modelling of the rotor profiles. The models are shown in Fig. 3. The
blade thickness, for all the test cases, is taken as 0.6 mm. The un-
structured triangular grids are generated around the numerical model.
This is for unstructured grids practically offer the opportunity of in-
corporating adaptivity. Also, it offers flexibility in creating a mesh flow
domain for a complex flow problem [39]. The domain consisting of two
parts is divided by a sliding interface: a rotating circular region and a
stationary rectangular region. The diameter of the circular region is
taken as 0.5 m and it is placed at the centre of the domain. The sizes of
the domain are taken as 14D × 6D.
For better precision at the boundary region of the blades, an infla-
tion is provided on the edge of all the rotor profiles with a first layer
thickness of 0.02 mm. The first layer thickness from the blade is cal-
culated [40,41] using the following Eq. (1):
ρut y
y+ =
Fig. 1. Geometric details of Savonius rotor [19,20]. μ (1)

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Fig. 2. Dimension of various blade profiles [27].

of 1.2 (Fig. 4). In the numerical model, the dimensionless wall distance
y+ value is considered to be less than one in the laminar sub-layer
region. This value of y+ is found to be adequate as reported by Roy and
Ducoin [18].

2.1. Grid and time independent tests

The grid and time-independent test have been conducted for the
unsteady simulation. The grid independent test has been performed by
varying the grids from 65,930 to 289,170. The average CT of various
grid sizes are shown in Table 1.
It has observed that CT for 163,984 and 242,832 are almost similar,
hence, the grid with 163,984 elements is considered for all the simu-
lations (Table 1 and Fig. 5). The time step size can be estimated using
the relations (5) and (6) [40]. The total number of degrees rotated per
second (q) is given by
N × 360
q=
60 (5)
If z be the degree by which the domain is rotated per timestep (in
the present case, it is 1), then the length of each time step in second (t)
can be calculated as:
z
t=
q (6)
The time independent test has been performed by varying the time
Fig. 3. Computational models of various rotor blades.
steps from 0.5°/step to 3°/step, as shown in Fig. 6. Several in-
stantaneous CT taken in the range from 0.5°/step to 3°/step have shown
where ut = friction velocity, y+ = non-dimensional parameter, steady behavior. Taking the effectiveness of simulations into con-
y = distance of first node from wall, ρ = density of fluid, µ = viscosity sideration, 1°/step is selected in the optimization process [42]. From
of fluid. Fig. 6 and Table 2, it has been observed that for the higher degree/step
The frictional velocity can be calculated as (2°/step and 3°/step) the average CT is found to be lesser. This is due to
(0.5) the fact that the flow physics near the rotor blades are not captured
τ
ut = ⎜⎛ ω ⎟⎞ properly. As the time step size at 0.5°/step and 1°/step are found to
⎝ρ⎠ (2) have properly captured the flow physics around the rotor, 1°/step is
chosen to reduce the computational time.
where τω denotes the wall shear stress, which can be calculated using
Eqs. (3) and (4).
2.2. Boundary conditions
1
τω = C′f ρV 2
2 (3) As usual, the boundary conditions are allotted to the numerical
model. The left wall is allocated as velocity inlet (V = 6.2 m/s), where
The value of local coefficient of friction C′f is estimated by the em-
the turbulence intensity level is set at 0.04% as governed by the fol-
pirical formula as represented by Eq.
lowing equation [40,43].
C′f = [2 log(Re ) − 0.65]−2.3 (4) V′
I= = 0.16(Re )(−1/8)
The maximum number of inflation layer is 10 with the growth rate V avg (7)

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Fig. 4. Mesh generation for the numerical model.

Table 1
Average CT at various number of elements.
Number of elements Average CT

65,930 0.385
163,984 0.418
242,832 0.425
289,170 0.45

Fig. 6. Time independent test.

