Makani M600 aerodynamics

Here is a nice gem for the AWE community: researchers from Brigham Young University in Utah have used the open source analysis suite, FLOWUnsteady, to explore some of the basic aerodynamics of an Airborne Wind Turbine in an offset rotor configuration. Insiders will recognize the largest flying AWE prototype to date, the Makani M600.

Read the paper (https://doi.org/10.2514/6.2020-2761)
Watch the presentation (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFM3B4_N2Ls)
Download the source code (https://github.com/byuflowlab/FLOWUnsteady)

If you can not access the paywalled conference paper you can try requesting the paper from the authors via ResearchGate (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/342016516_Unsteady_Aerodynamic_Analysis_of_Wind_Harvesting_Aircraft)

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Another fascinating presentation on the potential of FLOWUnsteady by Eduardo Alvarez

Handy for rotor dynamics and energy production analysis.