APPROVED:

Matthew J. Traum, Major Professor

Kuruvilla John, Committee Member
Mitty Plummer, Committee Member
Costas Tsatsoulis, Dean of College of
Engineering
James D. Meernik, Acting Dean of the
Toulouse Graduate School
TESLA TURBINE TORQUE MODELING
FOR CONSTRUCTION OF A DYNAMOMETER AND TURBINE
Tamir Ali Emran, B.S.
Thesis Prepared for the Degree of
MASTER OF SCIENCE


UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS

May 2011
Emran, Tamir Ali. Tesla turbine torque modeling for construction of a dynamometer
and turbine. Master of Arts (Mechanical Engineering), May 2011, 80 pp., 10 tables, 23
illustrations, bibliography, 53 titles.
While conventional turbines have been extensively researched and tested, Tesla and
boundary layer type turbines have not. In order to construct a dynamometer, thermodynamic
flow apparatus and future turbines, we modeled the Tesla turbine using theoretical calculations
and preliminary experiments. Thus a series of experiments were run to determine stall torque
and maximum run speed for a known pressure range. This data was then applied to modeling
formulas to estimate stall torque over an extended range of variables. The data were then used
to design an appropriate dynamometer and airflow experiment. The model data also served to
estimate various specifications and power output of the future turbine.
An Obi Laser SSTG001 Tesla turbine was used in the experiments described.
Experimental stall torque measurements were conducted in two stages. Shaft speed
measurements were taken with an optical laser tachometer and Tesla turbine stall torque was
measured using a spring force gauge. Two methods were chosen to model Tesla turbine stall
torque: 1) flow over flat plate and 2) free vortex with a sink. A functional dynamometer and
thermodynamic apparatus were constructed once the model was confirmed to be within the
experimental uncertainty. Results of the experiments show that the experimental turbine at 65
PSI has a speed of approximately 27,000 RPM and a measured stall torque of 0.1279 Nm. 65
PSI is an important data point because that data set is the cutoff from laminar to turbulent
flow. Thus at 65 PSI, a rejection of the null hypothesis for research question one with respect to
the flow over flat plate method can be seen from the data, while the vortex model results in a
failure to reject the null hypothesis. In conclusion, the experimental turbine was seen to have a
laminar and a turbulent flow regime at different air pressures, rather than the assumed laminar
flow regime.
As a result of this model work, a new Tesla turbine of different dimensions was designed
to adjust for flaws in the experimental turbine. The theoretical stall torque models were then
applied to the new Tesla turbine design. Results of the models show that the vortex model sets
the upper bound for theoretical stall torque for the new and the flat plate flow model sets the
lower bound.
ii

Copyright2011
by
TamirEmran
iii

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Iwouldliketothankmythesisadvisor,Dr.MatthewJ.Traum,whoIamgreatlyindebted
toforspendingmanyhoursrevising,providingvaluableadviceandencouragingmethroughout
my thesis research. I should not forget to thank Dr. Traum for providing me with funding
through my course of study, without which would have made this research a very difficult
undertaking.
IwouldalsoliketothankMr.DougBurns,ourtechnicianintheMechanicalandEnergy
Engineering Department, and Mr. Bobby Grimes, laboratory manager of the Engineering
Technology Department, for providing me with technical support and hardware assistance
throughoutmythesisresearch.
I would like to acknowledge that this research was funded in part by the National
Science Foundation Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program (NSF Grant
NumberEEC100485)andbytheCenterfortheStudyofInterdisciplinarityattheUniversityOf
North Texas http://www.csid.unt.edu/. Additional UNT support was provided to Dr. Traum
throughtheJuniorFacultySummerResearchFellowship,theResearchInitiationGrantProgram
and by the Department of Mechanical and Energy Engineering. I gratefully acknowledge Solar
Logic, Inc. of Muenster, TX, which provided a Teslaturbinefocused summer coop experience
that,inpart,motivatedthisresearch.
I also acknowledge and thank Mr. William Tahil for providing a useful insight into the
modeling and operation of a Tesla Turbine, and to Paul Stoffregen, whose Teensy
Microcontroller greatly simplified and miniaturized the Hall Effect Tachometer that I
constructed.
iv

Finally,Iwouldliketothankmyparentsandmybrotherswhohavebeenacontinuous
sourceofinspirationforme.
v

TABLEOFCONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.....................................................................................................................iii
LISTOFTABLES................................................................................................................................ix
LISTOFILLUSTRATIONS...................................................................................................................ix
CHAPTER1BACKGROUND..............................................................................................................1
1.1 Introduction......................................................................................................................1
1.2 StatementofProblem......................................................................................................4
1.4 ResearchQuestion...........................................................................................................5
1.5 LiteratureReview.............................................................................................................6
1.6 TheoryofOperation.........................................................................................................9
1.7 Assumptions...................................................................................................................12
1.8 Limitations......................................................................................................................13
CHAPTER2EXPERIMENTALMETHOD...........................................................................................14
2.1 TestApparatusandMeasurementTechniques.............................................................14
2.1.1 ForceandSpeedExperiments................................................................................14
2.1.2 AirLeakageExperiment..........................................................................................19
2.2 StallTorqueAnalyticalCalculation.................................................................................20
2.2.1 FlowoverFlatPlate.................................................................................................20
2.2.2 VortexMethod........................................................................................................24
vi

2.2.3 MomentofMomentumMethodforaCentrifugalPump......................................26
2.2.4 FrictionalTorque,AcceleratingTorqueandAngularDeceleration........................27
2.3 ConstructionoftheDynamometer................................................................................28
2.4 DesignofProtectiveShield............................................................................................33
2.5 ConstructionofThermodynamicFlowApparatus.........................................................34
2.6 ExperimentswithDynamometerandFlowApparatus..................................................37
CHAPTER3RESULTSANDDISCUSSION........................................................................................39
3.1 PreliminaryExperimentalResults..................................................................................39
3.2 AirLeakageExperimentalResults..................................................................................42
3.3 FlowOverFlatPlateTheoreticalModelResults............................................................42
3.4 VortexMethodResults...................................................................................................44
3.5 Observations..................................................................................................................47
CHAPTER4CONCLUSIONS............................................................................................................49
CHAPTER5FUTURETURBINEDESIGN..........................................................................................50
APPENDIXAEXPERIMENTALRESULTS..........................................................................................56
APPENDIXBEXPERIMENTALAPPARATAE.....................................................................................61
B1 PreliminaryExperimentalApparatus.........................................................................62
B2 DynamometerApparatus...........................................................................................62
APPENDIXCPROEWILDFIREDRAWINGS....................................................................................63
vii

C1 EducationalTurbine....................................................................................................64
C2 ElectricDynamometer................................................................................................65
C3 AirFlowApparatus.....................................................................................................66
C4 BrakeDynamometer..................................................................................................67
C5 FutureTeslaTurbineDesign.......................................................................................68
APPENDIXDDESIGNOFOTHERCOMPONENTS.......................................................................69
D1 Tachometer................................................................................................................70
D2 LabViewTemperatureMeasurementProgram.........................................................73
BIBLIOGRAPHY..............................................................................................................................75

viii

LISTOFTABLES
Table1:Experimentalturbinedimensions,constantsandnumberofnozzles...........................19
Table2:Experimentalforce,speedandtorquedata...................................................................41
Table3:Airleakagevs.airpressure.............................................................................................42
Table4:Excerptoftableofflatplateflowmodel,testofnullhypothesis..................................43
Table5:Excerptoftableofvortexmodel,testofnullhypothesis...............................................45
Table6:Futureturbinedimensions,constantsandnumberofnozzles......................................54
TableA1:Completetableofexperimentalforce,speedandtorquedata...................................57
TableA2:Completetableofflatplateflowmodel,testofnullhypothesis.................................58
TableA3:Completetableofvortexmodel,testofnullhypothesis.............................................59
TableA4:FutureTeslaturbinestalltorquemodel.......................................................................60
ix

LISTOFILLUSTRATIONS

Figure1:Teslaturbinefrontandsidecutawayviews..................................................................10
Figure2:Teslaturbineduringspeedmeasurementexperiment................................................15
Figure 3: Simple Tesla turbine static torque measurement configuration showing spring gauge
alignment......................................................................................................................................18
Figure4:TheanalyticalstatictorquemodelsimplifiesthegeometryofaTeslaturbinediskby
imaginingitseparatedintofourflatplates..................................................................................21
Figure5:Completeddynamometer..............................................................................................32
Figure6:Assembleddynamometer..............................................................................................32
Figure7:Thermodynamicflowapparatusairflowdiagram........................................................35
Figure8:Airflowapparatus,frontview.......................................................................................38
Figure9:Acomparisonbetweentheboundingvaluesofthesimpleanalyticalmodelandthe
measuredstalltorquedatarevealsreasonableagreementgiventheliberalassumptions
inherentinthemodel...................................................................................................................41
Figure10:Airpressurevs.flatplateflowmethodtorque...........................................................44
Figure11:Airpressurevs.vortexmethodtorque........................................................................46
Figure12:Experimental,flatplateflowandvortexstalltorque..................................................46
Figure13:Futureturbine,flatplateflowandvortexstalltorque................................................55
FigureC1:EducationalTeslaturbine............................................................................................64
FigureC2:Electricdynamometer.................................................................................................65
FigureC3:Airflowapparatus.......................................................................................................66
FigureC4:Brakedynamometer....................................................................................................67
FigureC5:FutureTeslaturbinedesign.........................................................................................68
FigureD1:TeensytachometerPCBdiagram................................................................................70
FigureD2:16x2LCDdisplayscreenfortachometer.....................................................................71
x

FigureD3:TachometercomposedofaTeensymicrocontrolleronabreadboard,withwires
connectedtothesensorsandtheLCDscreen.ThereisaSocketmobilebatterypackfor
extendeduseawayfromapowerplug........................................................................................71
FigureD4:LabViewprograminterface.........................................................................................72
FigureD5:LabViewprogramcode................................................................................................73

CHAPTER1
BACKGROUND*
1.1 Introduction

ItwasdesiredtoconstructadynamometerandsubsequentmicroTeslaturbinefor
experimentalpurposes.Theturbineusedtogenerateexperimentaldatafortheoreticalmodels
inthisthesiswaspurchasedfromObiLaserProducts.Thebaseassumptionforexperiments
withtheTeslaturbineisNikolaTeslasstatementthathisturbinehadthecapabilitiestoachieve
highefficiencies.IseektodesignaturbinethatwillincreasecurrentTeslaturbineefficienciesto
reachthosepredictedbyTeslahimself.Evenraisingefficienciestobehigherthancurrent
efficiencieswillbeaconsiderableachievement.Ialsoseektominiaturizetheturbineforusein
geothermalpowerplantsaswellasforuseinmobilepowerpacksandasbloodpumps.[1,2,
23]
Whileconventionalturbineshavebeenextensivelyresearchedandtested,Teslaand
boundarylayertypeturbineshavenot.Inordertoconstructadynamometer,andthe
subsequentturbine,wemodeledtheTeslaturbineusingtheoreticalcalculationsand
preliminaryexperiments.Athermodynamicflowexperimentwasalsorequiredtoanalyzethe
efficiencyoftheturbinewithrelationtoinputandoutputairflow.Aseriesofpreliminary
experimentswereruntodeterminestalltorqueandmaximumrunspeed.Thenthisdatawas
appliedtomodelingformulastoestimatestalltorqueoveranextendedrangeofvariables.The

*PortionsofthischapterarereproducedfromT.Emran,M.Traum,M.DeMay,C.Stallings,andR.Alexander.
MethodtoAccuratelyEstimateTeslaTurbineStallTorqueforDynamometerLoadSelection.ASMEECTC
Conference.Oct2010,withpermissionfromtheAmericanSocietyofMechanicalEngineers.[10]
2

datawerethenusedtodesignanappropriatedynamometerandairflowexperiment.The
modeldataalsoservedtoestimatevariousspecificationsandpoweroutputofthefuture
turbine.
Availablemoderndiagnosticinstrumentsforsmallrotatingenginesbelow35kilowatts
(kW),thepoweroutputwheremanyresearchTeslaturbinesoperate,includeonly
dynamometersdesignedtomeasurehightorque,lowangularvelocityinternalcombustion
engines(IC).[3,4,5,6]Thesesmallcommercialdynamometers,meantforICengines,arenot
competentforTeslaturbinetestingasthedynamometercutintorqueexceedstheTesla
turbinestalltorque.Cutinreferstothetorquerequiredtobeginturningthedynamometer,
whilestallreferstoaloadtorqueslightlyhigherthanwhattheturbinecangenerateata
particularsetpoint,whichcausesitsrotationtoslowbelowadesirablelevelorevenstop.
Moreover,commercialdynamometersforsmallICenginescannotwithstandthehighangular
velocitiesTeslaturbinesproduce.CouplingconventionaldynamometerstoTeslaturbinesoften
requiresamechanicaladvantagesystem(i.e.,pulleysorgears),whichintroducetheirown
frictionlossesthatmustbequantifiedseparately.Asaresult,mostTeslaturbineresearch
beginswithdevelopmentofacustombuilthighspeed,lowtorquedynamometer.[5,6,7,8]
OptionsfordynamometerconstructionincludethePronybrake,thewaterbrake,
electromagneticbrakeandtheelectricdynamometer.Mostofthesemethodsarenotcapable
ofhandlingveryhighspeeds,noraretheycapableofhandlingverylowpoweroutputs.[9]
Thus,forthisresearchandourexperiments,wedecideduponanelectricmotorforuseinour
dynamometer.
3