Table 2
Average CT at various degree of rotation.
Degree of rotation Average CT

0.5° 0.385
1° 0.41
Fig. 5. Grid independent test. 2° 0.31
3° 0.27

where V′ = root mean square of the velocity of fluctuation,

Vavg = mean flow velocity and Re = Reynolds number.
has better estimation capabilities [45–47]. Hence, this model, com-
The right wall is allocated as the outlet pressure [44]. The rotor
monly used to attain mean properties in the turbulent flow near the
blades are allocated as a no-slip boundary condition. The rotating zone
wall region, is applied in the present study. This model includes the
and non-rotating zone are detached by a sliding interface. The rotation
characteristics of k-є turbulence model to find the values far away from
to the rotating zone is given with respect to TSR. The top and bottom
the wall region [48]. The time step size for the rotor is estimated on the
walls of the domain are allocated as the symmetry boundary conditions
basis of 1°/step rotation of the rotor with respect to the TSR (the time
(Fig. 7).
step size is 0.0004582 s at TSR = 0.6). The simulation is carried out for
6 complete rotations of the rotor, though the quasi-steady state is
2.3. Turbulence model and solver set up achieved after the first rotation. For the numerical simulation, a max-
imum of 20 iterations is selected per time step. The stopping criteria for
The flow field around the Savonius rotor is turbulent in nature. The the solutions are chosen as 10−5. The space and the time components
study conducted by several investigators reveals that the SST k-ω model

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Fig. 7. Details of the boundary conditions [6].

2.4. Estimation of power coefficients

The power coefficients of Savonius rotor comprises of CP and CT. For

the experimental investigation, the rotor torque (T) is estimated by
multiplying the load (F) given to the pulley connected to the rotor and
radius of the pulley (r). The CT and CP are found by the subsequent
equations [52–54].
Pturbine
Cp =
Pavailable (8)

where
1
Pavaialable = ρAV 3
2 (9)

and
2πNT
Pturbine = T × ωs =
60 (10)

Tturbine T F×r
CT = = 1 turbine = 1
Tavaialble
2
ρAV 2R 2
ρAV 2R (11)

For numerical analysis, the CP and CT are obtained by the sub-

sequent equations [55,56].
Pturbine T × ωs T Rωs
CP = = 1 = 1
Pavailable
2
ρAV 3 2
ρAV 2R V (12)

Pturbine
CP = = CT × TSR
Pavailable (13)

3. Numerical results and discussion

Initially, 2D unsteady simulation is carried out and thereafter, WTTs

Fig. 8. Performance coefficients obtained from 2D numerical simulation.
are discretized with the help of the second-order upwind scheme. A
semi-implicit method for pressure linked equations (SIMPLE) scheme is
selected for pressure-velocity coupling for improved stability of solu-
tions [49–51].
are performed on various Savonius rotor blades. The CT and CP are
estimated and discussed with respect to TSR. The numerical variations
of CT and CP are shown in Fig. 8. In the current analysis, it is observed
that the rotational speed of the rotor reduces with the application of
load and hence, the variation of CT reduces with the rise of TSR
(Fig. 8a). From the numerical analysis, the peak CP for the elliptical
profile is observed to be 0.34 at TSR = 0.80; whereas at the same TSR,

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the peak CP is found to be 0.272, 0.294 and 0.304 for the semicircular,
Benesh and modified Bach profiles, respectively (Fig. 8b). The velocity
near the surface of the advancing elliptical profile is higher as compared
to the other profiles. Also, the overlapping flow is found to be more
prominent in the elliptical profile than the other three profiles. Thus,
there is an improvement of CP in the elliptical profile than the semi-
circular, Benesh and modified Bach profiles by 25%, 15.64%, and
11.84%, respectively.
3.1. Velocity contours
The velocity contours of the several rotor profiles are shown in
Fig. 9. The velocity around the surface of the elliptical-bladed profile
observed to be in the range of 5–6 m/s, while the velocity for the other
profiles lies in the range of 4–5 m/s. The formation of wake on the
concave side of returning profile of semicircular, Benesh and modified
Bach profiles is found to be larger than the elliptical profile. Also, there
is a smaller velocity region on the convex side of returning elliptical
profile, indicating its lesser negative drag as compared to the other
profiles. This reflects a higher Cp of the elliptical profile. The region of
maximum velocity at the rotor tip is lesser in the elliptical profile than
the others (Fig. 9d), and as a result, the flow separation is delayed in the
elliptical profile. Further, the improved overlapping flow is observed in
elliptical profile in comparison with the other rotor blade profiles.
Hence, the CT and CP are higher in elliptical profile than the other
profiles.
Fig. 9. Velocity magnitude (m/s) of various rotor profile at TSR = 0.80.
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3.2. Total pressure contours
The total pressure contours of several rotor profiles are shown in
Fig. 10. It is clearly observed that the total pressure in the advancing
elliptical profile is in the range of 40–70 N/m2, however, this is found to
be lesser in other profiles. The low pressure region, forming the re-
circulation behind the advancing profile, is found to be higher in the
semicircular, Benesh and modified Bach profiles in comparison to the
elliptical profile. Also, the region of higher pressure on the convex side
of the returning elliptical profile is lesser as compared to others, and as
a result, the resulting torque is higher in the elliptical profile.
It is obvious from the contours that there is high fluctuation in total
pressures leading the high turbulence behind the rotor blades of semi-
circular, Benesh and modified Bach profiles as compared to the ellip-
tical profile showing a performance improvement of the later. It is
believed that due to higher blade curvature in semicircular-profile, the
flow separation occurs earlier as compared to other profiles with lesser
blade curvature (Fig. 11). The adverse pressure gradient is much higher
at the tip of semicircular, Benesh and modified Bach profiles than the
elliptical profile (Fig. 11). As a result, the flow separation takes place
earlier in all the profiles except the elliptical one showing its higher CP.
3.3. Turbulence intensity contours
Fig. 12 shows the turbulence intensity contours of tested rotor
profiles. It is evident that the turbulence intensity near the elliptical-
profile is lesser and is in the range of 0.06–0.11%. However, the tur-
bulence intensity for semicircular and Benesh profiles are observed to
be in the range of 0.08–0.18%; whereas for the modified Bach profile,
N. Alom and U.K. Saha Energy Conversion and Management 186 (2019) 267–277

