Thinking more.....I'm leaning toward something that looks nothing like a a brake I've seen so far.
I'm thinking 12" (ok 11.75" so it can be maybe from a 12x12 cut which come undersize) 7075 rotor that is very much like a pump rotor and I'm leaning strongly to single sided, just like most pumps.
The housing will be much like a pump as well. Center inlet, bearing and seals on the back, water collected on the OD...just like a pump. This would be a weldment.
Thinking about this the way a brake needs to work is it needs to move water from low energy to high and back and the better is does that the more hp it will consume. Low energy is the center, high the OD....there is a reason pumps pull from the center and discharge on the OD. I think that the difference is that instead of a diffuser on the OD I what a constant R section with vanes to stop the water and send it back the inlet.
In my head this make the full rotor OD effective. I am a little thinking maybe I should take a little electric pump and make a small prototype to see what happens.....I think I'm right.....I think it will work.
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