OnerelativelyinexpensiveapproachtocustomTeslaturbinedynamometerdesignisto
drivetheshaftofacommercialofftheshelfelectricmotor.Thisapproachenables
measurementofturbinetorqueoutputbyeither1)measuringtheshafttorquedirectlyatthe
shaftcouplingor2)measuringtheforcerequiredtopreventthemotorhousingfromrotating.
Differentmotorloadsaresettoextractaturbinepowercurveasafunctionoftorqueor
angularvelocity.AnopticalorHallEffectsensormeasuringangularvelocityoftheshaft
providestheremainingneededinformationtosolveforpower.Asacorollary,togenerate
electricalpowerfromaTeslaturbine,ahighspeedelectricgeneratorcouldbecoupledtothe
powershaft.
OnedifficultyincouplinganelectricmotororgeneratortoaTeslaturbinefordiagnostic
orpowergenerationapplicationsisthattheelectricmotor/generatorcutintorquemight
exceedtheTeslaturbinesstalltorque.Thesameproblemariseswhentryingtomatea
conventionalICenginedynamometertoaTeslaturbine.Tospecifyanappropriate
motor/generatorfordiagnosticsorpowergeneration,aninexpensiveandstraightforwardTesla
turbinestalltorquecalculationmethodisneededtoensureturbinestalltorqueexceeds
motor/generatorcutinspeedatdesiredsetpointconditions.Moreover,tofacilitateinformed
engineeringdesignofbothTeslaturbinesandtheirassociateddynamometers(orgenerators),
developmentofapredictiveanalyticaltechniqueforstalltorqueestimationisneeded.
Inthisthesis,asimple,accurate,andinexpensivetechniqueformeasurementofTesla
turbinestalltorqueisreported,anditisfollowedbymultiplesupportinganalyticalmethods
thatpredictstalltorqueasafunctionofdesiredturbinesetpointparameters.Severalofthese
mentionedapproachesaredescribedinthepapersubmittedtotheASMEECTC2010
4

conference[10].Thequantitativeresultsarisingfromthesetechniquesarecomparedtoeach
othertoprovidevalidationandthenusedtoselectanappropriatebrushlessDCmotorfora
customdynamometerthatisslatedforfutureTeslaturbinetesting.Athermodynamic
efficiencyapparatuswasconstructedtodeterminetheefficiencyoftheTeslaturbine.Results
fromthefirstexperimentaredescribedinChapter3.1,whiledataisincludedinAppendixA,B1
andD3.Thesecondexperimenthasyettobeconducted,astheapparatusisnotcompleted,
buthasbeensignificantlypreparedsuchthatexperimentscanproceedassoonasthe
apparatusiscompleted.Basedonconclusionsmadefromtheseexperiments,amicroTesla
turbineisbeingdesignedwiththeintentionofconstruction,suchthatfutureresearchcanbe
conductedwiththisnewdesign.ApreliminarydesignofthisturbineisincludedinAppendixC4.

1.2 StatementofProblem
Theproblemaddressedinthisresearchisthelackofalowcosthighspeedlowtorque
dynamometer.Toconstructthisdynamometer,weneedtocalculatestalltorqueofthe
experimentalTeslaturbinewewishtotest.Currently,publishedresearchdoesnotdiscusshow
toconstructhighspeedlowtorquedynamometers,nordoesitdiscusshowtoderiveTesla
turbinestalltorquecalculations.

1.3 Purpose
Thepurposeofthisresearchwastotestthecurrentexperimentalturbineinorderto
determineitsoperatingcharacteristics.Thisknowledgecanbeappliedtodesignandbuild

AmericanSocietyofMechanicalEngineersEarlyCareerTechnicalConference,2010
5

futureTeslaturbines.Thustotestourturbine,weplannedtoconstructadynamometer.Since
existingliteratureprovidesnoguidanceoncalculatingTeslaturbinestalltorque,wesoughtto
developanexperimentalmethodandmultipletheoreticalmethodstoestimatestalltorque.

1.4 ResearchQuestion
Thereweretworesearchquestionsaddressedbythisthesis.Thefirstquestion
addressesthetheoreticalmethods:
1. WillthetheoreticalmodelsestimateTeslaturbinestalltorquewithinexperimental
uncertaintyoverarangeofinletairpressures?
Thisquestionhasacorrespondingnullhypothesis1 (B
0
)
1
:thetheoreticalmodelsdo
notaccuratelyestimatethestalltorque.Thisresearchquestionalsohasanalternatehypothesis
1 (B
a
)
1
:themodelsdoaccuratelyestimatethestalltorquesuchthatdataiscomparablewith
experimentaldata.
Thesecondresearchquestiondealswiththedynamometerconstruction.Thisresearch
questionalongwithresearchquestion1helpeddetermineaTeslaturbinedesignthatimproves
uponthecurrentturbinedesign.Researchquestion2was:
2. Willwebeabletoconstructahighspeedlowtorquedynamometerbasedontheresultswe
gather?
Thisquestionhasacorrespondingnullhypothesis2 (B
0
)
2
:thedatadonotprovideenough
informationtoconstructafunctionaldynamometer.Likewise,thisresearchquestionhasan
alternatehypothesis2 (B
a
)
2
:afunctionaldynamometerwasconstructedbasedontheresults
gathered.
6

1.5 LiteratureReview
DespitetheextensivebodyofliteratureonTeslaturbinemodeling,design,andtesting
(anexcellentrecentreviewisgivenbyRice[11,12])noliteraturecouldbefoundreporting
Teslaturbinestalltorquemeasurementorpredictiveanalysistechniques.
TheinitialTeslaturbineinventionandpatentdisclosure[3,4]hasgeneratedprolific
academicresearchonbladelessturbinedesign,diagnostics,andoptimization.AfterTeslas
patentexpired,Leaman[8]experimentedusingafourdiskTeslaturbinewithanovelhollow
powershaftallowingforfluidexhaust.Heevaluateddifferentdisksurfacefinishesandnozzle
configurationstomaximizeefficiencyresultinginaparabolicrelationshipbetweenangular
velocityandefficiencywithapeakefficiencyof8.6%at85.75watts(0.115HP).Thisearlywork
laidthefoundationforover50yearsofsubsequentresearch.
Beans[13]analyzedthesimilaritiesbetweenTeslaturbinesanddragturbines.Henoted
thatbecausenoliftisgeneratedineitherconfiguration,boththeseturbinetypesrotateno
fasterthantheonsetfluidvelocity;akeyphenomenonappliedtothestalltorqueanalysis
presentedinthiscurrentpaper.Murataetal.[14]analyzedwhetherflowbetweenTesla
turbinedisksislaminarorturbulentandfoundthattheflowislaminarwithintheturbine
exceptontheinnerandouterdiskperipherieswhereinsteadtheyobservedvortexflow.Based
onthisanalysis,theanalyticalmodelsusedinthispaperassumelaminarflowbetweenthe
disks.Recentimprovementsincomputermodelingcapabilityenablevisualizationandanalysis
offlowinsidetheTeslaturbinehousing.
7

Forexample,Harwood[15]simulatedinternalTeslaturbineflowsusingANSYSsoftware
tocorroboratetheobservedresultsofMurataetal.[14]bydemonstratingexistenceofinternal
Teslaturbinevortexrotationalflowstructuresandbackpressure.Harwood[15]alsofoundthat
peakTeslaturbineefficiencyisachievedatlowReynoldsnumber,whichfurthervalidatesthe
assumptionoflaminarflowusedinthisanalysisasadesirableTeslaturbineoperating
condition.
Guidanceforthedynamometerexperimentalapparatusdescribedinsection2.3was
gleanedfromHoyaandGuhawhocomprehensivelydescribedhowtodesignandbuildaTesla
turbineanddiagnosticTeslaturbinedynamometer.[7]Theyalsodiscussedhowtodesignan
experimenttotesttheefficiencyoftheirturbine.
Mr.TahildiscussedhowflowinaTeslaturbineoperatesasseenwithhisFlowoverFlat
Platemethod,andhisVortexmethod[16,17].Thesederivationsprovedthattherewasin
factsomeoneelsethathadattemptedasimilarderivationtoouranalysis.However,itis
importanttonotethatTahilsderivationsarespecifictosteadystatetorque,whileour
derivationsarespecifictostalltorque.Tahilsworkhelpedtestourassumptionsandverifythat
ourmethodmaywork.
Dr.RiceexperimentedwithTeslaturbinesalso,andgaveaninsightastomaximum
efficienciespossible,andvariousdesignsthatgivethebestresults.Hisresearchalsogavean
insightastohowtoconductanexperimentwithaTeslaturbine,andwhataveragedatato
expectwhenexperimentingwithaTeslaturbine.Dr.Ricesresearchpavedthewayformore
extensiveresearchondisksurfaceroughness,nozzlesize,disksizeanddiskthickness,andhow
theyrelatetoperformance.[11,12]
8

In1962,BreiterandPohlhausenresearchedTeslatypeturbinesandpumpsatthe
AeronauticalResearchLaboratoryattheOfficeforSponsoredResearch,whichisadivisionof
theUnitedStatesAirForce.Theirresearchinvestigatedviscousflowbetweenparallelrotating
plates.Itwasfoundthatflowhassimilaritiestocentrifugalpumps.Amodelwasderivedto
estimatethevelocityprofilebetweenthedisks.Pumpefficiencywascalculatedusingthegain
oftotalpressureandthemeasuredtorqueoftheshaft.[18]
In1972,LawndesignedamodelforlaminarflowofanincompressibleNewtonianfluid
betweenparallelrotatingdisks.Thismodelaccountedforvelocityprofilesandperformance
dataofthedevicebeingmodeled.Dimensionlesscharacteristicdatawasfoundusingthe
model;thesisdatawerethenusedasfunctionsofReynoldsnumbertocreateperformance
mapstocomparewithotherdevicesmodeled.[19]
In1976,MurataandYukatadiscoveredthatdiskfrictionpumpsonlyworkinlaminar
regimes,exceptforflowontheinnerandouterperipheriesofthedisks.Theydesignedamodel
toestimateperformanceoftheirpumps,andcomparedthattheoreticaldatawithexperimental
data.[14]
In2004,Kusumbalaidthefoundationsfordevelopingacostefficientalternativeto
moreexpensivedynamometersavailableonthemarket.Hisresearchgavebackgroundonthe
differencesbetweenvariousdynamometertypes,andwhichdesignworksbestforhighangular
velocityandlowtorqueapplications.Thisresearchalsodiscussedtheuseofpermanentmagnet
motorsfortesting,andhowtocontrolthemtodetermineexactfeedbackofperformance.[8]
Againin2004,Ladinopublishedapaper,inwhichheusedacomputationalfluid
dynamicstooltomodeltheflowinsideaTeslaturbine.Simulationswereconductedusing
9

laminarandturbulentregimestodeterminehowtheseflowtypeshaveaneffectonthe
turbine,andwhichofthetwotypesismoreprevalent.Resultsshowthathis2Dtwodiskmodel
hasalaminarflowregime,whichcorrelateswithotherresearchconductedinthisfield.[20]
In2006,Coutoetal.introducedworkonTeslaturbineoperationprinciplesaswellasa
theoreticalestimateforthenumberofdisksinaturbine.Thisresearchwasusedofteninthe
designofthefutureturbinedescribedinthisthesis.Thepaperalsodiscussedturbine
performanceandhowitrelatestoboundarylayertheory.[21]Ofcourse,noreviewoftheTesla
turbineliteraturewouldbecompletewithoutacknowledgingtheprolificandongoing
contributionsofSwithenbank[22]tothisfield.
Finally,in2010,Emranetal.derivedamodeltoestimatestalltorqueofTeslaturbinesin
ordertodesignahighspeed,lowtorquedynamometer.Adynamometerwassubsequently
constructedtotestTeslaturbineperformance.Finally,anewturbinedesignwasdrawnina
CADprogramtocorrectdeficienciesintheeducationalturbineusedforpreliminary
experiments.[10]

