Support Gemstone Team CREST

This project investigates the impact of riblet-style surface textures on the performance and survivability of Wells turbine blades within Oscillating Water Column wave energy systems. While previous studies suggest that riblets may improve efficiency, these findings mostly come from computational models and have never been experimentally validated. Our work will build physical turbine blades with and without riblets, test their performance in controlled airflow, and then expose them to environmental stressors to evaluate long-term survivability. By assessing both efficiency and survivability, this project aims to determine whether riblets are a viable design improvement for future turbine-type wave energy converters.

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