Tapered, frequency-tuned rotor for turbine flow meter

摘要

A frequency-tuned turbine flow meter rotor comprises a rotor hub and a plurality of tapered rotor blades. Each of the plurality of rotor blades has a stagger angle that varies as a function of a radius measured from the hub, and a cross-sectional profile that is tapered according to a NACA airfoil design. A method for designing a frequency-tuned flow meter rotor comprises defining a cross-sectional profile, calibrating a rotor blade stagger angle, tapering the cross-sectional profile such that it characterizes an airfoil with a decreasing chord length and a decreasing relative thickness as a function of radius, and analyzing a natural oscillation frequency spectrum of the rotor with respect to a range of operationally-induced excitation frequencies.