An experimental evaluation of the interplay between geometry and scale on cross-flow turbine performance

Cross-flow turbines harness kinetic energy in wind or moving water. Due to their unsteady fluid dynamics, it can be difficult to predict the interplay between aspects of rotor geometry and turbine performance. This study considers the effects of three geometric parameters: the number of blades, the preset pitch angle, and the chord-to-radius ratio. The relevant fluid dynamics of cross-flow turbines are reviewed, as are prior experimental studies that have investigated these parameters in a more limited manner. Here, 223 unique experiments are conducted across an order of magnitude of diameter-based Reynolds numbers (≈8×104–8×105) in which the performance implications of these three geometric parameters are evaluated. In agreement with prior work, maximum performance is generally observed to increase with Reynolds number and decrease with blade count. The broader experimental space clarifies parametric interdependencies; for example, the optimal preset pitch angle is increasingly negativ..., This data was collected using custom experimental test rigs at the University of Washington and University of New Hampshire, both of which are described in the supporting manuscript. The raw data for each experiment was processed using custom MATLAB code, and the aggregate time-average and phase-median results for all experiments are provided here., , # Data from: An experimental evaluation of the interplay between geometry and scale on cross-flow turbine performance

Dataset: [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.mpg4f4r8p](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.mpg4f4r8p)
Supporting Article (*Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews*): [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2024.114848](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2024.114848)
Supporting Article (Open-Access on arXiv): [https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2310.20616](https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2310.20616)

## Description of the data and file structure

This dataset represents 223 cross-flow turbine experiments exploring the effects of the Reynolds number, blade count, chord-to-radius ratio, and preset pitch angle on turbine performance. The experimental methods and results are described in detail in our paper: [\"An experimental investigation of the interplay between geometry and scale on cross-flow turbine performance\"](). The experiments were conducted at the University of Washington and the Universit...