Pennsylvania, PA, March 21, 2025— Divya Tyagi, an aerospace engineering graduate student at Pennsylvania State University, has made groundbreaking progress in wind energy research by refining a century-old mathematical model. Her work simplifies and expands upon a formula originally developed by British aerodynamicist Hermann Glauert, paving the way for advancements in wind turbine efficiency.
Glauert’s model, developed in the early 20th century, focused on maximizing the power coefficient, a measure of how efficiently wind turbines convert wind energy into electricity. However, the model did not account for the full range of forces and moments acting on a turbine rotor or how blades bend under wind pressure. Tyagi addressed these gaps by incorporating these crucial factors, providing engineers with a more comprehensive understanding of wind turbine dynamics.
Tyagi’s research, which she undertook as part of her undergraduate thesis at Penn State’s Schreyer Honors College, has been published in Wind Energy Science. Her adviser, Professor Sven Schmitz, hailed her findings as an elegant solution to a long-standing challenge, noting that her refined model could significantly impact future wind turbine designs and improve efficiency in renewable energy production…