Comment on "Glauert's optimum rotor disk revisited &ndash; a calculus of variations solution and exact integrals for thrust and bending moment coefﬁcients" by Tyagi and Schmitz (2025)

Leishman, J. Gordon

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-2025-105

Preprints

https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-2025-105

Preprints

01 Sep 2025

| 01 Sep 2025

Status: this preprint is currently under review for the journal WES.

Comment on "Glauert's optimum rotor disk revisited – a calculus of variations solution and exact integrals for thrust and bending moment coefﬁcients" by Tyagi and Schmitz (2025)

J. Gordon Leishman

Received: 09 Jun 2025 – Discussion started: 01 Sep 2025

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J. Gordon Leishman

Status: open (until 29 Sep 2025)

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Short summary

This paper revisits the momentum theory problem for a windmill (i.e., a wind turbine) with apparent mathematical rigor and pedagogical eloquence. Still, it ultimately offers nothing of substance to the wind energy field. Recasting Glauert's optimum rotor formulation using the calculus of variations and L'Hôpital's rule may suggest an air of analytical sophistication, yet it is little more than formalist repackaging that obscures rather than clarifies the underlying physical principles.