1.6 TheoryofOperation
Teslaturbinesarebladelessrotatingturbomachinerycomponentsthattransform
enthalpyinaworkingfluidintoshaftwork.[37,9,11,16,17,2326]Whiletheirpurposeis
identicaltoconventionalgasturbines,themechanismofenergyconversioninTeslaturbinesis
verydifferent.Conventionalgasturbinesexpandtheworkingfluidoveraerodynamicblades,
producingaliftforceoneachbladethatinducestorqueaboutarotatingdriveshaft.Tesla
turbinesrelyonfluidshearingforceattheinterfacebetweentheworkingfluidandaninternal
10

setofbladelessdiskstogeneratetorqueaboutthedriveshaft,asshowninAppendixB1,
FiguresB2andB3.[37,9,11,12,13,16,17,19,27]
Asflowenterstheturbine,thefluidinteractswiththesurfaceofthedisksthroughthe
boundarylayereffectandadhesiontoenableashearingstressonthesurfaceofthedisks.A
cutawayviewoftheturbineisshowninFigure1togetabetterunderstandingofthis
explanation.Thereforethisshearingstressinducesaforce,whichinturncreatesrotationinthe
turbine.Thusinitiallyastheturbineisstalled,preliminaryrotationisresultsfromflowoverflat
plate,otherwiseknownasBlasiusflow.[1]Sincethereisapressuregradientbetweentheinlet
nozzleandthecenterofthedisks,wheretheinletisathigherpressurethanthecenterofthe
disks,arotatingsourcesinkflowconfigurationoccurs,whichinducesavortex.Thevortex
combinedwiththeboundarylayereffectthenacceleratestheturbinetosteadystate.[3,4,7,
9,11,16,17]
Figure1:SchematicTeslaturbinefrontandsideviews.
Output
Shaft


TurbineDisks
Spacers
SIDEVIEW(Cutaway)

INPUTNOZZLE
TURBINECASING
TURBINE
DISKS
TURBINESHAFT



FLUID
FLOW
FRONTVIEW
(Cutaway)
EXHAUSTPORTS


11

ConventionalgasturbinesandTeslaturbinesmanifestpoweroutput,P,verydifferently;
Pistheproductoftorque,,andangularvelocity,,asseeninEq.1.1.
P = [1.1]
EvenifaconventionalgasturbineandTeslaturbineweregeneratingthesamepoweroutput,
thewaythisoutputwouldbemeasuredandutilizedisdifferent.Conventionalbladedgas
turbinesproducerelativelyhightorqueandlowangularvelocitycomparedtoTeslaturbines,
whichtypicallyproducelowtoqueathighangularvelocity.
AnotherfactorinTeslaturbineoperation,isentropicexpansion,operatesusing
fundamentalthermodynamicprinciples.ThisassumptionismadebasedonworkdonebyRice,
Tahilandothers,whoseresearchhasproventhatisentropicexpansionoccursasairentersthe
turbine.[10,19,2628]Asflowenterstheturbine,airexpandswithintheturbine,thus
droppingpressure.Weassumethevolumeofairstaysconstant,whereastemperatureand
pressurecanchange.Theequations1.2,1.3,and1.4highlightthisrelation.[1,14,2830]
c
p
ln _
I
2
I
1
] = R - ln _
P
2
P
1
] [1.2]

P
2
P
1
= _
I
1
I
2
]
y

[1.3]

y =
c
p
c

[1.4]
Where
I
1
isthetemperatureoftheairattheinletoftheturbine
I
2
isthetemperatureoftheairattheoutletoftheturbine
12

P
1
isthepressureoftheairattheinletoftheturbine
P
2
isthepressureoftheairattheoutletoftheturbine
I
1
isthevolumeoftheairattheinletoftheturbine
I
2
isthevolumeoftheairattheoutletoftheturbine
c
p
isthespecificheatcapacityatconstantpressureoftheair
c

isthespecificheatcapacityatconstantvolumeoftheair
R isthegasconstantofair

1.7 Assumptions
Severalassumptionsforourresearchneedtoberecognized:
IncompressibleFlow
InviscidFlowwithregardstotheVortexmodel
BlasiusFlowasopposedtoCouetteorPoiseuilleflow
Multiplediskgapshaveaneffectonflow
Tangentialspeedofthedisksisequaltotheinletspeedoftheair.
Constructionofthedynamometerwasconsideredtobeconsistentwithtechniques
usedinthefieldbecauseourdesigncloselyresembledotherdynamometerdesigns,
exceptthatoursishighspeedlowtorque.
ProEngineerWildFireisanindustryacceptedCADprogramforallourdesigns,sowe
arewithinindustrystandardsintheeventthisresearchistobeduplicatedinthefuture.

13

1.8 Limitations
Afewlimitationsforourresearchneedtoberecognized:
Adheringtoindustrystandardswithdesignandconstructionofcomponents,limited
ourabilitytocreatemoresophisticateddesigns.
Machiningoperationslimitournozzledimensionstobenosmallerthanourtools,thus
wecouldnotdesigncomponentsthatwerenotmachinableinourmachineshop.
Sincetheexperimentalturbineexhaustairspeedisbelowthespeedofsound,Mach1,
therearelimitedoptionsforTeslaturbineapplications.
14

CHAPTER2
EXPERIMENTALMETHOD*

2.1 TestApparatusandMeasurementTechniques
2.1.1 ForceandSpeedExperiments
AnObiLaserSSTG001Teslaturbine[31]wasusedintheexperimentsheredescribed.
Thisturbineismadeofstainlesssteelandcontainsfourdisksof37.6millimeter(mm)outer
radius(R
outc
)and34.0mminnerradius(R
nnc
)eachspacedapartby5.0mmstarshaped
spacers.Theturbinehasfourairinletsevenlyspacedaroundtheperiphery,andithasfour
outletportsnearthecenter.Thepowershaftradiusis4.0mm.Thespecificdiskandnozzle
shapesareshownintheProEdrawingfortheeducationalturbineinAppendixC1;these
detailedgeometricfeaturesdonotimpactthegeneralexperimentaloranalyticalresults.
Shopairatconstantpressurewasintroducedtotheexperimentalapparatusthrougha
regulatorfiltercombinationthatkeptthesupplylinepressurizedbetween90and120pounds
persquareinch(PSI)regardlessoftheflowdemandfromtheturbine.Asmallercontrol
regulatorconnectedtotheturbineinletmanifoldprovidedpreciseturbineinletpressure
adjustment;duringtheexperiment,thecontrolregulatorwasadjustedfrom15PSIto85PSIin
5PSIincrementstoestablishtherangeofexperimentalsetpoints.Thepressureregulatorset
pointuncertaintywas2.5PSI.85PSIwasneverexceededtoensurefluctuationsinthesupply
linepressure(90120PSI)didnotadverselyimpactresults.Theinletmanifoldsplittheflow

*PortionsofthischapterarereproducedwithpermissionfromASME.[10]
15

fromtheregulatorintofourpathsanddeliveredtheworkingfluidtoeachoftheturbineinlets
asshowninFigure2.
Figure 2: Tesla turbine during speed measurement experiment, with four input
nozzlesconnectedtomanifold.Pressureregulatorisseenthebackground,while
thelasertachometerisseenintheforeground.
Experimentalstalltorquemeasurementsproceededintwostages.First,theturbinewas
setuptospinwithnoloadontheshaft.Outputshaftangularvelocityfortheturbinewas
determinedusingaNeiko20713Adigitallaserphototachometerthatregisteredtherotational
frequencyofapieceofblackelectricaltapefixedtotheshaft.Foreachpressuresetpointfrom
15to85PSI,20uniquerotationalfrequencydatapointsweretaken,androtationalvelocitywas
calculatedfromshaftgeometry.Theaverageofthese20readingswasthereportedangular
velocitywhilethestandarddeviationamongthemwasthereportedmeasurementuncertainty.
16

Atfirstglance,itmayseemoddtomeasureaturbinesstalltorquebyallowingittorun
unloaded:theantithesisofthestallcondition.However,astherewasnodirectmeansto
measuretheinternalturbineflowvelocityfromtheinletnozzles,unloadedturbinedisklinear
velocityatR
outer
approximatedthefluidflowvelocity.Asmentionedabove,Beans[13]argued
thatthelinearvelocityoftheouteredgeofaTeslaturbinediskcannotexceedinternalairflow
velocitybecausemomentumtransferfromtheflowtothediskoccursentirelybyshear.Infact,
inthelimitwherethereisnooutsidefrictionforce(i.e.,nobearingfriction)toslowtherotating
disksofanunloadedTeslaturbine,thelinearvelocityofthediskassemblysouteredgewill
exactlymatchtheflowvelocityfromthenozzles.
TheassumptionthatdissipativefrictionforcesslowingtheTeslaturbinesrotationare
extremelysmallwasvalidatedbyquantitativecalculationandqualitativeexperiment.

bcung
= pFR
shu]t

[2.1]
Where

bcung
isthefrictionaltorqueforabearing.
Fisthedownwardforceoftheshaft.
p isthecoefficientoffrictionforthebearings,(p = u.uu1S).
UsingEq.2.1,thelargestbearingfrictiontorqueencounteredduringanystatictest
reportedinthiscurrentpaperwas4.03x10
5
Newtonmeter(Nm).Toputthisvaluein
perspective,thesmalleststalltorqueencounteredduringanystatictestreportedhereinwas
1.03x10
3
Nm;25.6timeslarger.Moreover,intheunloadedtestswherediskvelocitywas
measuredtoapproximatenozzlevelocity,therewasnolinearforcethroughtheshaft
supportedbythebearing.So,thegiven4.03x10
5
Nmfrictiontorqueestimateisanupper
17

boundontheactualfrictiontorquepresentduringthesemeasurements.Inorderto
demonstratethatthemagnitudeofrotationalfrictiontorqueisminiscule,theunloadedturbine
wasspunuptosteadystateat85psiinletpressureandallowedtospindownduetofriction.
Thisprocesstookover15minutestostoptheturbine.Thesetwofrictionquantification
approachesdemonstratethatfrictionforcesarenegligiblewhenusingtheunloadedturbine
rateofrotationasasurrogatetoestimateinternalflowvelocity.
ThisinternalflowvelocityestimationapproachisgenerallyapplicabletoallTesla
turbinesregardlessofthespecificbladeconfigurationornozzlegeometry.Asstatedabove,
specificinternalgeometrydoesnotaffectthedesiredoutcome,whichisanestimationofthe
fluidvelocityovertheTeslaturbinediskswhentheyarefixedandstationary.Theresulting
inferredflowvelocityasafunctionofinletpressureisappliedtotheanalyticalstalltorque
estimationmethodoutlinedinthesection2.2,TheStallTorqueAnalyticalCalculation.
Inthesecondexperiment,thestatictorqueproducedbytheturbinewasdirectly
measuredacrossthesamerangeofinletpressuresusedtodetermineinternalflowvelocity,15
85PSI.Importantly,thestatictorqueandstalltorquedefinitionsusedinthisthesisaresubtly
different.StatictorqueismeasuredthroughaforcegaugethatintentionallyholdstheTesla
turbinepowershaftstationarysoitcannotspin.Stalltorqueisencounteredwhiletheturbineis
spinning,andthedemandedloadincreasesabovetheavailableturbinetorqueatitsparticular
setpointconditionsandangularvelocity.Whilegasfromtheinternalturbinenozzlescontinues
issuingatasetvelocity,theturbineslows(e.g.,stalls)inresponsetothehigherloadtoalower
rotationalvelocity.Atthisnewslowerrotationrate,thedifferencebetweentheinternalfluid
flowvelocityandrotatingdiskvelocityishigherandtheresultingproducedtorqueisgreater.
18

Thus,aturbinecanstallwithoutstopping.However,statictorqueisaspecialsubsetofstall
torqueinwhichthedemandedloadisjustgreatenoughtocausetheturbinetostopspinning
altogether.Inthiscondition,thevelocitydifferencebetweentheinternalflowvelocityand
bladevelocityismaximized,andthereforetheresultingtorqueproducedbytheturbineis
maximizedforthegivensetpointconditions.Measuredstatictorqueisthusanupperbound
ontheturbinesstalltorqueataparticularsetpointcondition.
Figure3:SimpleTeslaturbinestatictorquemeasurement
configurationshowingspringgaugealignment.
AsshowninFigure4,turbinestatictorquewasmeasuredusingaspringforcegauge.
Oneendofthespringforcegaugewasanchoredtoaprotrudingdrawerhandle.Then
approximately20cmoffishinglineconnectedtheotherendofthespringforcegaugetothe
turbinepowershaft.Thespringgaugewascarefullypositionedtoensureitsforce
measurementremainedtangenttotheshaft.Aburstofairintotheturbineallowedthefishing
linetowindaroundtheshaftuntilitwastightanditstensionstalledtheturbineintoastatic
condition.Onlyonelayeroffishinglinewindingwasallowedtoaccumulateontheshaftto
NozzleValves






From
Regulator
Tesla
Turbine
Spring
Force
Gauge
Desk
Surface
Fishing
String
Drawer
Handle
19

maintainprecisecontrolovertheshaftleverarm(i.e.,thepowershaftradius).Staticforce
generatedbytheturbine,F,wasmeasuredatturbineinletpressuresfrom15to85psiat5psi
increments,andassociatedstalltorque,
stuII
ateachsetpointwascalculatedinequation2.2.
[32,3338]

stuII
= R
shu]t
F [2.2]
Where

stuII
isthestalltorqueoftheturbine.
R
shu]t
istheradiusoftheshaft.
F istheforceatwhichtheturbinestalls.
VariousTeslaturbinespecificationsrequiredfortorquemodelingisfoundinTable1.
Table1:ExperimentalTurbineDimensions,ConstantsandNumberofNozzles
R
x
R
u
R
|
p
Active
Faces
h
Number
of
Nozzles
Nozzles
pergap
[m] [m] [m] [kg/m
3
] [kg/ms] [] [m] [] []
0.00395 0.03759 0.03394 1.177 0.0000184 7 0.0005 4 4
0.0005 0.0005 0.0005 0.04 0.0000004 0.0002

2.1.2 AirLeakageExperiment
Another experiment that was conducted was the measure of air leakage from the
turbine casing. This was done using a hotwire anemometer held in place with laboratory
clamps. The anemometer sat about 2cm away from the side of the casing to measure the
20

velocityofairflowescapingfromthesidesoftheturbine.Resultsforthisexperimentareshown
insection3.2.

