Optimal Distribution of the Disk Load: Validity of the Betz–Joukowsky Limit

What is it about?

The most important result of the Axial Momentum Theory is the famous Betz-Joukowsky limit stating that the maximum power coefficient achievable by an open turbine is limited to 16/27. The most important weakness of the strategy currently used to identify the Betz-Joukowsky limit is that it does not evaluate the optimum radial distribution of the load, but it directly assumes that the uniform type is the optimal one. This paper removes the a priori assumption on the load distribution and, although in an approximate fashion, proves for the first time that the uniform load distribution is optimal.

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