Performance characteristics and bluff-body modeling of high-blockage cross-flow turbine arrays with varying rotor geometry

While confinement is understood to increase the power and thrust coefficients of cross-flow turbines, how the optimal rotor geometry changes with the blockage ratio—defined as the ratio between the array projected area and the channel cross-sectional area—has not been systematically explored. Here, the interplay between rotor geometry and the blockage ratio on turbine performance is investigated experimentally with an array of two identical cross-flow turbines at blockage ratios from 35% to 55%. Three geometric parameters are varied—the number of blades, the chord-to-radius ratio, and the preset pitch angle—resulting in 180 unique combinations of rotor geometry and blockage ratio. While the optimal chord-to-radius ratio and preset pitch angle do not depend on the blockage ratio, the optimal blade count increases with the blockage ratio—an inversion of the relationship between efficiency and blade count typically observed at lower blockage. To explore the combined effects of rotor geometry, rotation rate, and the blockage ratio on array performance, we utilize two bluff-body models: dynamic solidity (which relates thrust to the rotor geometry and kinematics) and Maskell-inspired linear momentum theory (which describes the array–channel interaction as a function of the blockage ratio and thrust). By combining these models, we demonstrate that the array time-average thrust coefficient increases with dynamic solidity in a manner that is self-similar across blockage ratios. Overall, these results highlight key design principles for cross-flow turbines in confined flow and provide insights into the similarities between the dynamics of cross-flow turbines and bluff bodies at high blockage.