2.2 StallTorqueAnalyticalCalculation
2.2.1 FlowoverFlatPlate
Tounderstandwhywehavechosenthisinitialtechnique,thestrengthsandweaknesses
oftheflatplateflowmethodarediscussed.Theprimaryreasonswhywehavechosenflowover
aflatplateasamethodtotheoreticallycalculatestalltorqueis:
Utilizesthefluidflowvelocityprofileofaccurateshapeincloseproximitytotheblade
surfaceowingtofluidviscosityandnoslipcondition.
Allowsshearcalculationwithoutknowledgeofthepressuregradientacrossthe
turbine.
UtilizestheBlasiussolution,amodelwhichincludestheboundarylayereffectsso
criticaltotheturbinesproperfunction.
Severaldownsidesofusingflatplatefloware:
Themodelmakesanunderlyingassumptionoflaminarflowwhichisnottrueat
higherinletvelocitiesandReynoldsnumbers.
Themodeldoesnotincorporateeffectsonthevelocityprofileshapeowingtoclose
proximityofmultiplediskstoeachother.
Themodeldoesnttakeintoaccountmomentumlossesassociatedwiththe
curvatureoftheflowfieldaboutthecentralaxisoftheturbine.
21

TheproposedanalyticalTeslaturbinestalltorqueapproximationreliesupontheexact
equationforshearinducedbylaminarflowoveraflatplate,showninequation2.3.

w
= u.SS20
3 2
_

x
[2.3]
Here,
w
istheshearstressalongthewallofaturbinedisk,Uisthelinearvelocityof
flowalongtheturbinedisk,andaretheworkingfluiddensityandviscosityrespectively,and
xisacoordinatelocationalongaflatdiskfromaturbineinletnozzle.[1,18]
Figure 4: The analytical static torque model simplifies the
geometry of a Tesla turbine disk (left) by imagining it separated
intofourflatplates.Forceonthesefourplatesisestimatedusing
the laminar flat plate shear equation. The product of shear force
andtheleverarm,R
ave
,calculatestheresultingstatictorque.
Importantly,thelineardiskvelocitymeasuredduringtheunloadedturbinetests
describedaboveapproximatesUinEq.2.3.AsillustratedgraphicallyinFigure4,theanalytical
modelisdevelopedbybreakingacompleteturbinediskintofourseparatepieces(onequarter
diskforeachinletport).Eachpiecehasalengthequaltoaquarterofthediskscircumference,
andeachhasawidthequaltothedifferencebetweentheouterandinnerdiskradii.Thesheer
22

forceinducedbytheflowoverthesefourseparatepiecesisimaginedtoactatasinglepointat
thecenterofeachplate.Theresultingtorqueiscalculatedbymultiplyingtheseforcesbya
leverarmequaltothedistancefromthediskcentertohalfthediskswidth,withR
ave
shown
Figure4.
R
uc
=
R
outc
+ R
nnc
2

[2.4]
Thetorquethenarisingfromoneexposedfaceofthefourflatplatesrepresentingasingle
turbinediskisshowninequation2.5.
= 4F R
uc

[2.5]
Herethenetforceoneachplate,F,istheproductofshearforceandsurfacearea.In
differentialformthisexpressionisshowninequation2.6.
JF =
w
uA
[2.6]
Thedifferentialelementofthisflatplate, JA,isdefinedinequation2.7.
JA = ( R
outc
- R
nnc
)Jx
[2.7]
Oncethetorqueononediskfaceisestimated,theresultismultipliedby8(thetotal
numberofdisksurfaces)toprovidetheoverallestimateoftheTeslaturbinestatictorque,
which(asexplainedabove)isanupperboundontheexpectedstalltorqueforgivensetpoint
conditions.
23

CombiningEquations2.3,2.5,2.6and2.7andintegratingfrom u < x < n2,which

representsthelocationofthenozzlesinsidetheturbinewithrespectcylindricalcoordinates
(thelengthofoneplateisaquarterofthediskscircumference)gives
T = |u.SS2u
3 2
pp](R
outc
- R
nnc
) - R
uc
_
_
1
x
Jx
n
2
0

[2.8]
SubstitutingtheexpressioninEq.2.6intoEq.2.7,completingtheintegration,and
multiplyingby8,thetotalnumberofdiskfacesengagedinshearmomentumtransfergivesthe
desiredequation:
T = S2 _u.664u
3 2
(R
outc
-R
nnc
) - R
uc
_pp
n
2
R
uc
] [2.9]
Certainly,thismodelisaveryroughapproximationtothetrueTeslaturbinegeometry
andinternalflowstructure.Moreover,thismodelnecessitatesmanyadditionalengineering
assumptions:1)flowoverthedisksislaminar,2)thevelocityprofilebetweenthedisks
approximatesflowoveraflatplateasBlasiusflowinsteadofplanePoiseuillefloworCouette
flow,3)theradialspiralingcomponentoftheflowaddsnegligiblecontribution,and4)allofthe
disksarefullyengagedbyflowatfreestreamvelocity, u.Nonetheless,thereasonable
correspondencebetweenmeasuredstatictorquevaluesoftheTeslaturbineandthissimple
analyticalmodeliscompellingenoughtomakeitavaluableorientationcalculationfor
estimationofTeslaturbinestalltorque.

24

2.2.2 VortexMethod
Tounderstandwhywehavechosenthismethod,thestrengthsandweaknessesofthe
vortexmethodarediscussed.Theprimaryreasonwhywehavechosenvortexflowasamethod
totheoreticallycalculatestalltorqueis:
Itprovidesarepresentativesolutionusingpotentialflowconceptsinacylindrical
coordinateframe.
TheliteraturereportsvortextypeflowarisinginTeslaturbines.
Thevortexmodelcapturescompoundingfluidinteractionsbetweenparalleldisks.
Thedownsidestousingthismethodare:
Stablevortexflowisestablishedathigherturbinepressuregradientscorrespondingto
theturbulentregime,whereReynoldsnumberexceeds4000.
Withfouroutletports,thegeometryoftheeducationalturbineisnotatrueunitary
sourcesinkconfiguration.
Anotherapproachforcalculatingtorqueactingonaturbinedisktakesintoaccountthe
centrifugalflowwithintheTeslaturbineinsteadofflowoveraflatplate.Centrifugalflowinthis
senseisaspiralvortexwithinwardrotation.Therearetwotypesofvortices:thefirstisaforced
vortex,asseeninastirringmachinewherethevortexisforcedbyanexternalmechanism.The
secondkindofvortexiscalledfreevortex;thisiswhereflowitselfisrotatingduetophysical
limitationsofspace,andthiscreatesavortex.Thecurrentstalltorquemethodassumesthat
thereisafreevortex.Anotherfactorthatmustbenotediswhetherthecenterofthevortexisa
sourceoffloworasink;inthiscase,itisasink.Therefore,weassumethatatstallconditions,a
25

freespiralvortexwithasinkholeoccurs.Thefollowingderivationexplainssystematicallyhow
ourmethodwasdeveloped.AccordingtoMunsonetal.,flowinafreevortexwithasinkholeis
giveninequation2.10.[1]
= __

2n
] _ - j[

2n
ln r[
[2.10]
Here,[

2n
representsthevelocitypotentialinafreevortex,and[

2n
lnr
representsvelocitypotentialinavortexwithasink.Inthisformula,representsthecirculation
ofthevortex,istheconstantfortheradialcomponentofthefluidvelocity.Forasource
ispositive,andnegativeforasink.Inourcase, isnegative,thusthevelocitypotentialfor
thesinkissubtractedfromthevelocitypotentialforthefreevortex.Weknowthat:

=
q

=
1

and :
0
=
1

q
0
.Differentiatingwithrespectto0, yieldsequation2.11.[1]
:
0
= _

2nr
]
[2.11]
Thusthisyieldstheangularvelocityprofileofavortexwithasink.Ifweknowthatour
velocityintheturbineisthesameasthisangularvelocityprofile,wecanusethisequationinto
theonefortorquetocalculatethestalltorqueatthisflowconditions.However,formy
approach,weassumedthatateachnozzle,thevelocityoftheflowwasequal.Sothevelocityof
onenozzlewasmultipliedbythenumberofnozzlesinvolvedpereachgap.Theassumptionis
thatthevorticesareadditive,thusthevelocitiesarealsoadditive,whichiswhatisshownin
equation2.12.

totuI
=
1
+
2
+
3
+
4
[2.12]

26

= 2nr
2
v
I
[2.13]
InEq.2.13,I

representsthevelocityofthediskrotationateachdiskspacing,and
r
2
representstheouterdiameterofthedisks.Therefore,bycombiningequations2.12and2.13,
wegetthetotalvortexcirculation,
totuI
, asshowninEq.2.14.

totuI
= 2nr
2
v
1
+ 2nr
2
v
2
+2nr
2
v
3
+ 2nr
2
v
4
[2.14]
AssumingthatI
1
= I
2
= I
3
= I
4
, andsimplifyingthisequation,yieldsEq.2.15.

totuI
= 8nr
2
v
1
[2.15]
SoifweknowthatA = x - Jx - J0, andF = - A.ThusI = F - x.Thisthenyieldsequation
2.16,where isgiveninEq.2.15.
I =
Sp(r
2
2
- r
1
2
)
2b
[2.16]

2.2.3 MomentofMomentumMethodforaCentrifugalPump
Thismethodwasnotdevelopedingreatdetail,butitdidprovideinsightasapossible
alternativetocalculatingtheoreticaltorqueoftheturbine.Momentofmomentumrequires
measurementofthemassflowrateoftheturbineandthetangentialvelocitiesattheentrance
andexitoftheturbine.Thecombinationofthesevaluescanbeshowninequation2.2.2.5.

I =
p
(I
t2
r
2
- I
t1
r
1
)
[2.17]
Iftheangletotangentisknown,thetheoreticalequationfortorqueisshowninequation
2.2.2.6.[33,34]

I =
p
(I
2
r
2
cos(o
2
) -I
1
r
1
cos(o
2
)) [2.18]

27

2.2.4 FrictionalTorque,AcceleratingTorqueandAngularDeceleration
Thefrictionaltorquemethod,likethemomentofmomentummethodinsection2.18,is
shownforfutureworkthatwishestoexpandonthetopic,butisnotuseddirectlyin
calculationsforthisresearch.Therearetwokindsoffrictionaltorque:torqueonthebearings,
andtorqueontheshaft.Whilefrictionaltorqueonthebearingsisassumednegligiblewhen
usingceramicorhybridceramicbearings,forverysmalltorquevalues,oneshouldcalculate
frictionaltorqueandsubtractthatfromtheactualcalculatedtorque.Equation2.19showsthe
frictionaltorqueoneachbearing.[3337]

I
PB
= p
]
- F
B
-
J
2
[2.19]
Frictionaltorqueontheshaftrequirestimetoturbinestall,whileacceleratingtorque
requirestimetorunningsteadystate,assumingthereisnoloadontheshaft.Soonewould
starttheturbineoperation,andusingastopwatch,measurethetimeittakesfortheturbineto
reachsteadystateoperation.Thenoneremovestheairsourcefromtheturbine,andagain
measuresthetimetostoprotation.Equation2.2.20showshowthisisstructured,assumingno
loadontheshaft.[3334]
I
PS
= Io
[2.20]
Assumingfinalangularvelocityiszero,andinitialtimeiszero,thefrictionaltorqueontheshaft
isshowninequation2.21.

