This paper is a continuation of the authors’ previous paper under the same title. In the previous paper the authors provided a systematic approach for implementing sustainable energy harvesting projects on Mars. The proposed approach consists of four phases (Location and Climate Analysis; Design Parameters; Simulation and Optimization; and Other Measures), and serves to lay the infrastructure for future In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) on the Martian planet for possible habitation.In order to assure survival rate for a successful future habitation on Mars, multiple sites were studied and analyzed through the utilization of a General Circulation Model (GCM) simulation, which is a complex mathematical numerical model that computes general circulation of a planetary atmosphere to depict a global climate. One of the important factors that was considered during the evaluating of potential site locations is the availability of water resources, as it is crucial for the thriving of any possible human habitation. The geographical location focus of this research work (including the two proposed site locations) is concentrated in the Northern Hemisphere, mainly due to the general topography of the terrain that is primarily composed of low uncrated flat plains.There are many hurdles that face the successful ISRU on Mars. However, the scientific community is eager to overcome them through continuous research work. One of the main challenges that faces the implementation of Mars wind harvesting projects is related to the Martian atmospheric characteristics (e.g. the atmospheric density is only about 1% of the Earth’s atmospheric density) including numerous unique metrological phenomena, which makes it an inimitable planet for the study of wind energy harvesting.Accordingly, the authors thoroughly investigate and report the results of different site locations, and consider multiple airfoil designs that would be appropriate for these Martian locations. The intent of this second paper is to shed light on the primary results of both the GCM and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations. The CFD work was conducted by applying a two-dimensional simulation using Ansys software. The authors studied the aerodynamic characteristics for the Ishii airfoil and a biomimetic Owl airfoil (which is based on an actual cross-section of owl wing at 40% of span length). A low Reynolds Number (Re) of 23,000 was used to represent what could be possibly encountered on Mars, in order to enhance the performance and understand limitations. Furthermore, these results were validated against experimental wind tunnel testing data from the literature. It is concluded that these proposed airfoils achieve higher lift-to-drag ratios yielding higher energy production in a thin atmosphere. Ultimately, the objective of this work is to fill the gaps in scientific knowledge, with the results of this novel research being a key to enrich understanding of wind harvesting on other terrestrial planets.

Wind Harvesting on Mars: Study and Approach (II)

Paper Proceedings: https://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/IMECE/IMECE2021/volume/85543

ASME 2021 International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition (IMECE2021)

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