wind turbine design
Wind turbines populate the landscape in many parts of the world. These systems harness naturally abundant wind and transform it into electrical energy. Turbine blades efficiently convert wind energy into a force which turns a wind turbine. This energy conversion is an application of aerospace engineering principles. In this project an idea was researched and designed into wind turbine blades, then designed and built into a personal turbine
equipment
· Computer with Internet connection
· Plywood or similar base approximately 12 in. x 12 in.
· Basic Turbine Building Parts:
· KidWind Hub
· Dowels
· Wind Turbine Generator
· Hook up wires
· Box fan or similar (one per class)
· 1 in. PVC pipe (8 in.)
· 1 in. PVC pipe plug
· 1 in. PVC coupler
· 1 in. PVC 90 degree elbow
· Various materials to build wind turbine blade and attachment mechanism
· Multimeter (one per class)
· Engineering notebook
· Pencil
· Plywood or similar base approximately 12 in. x 12 in.
· Basic Turbine Building Parts:
· KidWind Hub
· Dowels
· Wind Turbine Generator
· Hook up wires
· Box fan or similar (one per class)
· 1 in. PVC pipe (8 in.)
· 1 in. PVC pipe plug
· 1 in. PVC coupler
· 1 in. PVC 90 degree elbow
· Various materials to build wind turbine blade and attachment mechanism
· Multimeter (one per class)
· Engineering notebook
· Pencil
IPT design files
These files show the parts in the turbine. The first is the hub piece that directly connects to the motor and dowell in each blade. Next is the connector piece, which connects the motor to the elbow joint. Following is the blade itself, and the last picture demonstrates the assembled fan.
Conclusion
1) The strength and weakness of our design is basically the same thing. The fact that one of the blades seemed to be heavier than the others gives it both the momentum for it to go faster initially, but also slightly slows it down when its spinning making the results less than they would be if all were the same weight.
2) The design could be improved by balancing the weight of each blade to be equal
2) The design could be improved by balancing the weight of each blade to be equal