Turbine wheel with catenary blades
First Claim
1. In a fluid-current motor including an axial-flow turbine wheel having sets of elongated blade structures extending radially from one blade end at a central hub to another end at a blade shroud-ring rim, said shroud ring being retained in a circumferential recess within the throat of a surrounding coaxial nozzle, said nozzle carrying sets of elongated strut structures and sets of elongated strut-vane structures extending inwardly from the inside of the nozzle to any axial wheel-hub-bearing housing associated with said wheel, the improvement comprising:
- providing at least one of said three sets with preshaped tensile members in the form of relaxed catenaries, with catenary bows lying at least partially in the fluid force directions.
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Abstract
A turbine wheel on a horizontal axis is coaxially mounted within a primary nozzle, for support in a fluid current below a platform carrying electrical power generation equipment. The turbine wheel and primary nozzle are submerged and oriented to enable flow of a portion of fluid current through the nozzle and past the turbine wheel.
The turbine wheel comprises a shroud-ring rim, a set of blades extending inwardly toward the axis, the blades being mounted at their outer ends on the inside of the rim, and at their inner ends on the outside of an axial hub. Each blade has its longitudinal tensile elements shaped in the form of part of a relaxed catenary, extending from rim to hub, with sufficient bow in the direction of force of fluid current on the blade to provide a practical wheel of reasonable cost. Struts and strut vanes supporting hub elements within the nozzle may also be of relaxed catenary configuration.
113 Citations
16 Claims
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1. In a fluid-current motor including an axial-flow turbine wheel having sets of elongated blade structures extending radially from one blade end at a central hub to another end at a blade shroud-ring rim, said shroud ring being retained in a circumferential recess within the throat of a surrounding coaxial nozzle, said nozzle carrying sets of elongated strut structures and sets of elongated strut-vane structures extending inwardly from the inside of the nozzle to any axial wheel-hub-bearing housing associated with said wheel, the improvement comprising:
- providing at least one of said three sets with preshaped tensile members in the form of relaxed catenaries, with catenary bows lying at least partially in the fluid force directions.
- View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A turbine wheel for a fluid current motor, in which the fluid current is generally parallel to the axis of the wheel, the wheel being comprised of a shroud-ring rim, and a set of turbine blades extending generally radially between said axis and said rim, wherein each blade of the said set is bowed in the direction of fluid-current motion into the shape of a relaxed catenary figure.
Specification