I
PS
= I -

SS
t
stuII
[2.21]
Similarly,foracceleratingtorque,timetosteadystateisimportant,asistheinertiaoftheshaft.
Thisyieldsequation2.22.
28

I
PS
=

0
r
2
I
Su8t
ucccI
[2.22]
TheairflowapparatusdiscussedlaterinSection2.3wasbuilttomeasuretimetosteady
stateaswellastimetostall.Somethodsintroducedinthissectioncanbeexpandeduponby
futureresearchersoperatingtheapparatus.

2.3 ConstructionoftheDynamometer
Our dynamometer was designed based on the requirements of torque and speed,
similartothosefoundinHoyaandGuha,andKusumba.[7,8]Atthedynamometersheartisa
Banebots RS550 brushed DC motor rated to 19,300 rpm. [39] The Obi Laser SSTG001 Tesla
turbine has already successfully spun up this motor, further validating the experimental static
torquemeasurementtechniquepresentedhere.Detaileddrawingsofthedynamometerandair
flowapparatusareincludedinAppendixC.
ThedynamometerwasmachinedandconstructedintheMachineshopofthe
MechanicalandEnergyEngineeringDepartment.MaterialswerepurchasedfromMcMaster
Carr.Theprocedureforconstructionofthedynamometermaynotbethebestorthemost
economical,theendresultwasquitesatisfactory.Ifadynamometerwastobeconstructedin
thefuture,manyoperationscouldbereducedandmachineoperationsshouldbechangedin
ordertospeedupmachiningtime,andtoreducewastedmaterials.
Thedynamometerconsistsofsevenprimarycomponents:thebasepanel,thepillow
bearingplates,thetwobearings,themotorhousingandaloadingmotor.Thebasepanel,
pillowbearingplatesandmotorhousingweremachinedoutof6061Aluminum.[46,52]First,
thebasepanelwascutoutofasolidaluminumblocktobeapproximatelyhalfaninchthick,
29

and6inchesby6inches.Ourmachiningprocessesrequiredasignificantamountoftimetobe
investedtocutthesolidaluminumblocktothesizeandthicknesswerequired.Asaresult,time
betterspentonothermachiningprocesseswaswastedoncuttingandmachiningthese
componentsdowntosize.Hadweknownthatthepreparationandmachiningtimeforthisbase
panelwouldhavetakensolong,wewouldhavepurchasedapieceofaluminumtoathickness
moreappropriatetosaveontimeandoperations.Instead,weassumedthatalargeblockof
aluminumwouldprovideuswithexcessmaterialincaseweneededit.Thenextsteptoprepare
thispanelwastomachineitontheComputerNumericalControl(CNC)endmilltofaceboth
sidesoftheblock.Thesemillingoperationssquaredthepanel,andreducedthethicknessofthe
paneltoaquarterofaninch.Initiallymillingoperationsrequiredroughcuts,butinthefinal
passes,finecutsweretakentoensureexactprecisiontofivethousandthsofaninch.Finally,
holesweredrilledinthepanelsothatthepillowblockscouldbeattached.Alsoaslotwas
machinedsothattheforcesensorcouldbecarefullymountedandstillhaveroomtobe
adjusted.
ThepillowblockswererequiredtobemachinedonaCNCendmillusingatechnique
calledcircularinterpolation.WiththistechniquetheCNCprogramrequiresthediameterofthe
circletobecutandtheabsolutelocationofthematerialfacesinordertodeterminethe
circularpathofthetool.Wecompensatedforthediameterofthetoolsothatthecircle
machinedwasofthecorrectdimensions.Ordinarilythemillwillcutthecircletobelargerthan
thecirclediameter,sincethetoolwillfollowanimaginarylinesetbythedimensionsofthe
circle.Oncethecirclewasmachinedoutoftherawmaterialtothecorrectdepth,theplatewas
thenmachinedonitsleftandrightsidestocreatetabsforthebasesothatthepillowblockswill
30

besupportedwhentheyareassembled.Thusthepillowblocksbecamerectangularinshape
insteadoftheoriginalsquarerawmaterial.Twosmallsetscrewholesweredrilledsothatthe
bearingscouldbesecurelyheldinplace.Facingoperationsforthebasepanelandbothpillow
blocksweredonewithahalfinchendmill,slotoperationsweredonewithafiveeighthsinch
endmill,andthecircularinterpolationoperationwasdonewithaquarterinchendmill.Milling
operationswereconducteddrywithoutanycoolant.
Thenextcomponentmachinedwasthemotorhousing.Itisinessenceacupdesignedto
holdthemotorandmountinthedynamometerinsuchawayastoallowtheforcesensorto
attachtoit.First,wecutapieceofaluminumfromourthreeinchdiameterstocktomeasure
roughlythreeincheslong.Thispiecewasthenchuckonthelathe,andturnedtoadiameterof
2.5inches.Thelengthofthepiecewasmachineduntilitdecreasedto2.5incheslong.Thenthe
centerofthepiecewasboredoutuntiltheinnerdiameterofthepartwastwoinchesin
diameter.Thelengthoftheborewas1.75incheslong.Thus,wemachinedacuptomountthe
motor;thisalsoallowedustomounttheforcesensortotheoutsideofthemotorwithout
alteringthemotor.Oncethecupwasfiledandsmoothedwithabrasivepaper,twoholeswere
drilledandthreadedontheendofthecuptomountthemotortoit,andoneholewasdrilled
andthreadedonthesideofthecuptoattachoneendoftheforcesensortoit.
ThebearingswereorderedfromMcMasterCarrsincetheywerespecialbearingsthat
wecouldnotpurchaseonourownfromthelocalhardwarestore.Theinnerdiameterofthe
bearingswasapproximately2.5inchesindiameter,andtheouterdiameterwasapproximately
2.75inchesindiameter.Thematerialofthebearingswasmadeofhighspeedsteel,andwas
sufficientforthetask.
31

WeorderedvariablerheostatsfromSurplusSalesofNebraska,toprovidealoading
sourceforthemotoraswetestloadingtorque.Wechoserheostatsinsteadofvariableresistors
(potentiometers),sincewewereexpectingahighpoweroutputfromthemotorasitwasbeing
runingeneratormode.Ourassumptionwasbasedonthefactthatthemotorwas12V,andit
hadaresistanceof125Ohms,thus,thewattagerequiredtorunit(alsothepoweritoutputs),
wouldbe1.12watts,asshowninequation2.23.
P = I
2
R = 1.12 w [2.23]
Where
P ispowerproducedwhenthemotorisrunasagenerator
I iscurrentratingofthemotor
R isresistanceofthemotor
Althoughwecouldhavejustused2Wattresistorsofmultipleresistances,wechosethe
simplerexperimentalapparatusthatusedasingle2Wattrheostatthatwouldbeadjustedfor
everyexperiment.Itmightbemoreefficientandreliabletouseknownresistancesinsteadof
therheostatsothattheresistancecanbetrustedtoremainconstantallthroughoutan
experiment.
TheforcesensorwasorderedfromFutekSensors.ThedeviceismodelLRM200,witha
maximumloadingcapacityof2.5N.Thissensorwillbemeasuringrealtimestallforceofthe
dynamometerasweapplyaloadtoit.Thevalueitismeasuringisnotthesameasthestall
forcemeasuredbeforeandcalculatedstalltorque.Thestalltorqueisrequiredtodeterminethe
appropriateloadingmotor.Steadystatetorqueisusedtodeterminetheefficiencyofthe
turbine.Onesideofthesensorwasattachedtothedynamometerbaseplateusing1/428
32

lubricationfreehighperformanceballjointlinkages,andtheothersidewasattachedtothe
motorhousing,andtheothersideattachedtothebasepanel.Thecompleteddynamometeris
seeninFigures5and6.
Figure 5: Completed dynamometer, partially assembled and
missingtheforcesensor.
Figure6:Assembleddynamometerduringinitialoperationtests.
33

2.4 DesignofProtectiveShield
Aprotectiveshieldwasdesignedtofendoffanyshrapnelincaseofcatastrophicfailure
oftheturbine.Thisshieldwascomposedoftwoplexiglasssheetswithaheavysteelmesh
sandwichedinbetween.Simplecalculationsweredrawnuptodetermineifthisshieldwas
appropriateenoughtostopanyshrapnel,bothsteelandtitanium,aswasintendedforthe
futureturbine.Twoapproachesforthiswereconducted:anabsolutetheoreticalupperbound
forthematerialatwhichitwouldliquefyfromtheimpact,andapracticalupperboundat
whichthematerialwouldbeabletoabsorbtheimpact,andnotyield.Bothmethodsrequired
calculatingmomentofinertiaoftheturbineatitsmaximumspeed,assumingthecasingofthe
turbinewillnotinterferewiththefragmentsoftheturbineafteracatastrophicfailure.Alsoit
wasassumedthatthefragmentswouldbeexactlyhalfoftheturbinedisks,andhitthe
protectiveshieldonitsthinedge,soastomaximizetheimpactforcesinvolved.
Since the disk surface area is 7.068 in
2
and the shaft surface area is 0.3046 in
2
and slot
surface area is 1.2707 in
2
, the resulting surface area then becomes 5.4933 in
2
. Converting
Imperial units into Metric units, results in 0.0035 m
2
. Equation 2.24, will yield us with the
energyrequiredtomeltthispartofthedisk,wheree, representsthelatentheatoffusionandp
isthedensityofthematerial.

E = A - p - e - b - I
[2.24]
Pluggingallthevaluesin,resultsin:
E = (u.uuSS44 m
2
) - _78Su
kg
m
3
] - (u.S2) - (u.uu19 m) - _
481[
kg - C
] - (21.1)
E
mcIt
= 27,91u.uu[
34

Anotherimportantcalculationisthemechanicalenergyoftheturbineitself,showninequation
2.25.

E
tub
=
1
2
m:
2
=
1
2
pI - U
2
[2.25]
Thiscalculationyields, E = S241 [.Thusthe E
tub
< E
mcIt
.Thismeansthattheturbinewill
not melt on impact of any object in its way. It would take 9 times the mechanical energy
producedbytheturbinetomeltthesteelturbinedisksonimpactwiththeshield.

2.5 ConstructionofThermodynamicFlowApparatus
Thisexperimentconsistsofflowmeasurementhardwaretoanalyzethevolumeflow
rateintoandoutoftheturbinetocalculatetheefficiencyoftheturbine.ProEdrawingsare
includedinAppendixC2.Asairflowsovertheturbinerotors,theairnaturallygivesuppotential
energy,whichistransferredintomechanicalenergyintheturbine.Thisenergyexchangeis
measureablethroughthethermodynamicpropertiesoftheworkingfluidthatcanbeusedto
calculatetheefficiencyoftheturbine.Efficiencyisinputenergydividedbyoutputenergy.
Figure6displaysasimpleviewofhowtheapparatusoperates.Figure7showsaflowdiagram
ofhowtheflowapparatusisexpectedtofunction.
35

Figure7:Thermodynamicflowapparatusairflowdiagram.
Theflowapparatuswasconstructedstartingwithaquarterinchthickaluminumplate
thatis6inchesby16inches.Holesweredrilledandtappedinevenlyspacedgroupsonthe
platetomountvariouscomponentstothebaseplate.5/16inchtappedholesweremachined
inthecornerstomountstabilizingrubbersoledfeet.Notethesymbol,,usedhereafter,
representsinches.Weusedanidenticalsetofmeasuringdevicesontheinletandoutletsideof
theturbine.MeasurementdevicesincludeOmegaTtypethermocouplestomeasure
temperatureinthepipes,volumerategauges,andglycerinfilledpressuregauges.By
measuringthevariousthermodynamiccharacteristicsoftheinletandoutletflows,this
instrumentenablescalculationoftheturbinesefficiency.Pressurereadingsandvolumeflow
readingswerereadmanuallyatregularintervals,whilethetemperaturewasloggedusinga
NationalInstrumentsUSB8211dataacquisitiondevice,connectedtoacomputerandlogging
usingLabView.
AsseenintheComputerAidedDesign(CAD)drawings,thepressuregaugeisattached
toasetofNPTthreadedfittingstositata45degreeangleinordertobeviewableandstill
allowthehosesandconnectorstofit.ThisalsoallowedtheTtypethermocoupletobeattached




ExhaustAir
From
Turbine
To
Turbine
Ttype
Thermocouple
F
l
o
w

M
e
t
e
r

F
l
o
w

M
e
t
e
r

Pressure
Gauge
Pressure
Gauge
36

intothefittingsandbecompactinordertofitintothespaceallotted.Fortheinletflow
assembly,everythingwastightlyfittedtogetherandsealedusingTeflontape.Thenthiswas
repeatedagainfortheexhaustingflowassembly.Theassemblywasmountedtoafrontpanel,
whichhadappropriatesizedholescutoutofittoactasviewports.Theassemblieswereboth
mountedtothefrontpanelusingzincplatedsteel20byUbolts.Thetwoassemblies
wereevenlyspacedonthefrontpaneltoallowthevolumetricflowratemeterstobeabletobe
mountedwithamplespacefromallsides.outerdiameter,polyurethanetubingwasused
thenconnectedtotheassembliesusingYorLoktubefittingadapters,whichthenscrewedinto
theNPTpipefittings.Oncethemeasurementdevicesweresecurelymountedtothefront
panel,thepanelwasthenattachedtothebaseplateusing20bysocketscrewswithlock
washersandfirmlysecured.
Forthedataacquisitionunitmount,twopiecesofsteelwerecuttoabout5inchesin
length,andbentintoanLbracket,andholesweredrilledformounting.Thebracketswere
alsoattachedtothebaseplatewith20screws.Twodinrailpieceswerecutfroma6foot
pieceinto1.5footlongsectionseach,andweremountedontotheLbracketsusingmetricM5,
25mmlongscrewsandM5nuts.ANationalInstruments8816DataAcquisitionDevicewasthen
mountedtothefrontfacingdinrailandsecuredinplace.Tubingwasthenpipedintotwo
manifolds,onefortheinputflowandonefortheexhaustingflow.Anexhaustflowmufflerwas
addedtotheexhaustportonthevolumetricflowmeterintheexhaustflowassembly.Thisis
intendedtomufflethenoiseoftheexhaustflowby25decibelsanddoesnothindertheflow
rate.