Fig. 10. Total pressure (N/m2) contours of various rotor profile at TSR = 0.80.

Fig. 11. Zoomed view of total pressure (N/m2) contours at the rotor tip.

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Fig. 12. Turbulence intensity contours of various rotor profile at TSR = 0.80.

the range of turbulence intensity is found be 0.08–0.16%. Thus, the
magnitude of turbulence intensity is found much lesser in case of the
elliptical profile which reduces the formation of vortices at the down-
stream of the rotor. Also, there is a smooth flow field behind the re-
turning elliptical profile than other profiles. Thus, a higher CP of the
elliptical profile is observed.
3.4. Effect of Reynolds number on the profile performance
In the present investigation, the rotor profiles have been tested
numerically at various Reynolds number, Re = 0.72 × 105, 0.89 × 105
and 1.01 × 105 corresponding to the wind speeds of 5 m/s, 6.2 m/s and
7 m/s. Usually, the CP of the rotor is increased with the increased in Re
[52,57]. The results obtained from the unsteady simulation are shown
in Table 3, and it is observed that with the increase of Re, the CP of the
rotor profile in each case also increases. In the tested Reynolds number,
the elliptical profile demonstrates the maximum CP as compared to
other profiles. The increased CP is due to the fact that for a given rotor
diameter the flow separation around the rotor profiles are delayed at
higher wind speeds and this happens slightly in the lower side of the
returning profile. As a result, there is pressure recovery with the con-
tribution of lift force, thereby enhancing the CT and CP of the rotor
profiles.
4.1. Materials and methods
The wind tunnel tests (WTTs) are performed for the semicircular,
Benesh, modified Bach and elliptical bladed rotors. The schematic
diagram of a wind tunnel is shown in Fig. 13. The test section size
includes 500 mm × 700 mm × 500 mm. The rotor shaft of diameter
12 mm and height 600 mm is mounted on two bearing houses placed in
the rotor stand. The dimension of the two bearing houses are
140 mm × 140 mm having a 30 mm hole at the centre to insert the ball
bearings. A thermal velocity probe anemometer having a range of
0–20 m/s and accuracy of ± 2.0% is used to measure the airspeed at the
inlet to the WTT section. The rotational speed of the rotor is measured
by a digital tachometer having a range of 0–50,000 RPM and accuracy
of ± 1.0%. By varying the mechanical loads (F) given to the rotor shaft
with TSR multiplying with the radius (r) of the pulley mounted on the
shaft [m], the T of the rotor is calculated.
The experimental models are fabricated from the galvanized iron
Table 3
Power coefficient (CP) at various Reynolds number.
Profiles Re = 0.72 × 105 Re = 0.89 × 105 Re = 1.01 × 105
CPmax TSR CPmax TSR CPmax TSR

Elliptical profile 0.292 0.80 0.34 0.80 0.351 0.90

Semicircular 0.25 0.80 0.272 0.80 0.29 0.80
4. Experimental investigation profile
Modified Bach 0.28 0.80 0.304 0.80 0.315 0.90
The experiments are performed for the Savonius rotors in a wind profile
Benesh profile 0.23 0.80 0.294 0.80 0.298 0.80
tunnel with an open type test section to validate the numerical results.

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Fig. 13. Schematic diagram of the low-speed wind tunnel [20,27].

