I was wondering
about Flettner Rotors....again
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Suppose...just suppose..that the Flettner Rotor were to be used in a mast aft configuration
while supporting a roller furled foresail?
Reckon how well (if at all) it would work?
Might there be a synergistic effect?
ˈsinərjē/
noun
the interaction or cooperation of two or more organizations, substances, or other agents to produce a combined effect greater than the sum of their separate effects.
well, with some work and experience and also physics calculs it will be possible , you look like a shipmaster @everittdmickey , are you ? :)
I'm a former BB stacker, crypto-weenie, hog farmer, school bus driver, and heavy haul trucker...
does that qualify?
currently I'm rebuilding a small houseboat.
and considering MANY options..
wow !! you are a very professional and experienced man @everittdmickey , much respect to you
That is awesome!!
That is an interesting thought. Off the top of my head, the thrust from the sail is inline with the wind direction, and the thrust from the rotor is at a 90 degree angle from the wind direction. This indicates that tacking would be ... interesting...
Also, I reckon that proximity of the two would, to some degree, interfere, just like windmills too close to one another, or to other obstacles to wind.
Very interesting thought, however. I'd like to see some tests of what happens when it's attempted.
It appears to me that using a bipod aft mast as support and then making a flettner rotor from a hubmotor bicycle wheel
wouldn't be all that hard.
Make a mold around the rim (cardboard would do) then pour in two-part foam. Use that as the base then extend the rotor as high as you want to (twenty feet?) using gorrilla glue and disks cut from rigid foam insulation board...(rope down the middle connected to the axel on one side)... Suspend it from the bipod...then use the electric motor to make it spin...
It should be reversible..
I intend to try it...see how well it works...shouldn't cost more than a couple of hundred dollars (depending on which hub-motor I get..that'd be the most expensive part)
You'll definitely want to increase the compression strength of the base, as foam will lose it's integrity quite easily where bolts or attachments are used to secure it in place. Also, as foam isn't cheap, I suspect that much foam will cost more than the motor. Not sure of what might be less expensive, except perhaps the forms used to pour columns of cement. Sonotubes? can't remember the name, atm... They're basically very strong cardboard, and should suffice for a prototype.
I really like the bicycle hub idea. I've considered using such a hub to make VAWTs.
dammit...steemit at the reply.
I forgot to save it BUT...I got a screen shot in time.
What's a VAWT?
Alas, fiberglass is also expensive.
As long as the foam isn't being used to support the structure through bolts, or some other attachments, the weakness in compression shouldn't be a factor. That builder's foam is expensive too, though. I got a bargain on sheets of 2" 4'x8' insulation, and it was still $50/sheet.
If the diameter of the rotor is 24" you can get 8 disks per sheet, which is 16" in height (prolly 16 1/2" with adhesive). I hope it's less expensive in Tejas!
I haven't seen 2" on sale here...only 1"
dunno what diameter to make the rotor...any ideas for a 30ft boat?
I recall you linking to a site a few weeks ago, when your interest in Flettner Rotors reached me, that included references to one poster in particular with mathematical expertise. I would hate to mislead you with approximations (that I would pull from a posterior orifice) when sound understanding would suit better your purposes.
I'd go with 24" by as tall as practical, and see what happened =p
to which I say hmmmm.
would
or
act as a flettner rotor?
Fabulous one!!!