37

2.6 ExperimentswithDynamometerandFlowApparatus
OurexperimentsweredevisedwithassistancefromDean[40],HoyaandGuha[7],
Leaman[9]andMurataetal.[14].Anewtechniqueformeasurementoftherequireddatawas
developed,oncetheapparatusiscompleted,experimentscanbeconductedusingourplan.
Thedesignoftheexperimentsistoruntheturbineat5PSIincrementsfrom5PSIto75PSIand
recordvariousdatafromthedynamometerandtheflowapparatus.Inthefuture,weexpect
measuredelementstoincludetimetosteadystate,timetorest,volumetricflowrateinand
out,temperatureinandout,absolutepressureinandout,andthespeedoftheturbine.The
numberofreadingstakenateachofthesepressuresshouldbetakenatnoloadinitially,then
theloadshouldbeincreasedontheturbineusinga2wattrheostat,takingconstantreadingsof
alltheelementsrequiredforeach100ohmincrementintherheostat.Theturbinewillhaveto
bespunuptosteadystate,thenpoweredoffandspundownuntilrest.Thusintotal,there
shouldbeninemeasureddatum,foreachpressureincrement,andeachloadappliedtothe
turbine;thisbecomes1350datumpointsintotal.Thisnumberseemsveryhigh,butitis
necessarytogetaverygoodunderstandingofhowtheturbineoperatesinallenvironments,
andtodetermineapreciseefficiencyoftheturbine.Figure8showsthecompletedairflow
apparatus.
38

Figure8:ThermodynamicAirFlowApparatus,FrontView.

39

CHAPTER3
RESULTSANDDISCUSSION*
3.1 PreliminaryExperimentalResults
Afterextensivepreliminaryexperiments,itwasfoundthatourturbinewasableto
handleairpressureupto90PSI,whichwasthemaximumlimit,andwasnotconsideredasafe
operatingpressure.Abovethisrateofrotation,however,theturbine,generatedrotationthat
washighlyunstable.So,measurementstakenhigherthan85PSIwereignored.Theturbinehad
anunbalancedshaft,soourmeasurementtoolsregistereddoublereadingsattwoofthe
pressureswerantheturbineat.Thisproblemoccurredat35PSIandagainat65PSI,whenthe
turbinehitacriticalvibrationpointatwhichtheslightvibrationscausedbytheunbalanced
shaftreachtheirmaximum.Thereadingswerefoundtobeexactlydoubleoftheirnormal
values,sodataatthosetwopointswasadjustedsothattheydisplaywhatisactuallybeing
measuredratherthantheerroneousdoubledvalues.
Itwasfoundthattheturbineatnoload,stalledwithairpressurelessthan30PSI.Since
nowwehaddeterminedanupperboundandlowerboundofairpressurestotestat,webegan
ourexperimentsat35PSI,andtook5PSIincrementsuntil85PSI.Thispressurerangeallowed
ustoobservehowtheturbineperformedundernoload.Whenrunningthefirstexperiment
withthespringforcegauges,itwasdeterminedthatnotjustonespringforcegaugewas
sufficientformeasurement.Weusedthe1,5and10Newtonspringforcegaugestotake
measurementsofstallforce.Thisisthereasonwhyourforcegaugeerrorincreasesastheforce

*PortionsofthischapterarereproducedwithpermissionfromASME.[10]
40

decreases.The10Nforcegaugewasinincrementsof2.0N,whilethe5.0Nforcegaugewasin
incrementsof0.5Nandthe1.0Nforcegaugewasinincrementsof0.2N.
Inthesecondexperiment,theturbineangularvelocitytopped33,000RPM,whichquite
highcomparedtovaluesfoundinMurataandYukuta.[14]WithregardstoRice,Leamanand
Tesla,however,thesemeasuredvaluesofspeedconcurwiththeaveragespeed.[3,7,9,11,13]
Thus,ourinitialexperimentaswecalibratedourmeasurementdevicesgaveinaccuratedata
sinceitresultedinveryhighangularvelocities.Thisinitialdataisshownintheappendixaswell
asthesecondandthirdexperiments.Thedatashowsthataspressuredecreases,sodoes
angularvelocity,andlikewise,aspressuredecreases,torquedecreases.However,themass
flowrateremainsconstantduringthisexperiment.ThedataisshowninTable1,whiledetailed
resultsaregiveninTableA1.
Itwasfoundthatat65PSIachangeoccursfromlaminarflowtoturbulentflow.This
jumpisattributedtoachangeinthefluidflowregimearoundthispressure.AsshowninFigure
9,ajumpoccursneartangentialvelocityequalto100m/s.AsdiscussedintheASMEECTC
paperbyEmranetal.[10],thefollowingcanbesaid:
Onepossibilityischangeoverfromlaminartransitionflowtoturbulentflowinthegaps
between the disks at this velocity. The internal flow Reynolds number (using the disk
spacing as the characteristic dimension) is about 3200 at flow v

= 1uu ms, which is

towards the top end of the transition flow regime, assuming that fully turbulent flow
(Re > 4uuu) occurs at about v

= 12S ms. Another flow regime change may occur

around inlet I
0
= 1uu ms is the onset of compressibility effects as the Mach number
isabout0.3.However,weexpectedthatthesecompressiblefloweffectswouldemerge
graduallyinsteadofappearinginstantaneouslyaswasexperimentallyobserved.
41

Table2:ExcerptofExperimentalSpeedandTorqueData
p F F v u A
[PSI] [N] [N] [RPM] [Rad/s] [m/s] [Nm] [Nm]
80 6.2 0.1 32118.6 3363.451 126.44 0.0245 0.1274
75 6.0 0.1 31087.8 3255.506 122.39 0.0237 0.1275
70 5.8 0.1 28684.7 3003.857 112.93 0.0229 0.1275
65 5.0 0.1 26780.1 2804.410 105.43 0.0197 0.1279
60 3.7 0.05 26413.7 2766.041 103.98 0.0146 0.1271
55 3.5 0.05 24761.8 2593.054 97.48 0.0138 0.1272
50 3.1 0.05 23178.0 2427.199 91.25 0.0122 0.1274

Figure 9: A comparison between the bounding values of the simple analytical

modelandthemeasuredstalltorquedatarevealsreasonableagreementgiventhe
liberalassumptionsinherentinthemodel.*

*ThisfigureistakenwithpermissionofASME.[10]
42

3.2 AirLeakageExperimentalResults
Theairleakageoftheturbinewasfoundtobe2.0m/swhentestedat50PSI,andit
rangedallthewayto6.0m/sat85PSI.Thecasingwasfoundtoleakasignificantamountofair
duetoalackofgasketsbetweenthelayersofthecasing.Oncetheairpressurebegantobuild,
thelayerswereforcedapart,allowingmoreairtoleakout,andhinderingturbineperformance,
whichisseeninTable3.
Table3:AirLeakagevs.AirPressure
AirPressure
AirLeakage
Velocity
[lb/in
2
] [m/s]
85 6.00
80 5.25
75 5.00
70 4.60
65 4.00
60 4.10
55 3.80
50 2.00

3.3 FlowOverFlatPlateTheoreticalModelResults
Thedataresultingfromapplyingthefirsttheoreticalmethodshowsthatthetheoretical
stalltorqueverycloselyalignswithactualstalltorque,withtheerrorinmeasurements
accountingforbothanupperboundandalowerboundwithrespecttoactualdataasseenin
Table4.Althoughthetheoreticalstalltorqueperfaceisoneorderofmagnitudeofffromthe
actualstalltorque,theactualstalltorqueisoftheentireturbine,whichtakesintoaccountall
theturbinedisks,whichinteractwiththeflow.Thus,thattheoreticalstalltorqueperfacemust
bemultipliedbythenumberoffacesinteractingwiththeflowwithintheturbine.Our
43

assumptionisthatthenumberoffacesinteractingwiththeflowisequaltooneminusthetotal
numberoffaces,sinceflowdoesnotinteractwiththefirstdiskface.Whenthetheoreticalstall
torqueperfaceismultipliedbythenumberofactivefaces,thetotaltheoreticalstalltorque
closelymatchestheactualstalltorque.Itmustbenotedthattheerrorofmeasurementforthe
actualstalltorqueis13%.Theerrorofmeasurementforthetheoreticalis9%sincethe
theoreticalmodeldependsonrotationalvelocitydata,whichcarriesanerror.
Table4andFigure10correspondtoresearchquestion1:Willthetheoreticalmodels
estimatethestalltorquewithin15%oftheexperimentaldata?Theobjectivecriteriontoreject
thenullhypothesisisthatresultsmustbewithinexperimentaluncertainty.Detailedresultsare
giveninTableA2.
Table4:FlatPlateFlowModel,TestofNullHypothesis
P
cxpcmcnt

]Iut pIutc

perface

]Iut pIutc

perfacein%
Total

]Iut pIutc

Actualvs.
Theory
Error
Question1
Null
Hypothesis
[PSI] [Nm] [Nm] [Nm] [Nm] [%]
80 0.02452 0.00287 0.09664 0.02013914 17.8698 FailtoReject
75 0.02373 0.00273 0.09392 0.01917745 19.1848 FailtoReject
70 0.02294 0.00242 0.09492 0.01699738 25.9018 Fail toReject
65 0.01978 0.00219 0.09422 0.01533294 22.4630 FailtoReject
60 0.01463 0.00214 0.09399 0.01501935 2.6367 Reject
55 0.01384 0.00194 0.09393 0.01363266 1.5159 Reject
50 0.01226 0.00176 0.09392 0.01234586 0.6962 Reject

44

Figure10:Airpressureversusflatplatestalltorque.

3.4 VortexMethodResults
Thevortexmodelyieldedinterestingresults;thevortexmethodbestmodeledhigher
pressureflowwithintheturbinebecauseathigherpressures,flowwithintheturbineisinthe
turbulentregimeratherthanthelaminarregime.Whiletheflowoverflatplatemethodbestfit
themidtolowerpressureranges,thisonebestfitthehigherpressurerangeswetestedat.
TheseresultsareseeninTable5.Sinceitwasoriginallyassumedthatflowatlowpressuresacts
likeflowoverflatplate,andflowathigherpressurescreatesavortex,thisdataprovesthatthis
assumptioniscorrect.
Pressureisforceoverarea;thusifareaisconstant,whenpressureincreases,forcewill
increase.Therefore,whenforceincreases,theshearingstressonthediskswillincrease,
therebyresultinginincreasedrevolutionsperminute.Allofthiscombinedwithalackofroom
0.00
0.01
0.02
0.03
0.04
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
S
t
a
l
l

T
o
r
q
u
e

[
N

m
]
AirPressure[PoundsperSquareInch]
Experiment Theory
45

forthefluidtoflowfreelyin,createsaforcedvortexathigherpressures.Thisisallassuming
thatmassflowandvolumeflowremainconstant.
Thus,analyzingtherelationshipamongvariables,thefollowingistrue:
P F I
Asaresult,assumingtheturbineisstillatstall,whenthepressureincreases,the
circulationintheturbinewillincrease,yieldingavortexeffectratherthanaflowoverflatplate
effect.
Similarly,Table5,andFigures11and12correspondtoresearchquestion1:Willthe
theoreticalmodelsestimatethestalltorquewithin15%oftheexperimentaldata?The
objectivecriteriontorejectthenullhypothesisisthatresultsmustbewithin15%ofthe
experimentaldata.DetailedresultsaregiveninTableA3.
Table5:VortexModelTestofNullHypothesis
P
cxpcmcnt

Total

]Iut pIutc

otcx

perface
Total
otcx

Actualvs.
Theory
Error
Null
Hypothesis
[PSI] [Nm] [Nm] [Nm] [Nm] [%]
80 0.02452 0.02013 0.00172 0.02413 1.582187 Reject
75 0.02373 0.01917 0.00166 0.02336 1.564922 Reject
70 0.02294 0.01699 0.00153 0.02155 6.404447 Reject
65 0.01978 0.01533 0.00143 0.02012 1.748435 Reject
60 0.01463 0.01501 0.00141 0.01985 26.28529 FailtoReject
55 0.01384 0.01363 0.00132 0.01861 25.61807 FailtoReject
50 0.01226 0.01234 0.00124 0.01741 29.61708 FailtoReject

46

Figure11:Airpressureversusfreevortexwithsinkstalltorquetheoreticalmethod.