Fig. 14. Tested Savonius rotor blades.

sheet. The overall diameter (D) of the rotor models are kept identical to uncertainties of the experiments are estimated with the help of se-
the numerical models (Fig. 14). The height of the rotors is taken as quential perturbation technique and are calculated to be ± 4.5%,
230 mm. The 5 × 5 matrix locations are chosen to calculate the area and ± 4.8% and 2.9% for CT, CP and T, respectively [58,59].
weight-averaged velocity at the exit of the test section and it is chosen
to be 6.2 m/s so as to compare the numerical results. A variac is used to
4.2. Experimental results and discussion
adjust the voltage and hence the speed of the exhaust fan. The loads are
given to the rotor progressively by using spring balance dynamometer
From the WTTs, the peak CP values for the elliptical-bladed and
(range = 0–2 kg; accuracy ± 0.3%) to calculate the torque, and hen-
semicircular-bladed rotors are found to be 0.19 and 0.158 at
ceforth, the power output of the rotor with respect to TSR. The
TSR = 0.78 (Fig. 15); whereas the peak CP for Benesh and modified

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Fig. 15. Performance coefficients obtained from WTTs.

Fig. 17. Blockage corrected performance coefficients obtained from WTTs.

needs to be considered while conducting the WTTs [20,25]. Roy and

Saha [20] have developed a new correlation for blockage corrections in
the WTT of Savonius rotor in an open type test section, where the
blockage correction factor (f) is used to correct the measured para-
meters such as wind speed (V), mechanical load applied to the turbine
(F), and rotational speed of the turbine (N) [20,25]. An appropriate
Fig. 16. Comparison of numerical and experimental results.
blockage correction factor, f = 4–9% is used corresponding to various
TSRs and BR of 21.16% [20]. With the addition of blockage correction,
Bach rotors are found to be 0.159 and 0.162 at TSR = 0.6 and 0.8, the Cpmax for the semicircular, Benesh, modified Bach and elliptical-
respectively. It is observed from Fig. 15(a) that with the application bladed rotors are found to be 0.154, 0.155, 0.156 and 0.185, respec-
load the torque of the rotor is reduced. This is also observed in the tively (Fig. 17).
present numerical analysis. It is also to be noted that due to the higher
blade curvature of semicircular, Benesh and modified Bach rotors, the
5. Conclusions
flow separation takes place earlier in these rotors. Thus, the elliptical-
bladed rotor demonstrates an enhancement of CP by 20.25%, 19.49%
In the present investigation, the effect of blade profiles on the rotor
and 17.28% as compared to the semicircular, Benesh and modified
performance have been investigated both numerically and experimen-
Bach rotors, respectively.
tally. To begin with, 2D unsteady simulation is carried out with Benesh,
The 2D unsteady results have been validated with the WTTs data
modified Bach and elliptical profiles besides a conventional semi-
(Fig. 16). Nevertheless, the CP is found to be higher in 2D unsteady
circular profile. Numerically, the elliptical-profile demonstrates a peak
results than the experimental results. This is because in 2D unsteady
CP of 0.34 at TSR = 0.8; whereas the semicircular, Benesh and modified
simulation, the effect of the third dimension is ignored, and several
Bach profiles show a peak CP of 0.272, 0.294 and 0.304, respectively at
other losses involved in WTTs such as frictional losses between bearing
the same TSR. The magnitude of maximum velocity is observed near the
and shaft, shaft and pulley, errors in measuring instruments are not
surface of the advancing of the elliptical profile. The overlapping flow is
considered. However, it can be observed that the 2D unsteady numer-
found to be more prominent in elliptical profile than the other profiles.
ical and the experimental results show a similar behavior of CT and CP
Subsequently, WTTs have been conducted to validate the numerical
(Fig. 16).
results. The WTTs show the peak CP of 0.19 and 0.158 for elliptical-
The wind tunnel blockage ratio (BR) is an important parameter that
bladed and semicircular-bladed rotors, respectively at TSR = 0.78,

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while the peak CP for Benesh and modified Bach is found to be 0.159
and 0.162 at TSR = 0.6 and 0.8, respectively. Thus, in the elliptical-
bladed rotor, there is an improvement of CP by 20.25%, 19.49% and
17.28% over the semicircular, Benesh and modified Bach rotors, re-
spectively.
Declaration of interest
We hereby declare that there is no financial and personal relation-
ships with other people or organizations. The work reported is a part of
Ph.D thesis work carried out my Md. Nur Alom, Ph.D student, IIT
Guwahati, India.
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