Figure12:AirPressureversusexperimentalstalltorqueversusboththeoreticalmethods.

0.00
0.01
0.02
0.03
0.04
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
T
o
r
q
u
e

[
N

m
]
AirPressure[PoundsperSquareInch]
Experiment VortexTheory
0.00
0.01
0.02
0.03
0.04
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
S
t
a
l
l

T
o
r
q
u
e

[
N

m
]
AirPressure[PoundsperSquareInch]
Experiment FlowTorque VortexTorque
47

3.5 Observations
Thereareseveralobservationsofexperimentsandthecorrespondingdatagathered
thatmeritdiscussion;theyarelistedbelow:
Resultsfromtheairleakageexperimentshowthatturbinedesignsthatarecomposedof
manylayersofmaterialsshouldsandwichgasketsinbetweenthelayersforabetter
compressionseal.Icanconcludethataturbinedesigninthefutureshouldhavethe
minimumnumberoffacesthatneedtobesealedwithgaskets,inordertoprevent
leakageofairduringtests.Thefutureturbinedesigndoesexactlythat,minimizingthe
layersdownfrom9layersand20exposedfacesthatrequiresealsinbetween,downto
3layers,composedof4exposedfaceswhichneedtobesealedtogether.Imustnote
thatwhilethepreviousturbinehadaningeniousdesignforthenozzles,themanylayers
composingtheturbinedefeatedthepurposeoftheturbine,andpotentiallycreateda
pressuredropwhichloweredpossibleperformanceoftheturbine.Ournewturbine
doesnotshowtohavethesesameproblems,asthelayershavebeenreducedand
thickened.Acombinationofcopperandrubbergasketsoughttopreventanykindofair
pressureleakagefromtheturbine.
Wecaninferfromthedatainthepreliminaryexperimentsthattheprecisionofourstall
forcemeasurementscouldhavebeengreatlyincreasedhadwehaddigitalsensorsto
measurethesequantities,ratherthananalogopticalmeasurementtools.Thiswould
haveresultedinlowererrors,thusmorereliabledata.OursubsequentHallEffect
tachometerismoreprecisethantheprevioustachometer,andinfutureexperiments,it
oughttoyieldmorereliabledatathanourpreviousresults.
48

Anothermajorflawofthepreviousturbinethathasbeenfixedisthewaythedisksare
mountedupontheshaft.Thenewdesignhaskeysmachinedoutoftheshaftinwhich
thediskscanslideontotheshaftandlockintoplace.Anendcapthenscrewsintoplace
withalefthandedthread,asopposedtoarighthandedthread,therebytighteningthe
endcapastheturbinespins.Thisdesigninnovationremovesanyopportunityfor
accidentaldisassemblyduringtests.Thisimprovementcombinedwiththefactthatthe
endcapwillbeinsidetheturbineratherthanoutside,oughttopreventtheturbine
bladesfromslidingbackandforthinsidetheturbineduringoperationanddamagingthe
disks.
Finally,theinletsandoutletsforairflowhavebeenmovedsuchthatflowtubingcanbe
routedproperlyaroundtheturbinefortests.Theeducationalturbineweusedinour
preliminaryexperimentshad4inletsand4outletsonthesamesideoftheturbine,in
verycloseproximitytooneanother.Thisconfigurationmadepipingverydifficult,and
expensive.Thenewdesignplacesthe4exhaustportsononefaceclosetotheshaft,and
theinletportonthetopleftsideoftheturbine,therebyremovinganyconflictsof
piping,andreducingthecostofconnectingairlinestotheturbine.
49

CHAPTER4
CONCLUSIONS
Ourmissionsinthisresearchwere:1)tomodelthestalltorqueofaturbine,2)designa
dynamometerapparatusbasedonthoseresults,and3)designanewturbineusingthe
theoreticalmodels.Afurthergoalofthisresearchwastodetermineiftheflowregimeinside
theturbineislaminarorturbulent.
Analysisoftheresearchdatafortheflowoverflatplatemodelresultedinfailingto
rejectthenullhypothesisfortheresearchquestion1forallstalltorquevaluesexceptfour
instances:stalltorquescalculatedrangingfrom45PSIto65PSI.Thedataforvortexmodel
resultedinfailingtorejectthenullhypothesisinallbutfiveinstances:stalltorquescalculated
rangingfrom65PSIto85PSI.Sincethemodelsprovidedenoughinformationtobuilda
dynamometer,wewereabletoconstructourdynamometer,thuswerejectthenullhypothesis
forresearchquestion2.
Finally,wecanconcludefromtheplotsofthemodelsthattheflowoverflatplatemodel
bestrepresentsthelaminarregimeatlowerairpressures.Likewise,thevortexmodelbest
representstheturbulentregimeathigherairpressures.Despitetheassumptionthattheflow
regimewithintheturbineissolelylaminar,ourresultsshowthatthereisbothlaminarand
turbulentflowregimesoccurringwithintheTeslaturbinedependingontheairpressurethe
testisconductedat.

50

CHAPTER5
FUTURETURBINEDESIGN
Theturbinethatiscurrentlyindesigntobeconstructedwillbesmallerthanourcurrent
turbine,anditwillincorporateafewchanges.Therotorshaveincreasedsurfaceareatoallow
forgreaterinteractionofthefluidwiththedisks.Theshaftiscustomdesignedsothatthe
rotorsstaymountedontheshaftwithoutdamagingthebearings.Theshafthasbothkeyingfor
thedisks,andalefthandedthreadforanendlockcap.Thecaseisalsocustomdesignedsuch
thatthemainunitstaysasonebodyratherthanmanylayers;twoendcapssealtheturbineand
holdtheturbinerotorinplace.
Calculationsfornozzledimensionsandmaximumoperatingspeedoftheturbineare
providedbyLeaman,buthavenotbeensufficientlyexplored.[9]Drawingsofthecurrent
experimentalturbineandthisfutureturbineareincludedinAppendixC1andC4,respectively.
Therewereseveraldesignscreated,butonewaschosentobethemostappropriate,
andeasiesttomachine.Forexample,thefirstturbinedesignwaslargeandbulkyandwasmore
appropriateasafuelburningmacroscaleturbine,withoneseal,asopposedtomanyseals
seeninotherturbinedesigns,includingourowncurrentexperimentalturbine.Thenewturbine
designdiffersfromtheexistingturbinedesignasshowninthefollowingchanges:
1. OurcurrentexperimentalTeslaturbinehasmultiplecasinglayersthatrequire
multiplegasketstoensureaproperpressuresealwithintheturbine.Thefuture
designminimizesthenumberofcasingcomponentsasmuchaspossible,whilestill
keepingtheturbinerelativelyeasytomachine.Thus,thenewturbinedesign
reducedthenumberofcasingpartsfromadozendowntothreecomponents:two
51

endplatesandanozzleplate.Thecasingwouldthensealtogetherusingrubberor
coppergasketstocreateaperfectseal,withboltsholdingeverythingtogether.
2. Thenewcentercasingcomponentincorporatesthenozzlesintothecasingmaterial
insuchawayastosimplifymachiningoperationsdramatically.Thisideawas
inspiredbyaturbinethatVanderbiltUniversityhadbuiltfortheirresearchon
MobilePowerPacksforSoldiers[2].Theirturbinehasfournozzlesspacedevenly
aroundtheturbinecasing,andusesahelicalsweeptograduallyintroduceflowinto
theturbine.However,ourdesignkeepsthenozzlecasingasonepiece,insteadof
multiplepiecesastheVanderbiltturbineisdesigned;multicomponentnozzlesare
theresultofthroughandthroughmachining.Thehelicalsweepourdesignemploys
isimportantbecauseitreducesthenumberofcornersatwhichflowmustbe
redirectedbeforeitenterstheturbine.Asinglehelicalchannelgreatlyreducesany
flowlossesintheturbine.
3. Ouroriginalturbinehasdisksandspacersmachinedfromsteel.While,thisis
satisfactoryformostprojects,regularsteelisnothighstrengthenoughtoendure
highrotationalspeedsoftheturbine.Thus,carbonfiberwaschosentobeusedfor
thedisks,sinceithasahightensilestrength,resemblingthatofhighstrengthsteel
ortitaniumandismucheasiertomachinethansteel.[52,53]
4. ThenewTeslaturbinediskshaveagreatersurfaceareaforwhichfluidtoflowover
thanourcurrentexperimentalturbine.Thisshouldincreaseareaofboundarylayer
interactionoccurringbetweenthefluidandthedisks,thereforeincreasingtorque.
52

5. Theexperimentalturbineshaftwasasimplescrewboltwithanendcapthatcould
beaccidentallyunscrewedduringturbineoperation.Theendcapsatseparatefrom
thebearingontheend,asitstuckoutoftheturbine,withtheshaftitselfrestingin
thebearing.Thenewturbinedesigncorrectsthisflawbychangingtwoitems:the
endscrewcapisnowalefthandedscrewthreadratherthanarighthandedscrew
threadandtheendcapsitsbehindoneofthebearingspreventingthatendcapfrom
everaccidentallyunscrewingduringoperation.
6. Whenevertheshaftendcaploosenedtheclamponthedisks,diskscouldfreely
rotateabouttheshaft,therebydamagingtheinsideoftheturbineaswellasthe
disksthemselves.Thenewdesignimplementsakeyingtotheshafttopreventthe
disksfrombeingabletorotateabouttheshaftifanylooseningoccurs.
7. Thespacersintheexperimentalturbinewerestarshaped,therebyactingasblades
ratherthanjustspacers.Thiswasfoundtointerferewiththeflow,sothenew
turbinechangesthespacerdesignsothatitactstospacethedisksapart,andto
enforcethemtopreventbendingofthedisks.Thetwoendspacersincreasesupport
ofthedisksaswell,showninFigureC17.
8. Theinletandoutletportswereononesideintheexperimentalturbine,whichmade
routingtubingtotheturbineverydifficult.Thenewturbinedesignhasoneinletthe
topoftheturbineperpendiculartotheoutletwhichisononesideoftheturbine.
9. Outletportsonthecasingandonthedisksofthenewturbineweredesigned
followingexamplespreviouslyshowninTeslaspatents,aswellasRice,Leaman,and
others.[3,4,9,11,22,41,42,4750]
53

10. Casingmaterialwasmadeofsteel,aswerethedisks,andshaft.Thenewdesign
changesthosematerialsinordertomeetsafetyfactors,aswellasresource
constraints.Thusthecasingishighstrength6061aluminum,theshaftisstainless
steel,andthedisksarecarbonfiber.[46,51]
11. Theexperimentalturbinehadopenendedbearingstoaccommodatelateral
movement.Usingthistypeofbearingincreaseschancesforthebearingstocome
aparteverytimetheturbineisdisassembled.Alsothebearingswerenotdesigned
forhighspeed,thusweassumefrictioninsidethebearingscausedsome
interferencewithourspeedmeasurements.Thenewturbineuseshighspeed
SiliconNitrideball,hybridsealedbearings.[52]
12. Animportantfactortobeconsideredforthedisksisthesurfaceroughness.The
currentexperimentalturbinehasanunknownfrictionfactor.Soboundarylayer
conditionsareunknown.Withcarbonfiberasthediskmaterialthesurfaceofthese
sheetsisusuallyamirrorfinish,therebyallowingustoroughenthesurface
dependingonourspecifications.Aperfectlysmoothdiskwillnotallowadhesionof
fluidtothedisk,andfluidwillflowrightacrossthediskwithoutcreatingthe
necessaryboundarylayereffect.Toomuchsurfaceroughnesscreatesturbulent
flow,whichthenhindersturbineperformance.Thusthesurfacemusthavesome
roughness,inordertocreatetheboundarylayereffect.Duetoalackoftime,a
frictionfactorwasassumedbasedonLeamanscalculations.[9]Assumingtherewas
moretime,andwithpreviousassumptionsstatedintheoreticalmodels,the
54

optimumsurfaceroughnesscanbecalculatedthenthesurfaceofthematerialcould
bepolishedtomatchthatsurfaceroughnessvalue.
ThetheoreticalmodelswerethenappliedinordertojustifythatthefutureTesla
turbineiswithinthestalltorquerangeresultingfromthecurrentexperimental.Figure12
showsanupperboundforstalltorquegivenbytheVortexmodel,andalowerboundgivenby
theflatplateflowmodel.Assumingtheflowregimeinsidetheturbineislaminar,theflowover
flatplate,coloredblue,isabetterrepresentationoflikelystalltorqueofthenewturbine
design.Themodeldoesnotshowerrorbarsaspreviousgraphsdo,becausethismodelrelieson
angularvelocitydata,whichwouldotherwisebemeasured.Thespeedsusedarearbitrary
numberspickedtodemonstratehowtheturbinewillperformathigherspeedsthanthecurrent
turbine.SpecificationsoftheturbineareshowninTable6.Detailedresultsofthismodelare
giveninTableA4.
Table6:FutureTurbineDimensions,ConstantsandNumberofNozzles
R
s
R
o
R

p p
Active
Faces
h
Total
Num
Nozzles
[m] [m] [m] [kg/m
3
] [kg/ms] [] [m] [m]
0.0063 0.05710 0.0114 1.177 0.0000184 10 0.000787 16
0.0005 0.0005 0.0005 0.04 0.0000004 0.00025

55

Figure 13: Future turbine, flat plate flow model and vortex model with
respecttoStallTorquevs.AirPressure.

0.00
0.10
0.20
0.30
0.40
0.50
0.60
0.70
0.80
0.90
1.00
0 20 40 60 80 100
M
o
d
e
l
e
d

S
t
a
l
l

T
o
r
q
u
e

[
N

m
]
AirPressure[PoundsperSquareInch]
FlatPlateFlow VortexFlow
56

APPENDIXA
EXPERIMENTALRESULTS
57
TableA1:CompleteTableofExperimentalForce,SpeedandTorqueData
p F A F v A v m A m U A U x A x
[PSI] [N] [N] [RPM] [RPM] [Rad/s] [Rad/s] [m/s] [m/s] [Nm] [Nm]
85 6.800 0.1 33634.900 23.8745 3522.2385 2.50013 132.4186 0.01332 0.02689 0.12727
80 6.200 0.1 32118.600 179.4103 3363.4519 18.78780 126.4490 0.01443 0.02452 0.12745
75 6.000 0.1 31087.800 4.1244 3255.5068 0.43190 122.3908 0.01330 0.02373 0.12752
70 5.800 0.1 28684.725 97.0228 3003.8574 10.16020 112.9300 0.01372 0.02294 0.12759
65 5.000 0.1 26780.150 49.4286 2804.4108 5.17615 105.4318 0.01343 0.01978 0.12799
60 3.700 0.05 26413.750 23.6929 2766.0414 2.48112 103.9893 0.01333 0.01463 0.12714
55 3.500 0.05 24761.850 7.2422 2593.0549 0.75841 97.4859 0.01330 0.01384 0.12723
50 3.100 0.05 23178.050 2.7429 2427.1997 0.28724 91.2506 0.01330 0.01226 0.12745
45 2.500 0.05 21645.550 7.3016 2266.7167 0.76462 85.2172 0.01330 0.00989 0.12799
40 2.150 0.025 19930.700 7.2772 2087.1380 0.76207 78.4660 0.01330 0.00850 0.12696
35 1.750 0.025 17969.600 5.3054 1881.7721 0.55558 70.7452 0.01330 0.00692 0.12723
30 1.300 0.025 15695.975 28.2498 1643.6787 2.95831 61.7941 0.01342 0.00514 0.12788
25 0.920 0.025 13629.950 29.3983 1427.3250 3.07858 53.6603 0.01347 0.00364 0.12931
20 0.560 0.025 11138.600 11.9358 1166.4315 1.24991 43.8520 0.01334 0.00221 0.13407
15 0.260 0.025 9080.600 8.9877 950.9182 0.94119 35.7498 0.01334 0.00103 0.15883

58

TableA2:CompleteTableofFlatPlateFlowModel,TestofNullHypothesis
P z
exper|ment

z
|at p|ate
per
face
z
|at p|ate
perface
in%
Total
z
|at p|ate

Actualvs.
FlatPlate
Model
Error
Actualvs.
FlatPlate
ModelError
Question1
Null
Hypothesis
[PSI] [Nm] [Nm] [Nm] [Nm] [Nm] [%]
85 0.02689 0.00308314 0.093967396 0.02158197 0.197517 19.7517 FailtoReject
80 0.02452 0.00287702 0.096644275 0.02013914 0.178698 17.8698 FailtoReject
75 0.02373 0.00273964 0.093924383 0.01917745 0.191848 19.1848 FailtoReject
70 0.02294 0.00242820 0.094929734 0.01699738 0.259018 25.9018 FailtoReject
65 0.01978 0.00219042 0.094223780 0.01533294 0.224630 22.4630 FailtoReject
60 0.01463 0.00214562 0.093993992 0.01501935 0.026367 2.6367 Reject
55 0.01384 0.00194752 0.093930394 0.01363266 0.015159 1.5159 Reject
50 0.01226 0.00176369 0.093924065 0.01234586 0.006962 0.6962 Reject
45 0.00989 0.00159170 0.093932893 0.01114189 0.126866 12.6866 Reject
40 0.00850 0.00140634 0.093934621 0.00984441 0.157723 15.7723 FailtoReject
35 0.00692 0.00120397 0.093930538 0.00842779 0.217668 21.7668 FailtoReject
30 0.00514 0.00098286 0.094209018 0.00688000 0.338131 33.8131 FailtoReject
25 0.00364 0.00079533 0.094333571 0.00556733 0.530076 53.0076 FailtoReject
20 0.00221 0.00058756 0.094024374 0.00411293 0.857023 85.7023 FailtoReject
15 0.00103 0.00043249 0.094009469 0.00302746 1.944136 194.4136 FailtoReject

59
TableA3:CompleteTableofVortexModel,TestofNullHypothesis
P z
exper|ment

Total
z
|at p|ate

z
uurtex
perface Totalz
uurtex

Actualvs.
Vortex
ModelError
Actualvs.
VortexModel
Error
Question1
Null
Hypothesis
[PSI] [Nm] [Nm] [Nm] [Nm] [Nm] [%]
85 0.02689 0.02158197 0.00180562 0.02527867 0.063901 6.390108 Reject
80 0.02452 0.02013914 0.00172422 0.02413907 0.015822 1.582187 Reject
75 0.02373 0.01917745 0.00166888 0.02336437 0.015649 1.564922 Reject
70 0.02294 0.01699738 0.00153988 0.02155831 0.064044 6.404447 Reject
65 0.01978 0.01533294 0.00143764 0.02012691 0.017484 1.748435 Reject
60 0.01463 0.01501935 0.00141797 0.01985153 0.262853 26.28529 FailtoReject
55 0.01384 0.01363266 0.00132929 0.01861003 0.256181 25.61807 FailtoReject
50 0.01226 0.01234586 0.00124426 0.01741971 0.296171 29.61708 FailtoReject
45 0.00989 0.01114189 0.00116200 0.01626794 0.392210 39.22096 FailtoReject
40 0.00850 0.00984441 0.00106994 0.01497913 0.432327 43.23268 FailtoReject
35 0.00692 0.00842779 0.00096466 0.01350524 0.487514 48.75139 FailtoReject
30 0.00514 0.00688000 0.00084261 0.01179648 0.564150 56.41495 FailtoReject
25 0.00364 0.00556733 0.00073170 0.01024373 0.644797 64.47975 FailtoReject
20 0.00221 0.00411293 0.00059795 0.00837133 0.735430 73.54304 FailtoReject
15 0.00103 0.00302746 0.00048747 0.00682462 0.849325 84.9325 FailtoReject

60
TableA4:FutureTeslaTurbineStallTorqueModel
P v m U
z
|at p|ate
per
face
Total
z
|at p|ate

F
|at p|ate

z
uurtex

perface
Total
z
uurtex

F
uurtex

[lbs/in
2
] [Rev/min] [Rad/s] [m/s] [Nm] [Nm] [N] [Nm] [Nm] [N]
85 50000.000 5235.9878 299.23670 0.03451 0.34514 6.03915 0.04731 0.94629 16.558
80 45000.000 4712.3890 269.31303 0.02947 0.29468 5.15632 0.04258 0.85166 14.902
75 40000.000 4188.7902 239.38936 0.02470 0.24696 4.32127 0.03785 0.75703 13.246
70 35000.000 3665.1914 209.46569 0.02021 0.20213 3.53690 0.03312 0.66240 11.590
65 30000.000 3141.5927 179.54202 0.01604 0.16041 2.80674 0.02839 0.56778 9.934
60 25000.000 2617.9939 149.61835 0.01220 0.12202 2.13516 0.02366 0.47315 8.279
55 23000.000 2408.5544 137.64888 0.01077 0.10768 1.88414 0.02176 0.43529 7.616
50 21000.000 2199.1149 125.67941 0.00939 0.09394 1.64380 0.01987 0.39744 6.954
45 19000.000 1989.6753 113.70995 0.00808 0.08085 1.41466 0.01798 0.35959 6.292
40 17000.000 1780.2358 101.74048 0.00684 0.06842 1.19728 0.01609 0.32174 5.629
35 12000.000 1256.6371 71.81681 0.00406 0.04058 0.71006 0.01136 0.22711 3.973
30 10000.000 1047.1976 59.84734 0.00309 0.03087 0.54016 0.00946 0.18926 3.31161
25 5000.000 523.5988 29.92367 0.00109 0.01091 0.19097 0.00473 0.09463 1.65581
20 2000.000 209.4395 11.96947 0.00028 0.00276 0.04831 0.00189 0.03785 0.66232
15 1000.000 104.7198 5.98473 0.00010 0.00098 0.01708 0.00095 0.01893 0.33116

61
APPENDIXB
EXPERIMENTALAPPARATAE
62
B1 PreliminaryExperimentalApparatus

Air Compressor Atlas Copco ZT45 (x2), 60 HP, average 227 cubic feet per minute
(cfm)
NeikoOpticalTachometer
Anemometer
CalibratedTorsionSpringForceGauge(10N,5N,1N)

B2 DynamometerApparatus

Banebots12VDCBrushedMotor
FutekLRM2002.5NForceSensor
Variable1KOhmRheostats

63
APPENDIXC
PROENGINEERWILDFIREDRAWINGS
64
C1 EducationalTurbine
FigureC1:EducationalTeslaTurbine.
65
C2 ElectricDynamometer

FigureC2:ElectricDynamometer.
66
C3 AirFlowApparatus

FigureC3:AirFlowApparatus.
67
C4 BrakeDynamometer
FigureC4:BrakeDynamometer.
68
C5 FutureTeslaTurbineDesign

FigureC5:FutureTeslaTurbineDesign.
69
APPENDIXD
DESIGNOFOTHERCOMPONENTS
70
D1 Tachometer

Originally,ourexperimentswereconductedwithanopticallasertachometer.Resultsofour
experimentsshowedthatturbinevelocitydatapointsvariedwildly,andtheopticaltachometer
wasnotaccurateenoughtogiveusreliabledata.Asolutionofthisproblemwasdevised:aHall
Effect Tachometer using a Teensy 2.0 microcontroller, which uses a sensor that detects a
magnetic field, rather than using a laser. [43] That way it would not matter if the shaft of the
turbinehasanydefects,westillwillgetanaccuratereadingofrotationsperminute.Thereare
three main components to the tachometer: the microcontroller, the LCD screen and the Hall
Effect sensor itself. The way I have devised this tachometer is that the halleffect sensor will
detect the magnetic field, and send this detection as a signal to the microcontroller. As the
shaftoftheturbinerotates,thisdetectionsignalwillbecomeafrequencyofon/offsignals.The
microcontroller will then analyze this frequency and count the number of times it detects a
risingedge in the wave per minute. This value is the speed at which the turbine shaft is
rotating. A PCB diagram, drawn in Eagle 5.11, of the Tachometer is shown in Appendix D1,
Figures 10.[44] A PJRC Teensy Microcontroller with an ATMEL ATMEGA32u4 running Arduino
variant C code was used to create the tachometer.[45] Figures D2 and D3, show the
experimentallyoperationaltachometer.

FigureD1:TeensyTachometerPCBDiagram.
71

FigureD2:16x2LCDDisplayScreenforTachometer.

72

Figure D3: Tachometer composed of a Teensy Microcontroller on a

breadboard,withwiresconnectedtothesensorsandtheLCDscreen.There
is a Socket mobile battery pack for extended use away from a power plug.
73
D2 LabViewTemperatureMeasurementProgram

ItwasrequiredtouseaNationalInstrumentsDAQunittomeasuredatacomingfromtheT
type thermocouples in the airflow apparatus, discussed in section 2.4 and again in the
Appendix, section 6.2.2. A Program was developed to read in temperature values from both
sensors,thenlogthatdataintoaMicrosoftExcelrecognizedformat,knownascsv.FiguresD4
andD5,showthevisualcodeandtheuserinterfacetotheprogram.

FigureD4:LabViewProgramInterface.

74

FigureD5:LabViewProgramCode.

75
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